FDIC Federal Register Citations

 
CAMERON STATE BANK

March 15, 2004

Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary
Attention: Comments
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20429

Re: Proposed Amendments to CRA

Dear Mr. Feldmen:

In FIL-15-2004, your agency asked banks to comment on the proposed amendments to the Community Reinvestment Act. One of the proposed amendments would change the definition of a small institution to mean an institution with total assets of less than $500 million.

I serve as the Compliance Officer for a community bank that became a "large bank" under the CRA two years ago. Our institution has had to deal with the increased regulatory burden of data collection and reporting on its small business, small farm and community development loans for the last two years. This is very burdensome to community banks who make the majority of their loans inside their assessment areas.

Another issue involves the CRA examination process. Under the large bank CRA examination process, the investment test is difficult for a community bank to attain a satisfactory rating. We compete for suitable investments in our market with billion dollar regional and national banks that have an unfair advantage due to their size. They literally will spend whatever it takes to get those investments. The smaller institutions are then at a disadvantage during exam time.

Our institution is in favor of changing the definition of a small institution to one with total assets of $500 million or less without regard to the holding company assets.

Thank you for considering this matter.

Sincerely,

Tom Baldassari
Vice President
Cameron State Bank
Lake Charles, LA