Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary
Attention: Comments
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20429
Re: 12 CFR Part 345
RE: Proposed Revisions to the Community Reinvestment Act Regulations
Dear Mr. Feldman:
We at the Bank of New Albany sure support the federal bank regulatory
agencies' proposal to increase the asset threshold for small community
banks from 250 million to 500 million for the CRA examination. It would
be great if the threshold could be moved to one billion.
Our bank went under the large CRA examination in 2002 and this has
increased our expenses about $25,000.00 annually. We sure could use this
for a better cause. We are a 300 million dollar bank in a small town of
8,000 people.
Regulatory burdens on small banks keep growing and this has caused a
lot of banks to have to sell or merge with other banks, which in turn
hurts the communities like New Albany, Mississippi. We are the only
local bank in our trade area, and by helping with some of these
regulations maybe we can stay a community home town bank.
Sincerely,
Vance Witt
CEO and Chairman of the Board
Bank of New Albany
New Albany, MS
