ADVISORY/Banking Trends in the Northwest.

Business Editors

ADVISORY...for Monday (July 22)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

DATE:  July 22, 2002

TO:    Business and banking writers/editors researching banking trends
       in the Northwest

WHAT:  Trends in the Concentration of Bank Deposits: the Northwest

       Two of the major trends affecting the structure of the banking
       industry since the mid-1980s have been the tremendous
       consolidation and the liberalization of interstate banking.
       Since the mid-1980s, the number of independent bank and thrift
       organizations in the U.S. fell from 15,416 in 1984 to 8,191 in
       2001, a drop of 46.9%. This research looks at how bank
       consolidation has affected deposit concentration at the
       national level and in two key states in the Twelfth
       District -- Oregon and Washington.

WHO:   Liz Laderman, Economist
       Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

WHEN:  Available on the Internet at:
       www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2002/el2002-21.html

WHY:   From a public policy perspective, the main concern is the
       impact that bank mergers and acquisitions may have on local
       banking markets. A local banking market typically encompasses a
       metropolitan area or a number of rural communities that are
       economically linked. Survey evidence regarding where people do
       their banking, and research linking local banking market
       concentration and prices, such as loan rates, suggest that
       banking markets retain a local flavor.

       Business reporters researching banking trends and seeking
       neutral, third-party input to bring perspective to their
       stories may wish to contact Economist Liz Laderman directly at
       415/974-3171 [e-mail].