PACB Letter to Congressman Jim Gerlach

October 13, 2004

The Honorable Jim Gerlach
United States House of Representatives
Room 1541 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Re: CRA Reform

Dear Jim:

On behalf of PACB and our Board of Directors, I am writing to thank you for your strong support for the FDIC’s proposal to raise the asset size for streamlined examinations to $1 billion.

This is a critical issue for PACB and we are grateful that you signed onto House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley’s letter to FDIC Chairman Don Powell. As a portion of the letter indicates the proposal “will permit small institutions to focus their time and resources on lending to the communities they serve rather than complying with burdensome regulatory requirements”. We could not have said it better.

Our community banks take great pride in serving their local communities and there is no reason why a $275 million community bank, for instance, should be treated under CRA as a $20 billion institution is treated.

Thanks for your steadfast support of our issues. Please do not hesitate to call upon PACB as a resource now and in the future.

Sincerely,

Frank A. Pinto
President/CEO

Cc: ACB, ICBA