California Commissioner of Financial Institutions Named Vice Chairman of CSBS International Bankers Advisory Board.

Business Editors

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 1, 2004

The Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) today announced that Howard Gould, Commissioner of Financial Institutions, has been named Vice Chairman of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) International Bankers Advisory Board.

"It is an honor to take on this important role. The international banking and investment community contributes enormously to our economy. I look forward to continuing to work with our international bankers to ensure that these important businesses can grow and prosper here," Gould said.

Fernando Capablanca, president of Banco Credito Inversiones in Miami, is the banker co-chairman, and New York Superintendent of Banks Diana L. Taylor serves as the supervisory co-chairman.

Mick Thompson, CSBS Chairman made the announcement effective March 23, 2004. The CSBS International Bankers Advisory Board (IBAB) is an international leadership group with both international regulators and international bankers. IBAB's mission is to ensure safety and soundness, promote economic growth, and foster innovative and efficient regulation of foreign banks and international financial services institutions. Through IBAB, members work together to develop a constructive ongoing dialogue between regulators and international institutions. As part of this dialogue, IBAB provides advice on international banking policy to the CSBS Board of Directors and serves as a resource to CSBS and its members throughout the year. IBAB has played a key role in helping CSBS develop policy positions on USA PATRIOT Act regulations, IRS regulations that would require banks to report nontaxable deposit interest paid to nonresident aliens, and other issues. Importantly, IBAB was an effective forum for the development of the Nationwide Foreign Banking Organization Supervision and Examination Coordination Agreements that provide efficient and seamless state supervision for institutions operating in a multi-state environment.

DFI supervises 40 FBOs, with assets of approximately $16.7 billion. Of all the foreign banking organizations doing business in the United States, 84 percent are state-licensed institutions accounting for 85 percent of all FBO assets.

For a list of California licensed foreign banks, see the DFI Web site at, www.dfi.ca.gov/licensee/foreign/. For more information on the CSBS International Bankers Advisory Board and foreign banks, please visit the CSBS Web site at, www.csbs.org/international/intl_foreign_bank.htm.

DFI supervises over 650 financial institutions, including 204 banks and 216 credit unions. The Department is responsible for administering state laws regulating state-licensed financial institutions: banks, credit unions, industrial banks, savings associations, trust companies, offices of foreign banks, issuers of travelers checks and payment instruments (money orders), and transmitters of money abroad. The Department reports to Sunne Wright McPeak, Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.