FDIC Federal Register Citations

From: Greg White [mailto:gwhite@rockvillebank.com]
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 6:38 PM
To: Comments
Cc: William J McGurk (E-mail); Greg White (E-mail)
Subject: EGRPRA Burden Reduction Comment

I recently became the CFO of a community bank in Connecticut. Prior to this
capacity my employment afforded me the opportunity to interact with the
management teams of well over 100 financial organizations. I can tell you
there is great concern among community bankers regarding the increasing
regulatory burden being placed on them.

In the Proposed Rules "Summary" section of the Request for Burden Reduction
Recommendations, there is a subsection for comment, " the extent to which
regulations may adversely affect competition." Increasing the regulatory
burden and costs is a sure way to make it easier for community banks to
consider merging with larger institutions. Bankers, investors and community
groups contemplating opening a de novo bank may also think twice before
opening a bank and dealing with the existing regulatory environment.
Clearly, such thinking runs counter to ensuring a long term competitive
landscape where the consumer decides if they are going to conduct their
business with a large, small or medium sized financial institution.