The Annual Report of Trust Assets for 1997 will be sent to your institution under separate cover in the near future. The report must be completed no later than February 17, 1998, by all commercial banks, savings banks and savings associations that have obtained approval to exercise trust powers. Affiliated trust companies must also complete the report.

The FDIC collects and processes the forms on behalf of the member agencies of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). Information collected is used in the supervision and examination of trust institutions by the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision and FDIC.

If your institution does not exercise its trust powers, you must so indicate in item 1 of the signature page and return only that page in the envelope provided with the report.

Please read the instructions carefully. Minor explanatory and other changes have been made to the instructions for Schedules A, C, and E in response to requests for clarification of existing instructions. The changes are shown in bold italics in the instructions that accompany the forms.

In addition, Schedule D has been reformatted for 1997 and the instructions clarified. Schedule D should be completed only by those few institutions that have an affiliated investment advisor. In such cases, the affiliated investment advisor should complete the form and return it directly to the FFIEC at the address shown on the form, not to the FDIC. If your institution does not have an affiliated investment advisor, do not complete Schedule D.

For those selected institutions participating in the Internet pilot project, carefully read the Web instructions concerning data submission via the Internet. Since Schedule D is not included in the Internet pilot project, participating banks will still need to complete Schedule D in hard-copy form and mail it directly to the FFIEC.

Based on the data collected for the Annual Report of Trust Assets, a book will be published with information on trust assets, collective investment funds, corporate trust activities, affiliated investment advisors and fiduciary income. Those institutions required to respond to this request will receive a copy of the book.

For additional information, please call the FDIC's Trust and Survey Group at 1-800-765-4081 or 202-898-6652, or contact your primary supervisor at the telephone number listed on page 2 of the instructions.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Distribution: Selected Banks, Trust Companies and Savings Associations