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KENNEBUNK, SAVINGS BANK
From: Lorraine Boston [mailto:lorraine.boston@kennebunksavings.com]
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 9:21 AM
To: Comments
Subject: Community Reinvestment: RIN number 3064-AC50
Lorraine Boston
Executive
Kennebunk Savings Bank
P.O. Box 28
Kennebunk , Me 04043
September 24, 2004
Robert E. Feldman
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20429
Dear Robert Feldman:
As a community banker, I am pleased to comment in support of the
proposal issued by the FDIC that would amend the definition of a small
institution to be a bank that is under $1 billion in assets. I believe
that this change will provide much needed regulatory burden relief for
me and other community bankers. It seems that every week there is a new
or additional regulation with which we must comply. This is one example
of regulatory burden relief that will really make a difference. I would
much rather use the limited resources available to my bank to serve my
community than to collect and maintain data and documents to prove to
examiners that I am meeting the needs of my community.
Kennebunk Savings Bank is a $640 million dollar institution that
serves 11 communities within York County Maine. Our mission is to
reinvest in our communities. One way that we accomplish this is by
giving 10% of our profits to non-profit organizations that serve the
communities in which we do business. Many of these origanizations serve
low to moderate income families and small businesses. We are a leader in
small business lending and have been ordered by the Finance Authority of
Maine as the Bank of the Year on three occasions. We are also
recoginized as a Preferred Lender by the US Small Business
Administration.
Compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act is something we take
very seriously at our bank. We don’t just believe it is the right thing
to do; we believe it is the right business thing to do. No community
bank can survive and compete without meeting the needs of its customers
and communities. We believe in our community and in our customers and
want to work with them to provide products and services that best meet
their credit needs. We do not need a complicated examination process to
show that we are complying with the law.
It is absurd to think that a bank thousands of times larger than my
own community bank should be examined using the same procedures. I
strongly urge you to amend the definition of a small bank for CRA
purposes to be an institution with less than $1 billion in assets,
regardless of whether the bank is part of a holding company. This is a
good proposal and is the right thing to do.
Thank you for considering my views.
Sincerely,
Lorraine H. Boston
207-985-4903
Executive
Kennebunk Savings Bank |
