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- ===== m-m-- ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

c 222 Berkeley Street l P.O. Box 763 l Boston, MA 02117-0763 l 617-262-1180 l Fax: 617-536..6785 

TESTIMONY BEFORE THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK 

IN SUPPORT OF THE PROPOSED MERGER 

OF BANKBOSTON AND FLEET FINANCIAL GROUP 

RICHARD C. LORD 

July 7,1999 

BURLISCTON, NOLYOKE, RdYh’llA,~l, 1l’ORCESTER, ~In.isnclr~rwtts l IVASIIINGTON, V.C. 
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- ====E --- - ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES OF MASSACHUSETTS 

222 Berkeley Street l P.O. 13~s 763 l Boston, LIA 02117-0763 l 617-262-1180 l Fax: 617-536..6785 

Associated Industries of Massachusetts (A.I.M.) is pleased to have this opportunity to express its 

support for the proposed merger of BankBoston and Fleet Financial Group, a matter of the greatest 

importance to the economy and business climate of our state. A.I.M. is the Commonwealth’s 

principal statewide employer organization, representing some 5,300 businesses and nonprofit entities 

across Massachusetts, engaged in virtually every economic sector. This merger represents an 

important positive step to assure that Massachusetts and New England businesses will benefit from a 

banking system that offers both the stable financial resources and the increasingly sophisticated 

banking services that are essential to success in the modern economy. 

In the first years of this decade, when the New England banking system was in turmoil, A.I.M. 

member companies consistently reported serious difficulties in obtaining bank loans. We have heard 

few if any reports of such lack of access to capital for more than five years now. BankBoston and 

Fleet have been the leaders, along with a group of outstanding community banks, not only in 

restoring the financial stability of our regional banking system, but also in re-establishing and greatly 

extending the range of banking services available to local companies. The proposed merger is vital 

because it will safeguard those gains. 

The banking needs of many companies, large and small, are increasingly complex. Today’s 

commercial and industrial customers often require access, not only to a larger financial base, but also 

to more specialized expertise in particular industries or financial practices, and to broader geographic 

reach, national and international. An obvious example is the extent to which international dealings, 

once primarily the sphere of our largest manufacturing concerns, has become important to other 

types of companies. Many new high-tech startup companies produce advanced products for 

specialized worldwide markets; an increasing number of our “traditional” industrial firms are 

exporting vigorously; and of course services now account for a large proportion of Massachusetts 

exports. 

As the consolidation of American and global banking continues, the threat facing Massachusetts 

businesses is not lack of competition in banking. The contenders exist, and they will be here. The 

danger is, rather, that our region will be a sideshow or a backwater in the competition, our 

companies entirely dependent for key services upon outside entities barely responsive to our limited 

market power, their attention focused on struggles for dominance elsewhere. Our members believe 

that it is highly desirable to retain a major bank that is firmly committed to our region, that 

understands our issues, interests and industries - a regional champion in the world of banking. This 

merger is our best hope of achieving that goal. 

Finally, I want to mention a point of particular importance from our perspective at A.I.M.: the 

essential leadership within the broader business community that has been provided by Bar&Boston 

and Fleet. Their leadership, in fields ranging from philanthropy to support of education reform to 

engagement with public issues, has grown increasingly important as other local “franchises” - 

newspapers, department stores, even utilities - have disappeared or been absorbed into national 

organizations. This merger is vital to the maintenance of a strong economy in Massachusetts and 

New England because it will preserve and strengthen a key source of leadership in the business 

community. 
. 

/ 

SCOTT 

ASSOCIATES * CONSULTANTS, INC. RUTH SCOTT 

..___ - 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE QFFICER 

July 7. 1999 

To The Honorable Members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Boston Region 

From Dr. Ruth Scott, President, CEO of Scott Associates Consulting. Inc. 

and Member FIAB 

Regarding The Proposed merger of Fleet Financial and BankBoston 

I am present to speak in favor of the merger. Both institutions have strengths which will 

only enhance the ability of the new corporation Fleet Boston to remain financially strong 

and thus meet the demands of market place and serve its customer base. 

Those of us engaged in financial product development and monitoring have known for the 

last twenty years that the financial market place would be redesigned with fewer players as 

we enter the Twenty-First Century. Banking organizations which merge strength with 

strength will be the ones to survive the competition with each other and the competition 

from less regulated financial entities that have suddenly discovered the “ordinary 

customer”. 

I have come to the conclusion of favoring this merger of two strong institutions from the 

vantage point of my thirty years of professional and volunteer experience in neighborhood 

redevelopment, community reinvestment, work in building community development 

collaborations and professional relationships with Fleet Financial as they have worked 

through the merger and market challenges. Fleet Financial has maintained its 

commitment 

to small and midsize customer&-With each reinvention of the corporate structure, that 

30 ARVINE HEIGHTS . ROCHESTER, NEW YORK 14611 716-328-4770 

. ..-.. __ 
commitment by CEO Terry Murray has grown stronger. 

Let me share with you the high points of my thirty year involvement with the general 

subject of this hearing and my decade of experience with Fleet. You may say that CRA is 

only twenty-one years old. That is true. In the early seventies, I was president of the board 

of directors of National Neighbors, the group whose redlining studies was the impetus for 

the Community Reinvestment Act. In the eighties, I served as Corporate Secretary and 

CRA 

Officer for Rochester Community Savings Bank. In addition, my company, Scott 

Associates has spent the last decade in providing both banks, and community organizations 

with strategies for collaboration and the meeting of CRA objectives. Furthermore, I spent 

more than a decade as board member and then chair of the National League of Cities 

Economic Development Steering committee. 

My experiences with Fleet include membership on the INCITY Board since its inception in 

1994; consultant to Community Development Department in strategy and the training of 

Community Development staff in developing effective CRA strategies. Along with other 

organizational consulting activities for banking organizations across the country Scott 

Associates was the chief consultant and designer of the CRA Symposium, 20/20 Vision held 

in Washington, in 1998 DC sponsored by Fleet Community Development under the able 

leadership of Agnes Bundy Scanlan, Managing Director of Corporate Community 

Development. 

Observing Fleet Financial through its several mergers, I cannot help but conclude 

the Fleet Financial with its Chairman and CEO Terry Murray has been among an elite 

group of the most consistently F_ommitted banking organizations in the country to 
!

community development and the LMI customer. Fleet consistently engages itself in 

knowing and satisfying the customer in a quality way aligned with its mission and 

profitability. 

This formula for success as a corporation and a community citizen has been reaffirmed in 

the announcements regarding the merger of BankBoston and Fleet Financial. More than 

the 

dollar amounts spent in the past ( more than 8.4 billion), Fleet has committed itself to 

capacity building and collaboration. This strategy securely ties future viability of the 

corporation to the viability of the community and customers served. It down plays simple 

dollars and emphasizes leverage. 

Recent example of leveraging which has been replicated throughout the Fleet marketplace 

is Fleet’s support of The Frederick Douglass Community Development Corporation spun 

off a faith based organization in the city of Rochester, New York Fleet’s initial investment 

of $5,000 grew to Fleet’s investment of $100,000 in grants, 

$360,000 in construction financing and mortgagees for single family first home owners. 

Fleet’s commitment leveraged more than a half million 

dollars in grants from other banks and private sources, one million dollars in localp 

government investment and a three million dollar investment from HUD. 

The same kind of collaborations supported the 20 120 Vision Symposium. Included with 

Fleet are the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, the National Urban League, Local 

Initiatives Support Corporation and Fannie Mae. 

As I have consulted with and observed financial institutions, there are three principles 
which Fleet Financial exhibits which underscores future success and market commitment. 

They are 

-A solid, stated and Active commitment to Community Building 

-A mission engaged understanding of the changing landscape and its imperative 

to merge and to collaborate with like minded corporations 

-A solid organizational profit base which allows for the keeping of commitments 

The Fleet Financial/Bar&Boston merger would be a solid and secure step towards a future 

which continues to be committed to community building across the spectrum of financial 

need and opportunity. I would urge you to confirm the merger and secure the future 

financial success of communities across the marketplace where their shadow falls. 

Respectfully Submitted 

Dr. Ruth H. Scott, CEO Scott Associates Consulting, Inc. 
Testimony Submitted By: 

Manuel Mirabal 

President & CEO 

National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc 

To: 

Federal Reserve Board 

Public Meeting, July 7, 1999 

Boston, Massachusetts 

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the National Puerto 

Rican Coalition, Inc. NPRC is a non-profit organization organized pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) 

of the Internal Revenue Service Code. We are a membership organization representing the 

Social, political and economic interests of the Puerto Rican and Latin0 community on national 

public policy and community development issues in Washington, D.C. since 1977. 

Since 1994 NPRC and Fleet have been working in partnership on issues of community economic 

development, neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing development, home mortgage 

lending, and consumer banking issues. In the New England states where Fleet has a major 

presence, the Puerto Rican community makes up more than fifty (50) percent of the total Hispanic 

population of 650,000 Latinos. In New York and New Jersey, 1.5 million Puerto Ricans make up 

the largest single Hispanic group. NPRC has a long history of working with non-profit 

community based organization on neighborhood issues, and during the last five years we been the 

only active national Hispanic intermediary in the area of community development. During this 

period, we have found the management of Fleet to be very responsive to the concerns which we 

have raised regarding its banking services to the Hispanic community. Fleet also holds the 

distinction of being the leading major banking institution in providing assistance to us and our 

organizational members in our efforts to strengthen the economic participation of the Puerto 

Rican/Latin0 community. 

We have had many opportunities to meet with the Senior officials of Fleet and have found them to 

be always accessible, including Mr. Terry Murry, the Fleet CEO whom we have met with several 

times to review bank programs and propose new initiatives to better serve the needs of our 

community. NPRC has also been a member of the Fleet In-City Advisory Board, represented by 

Irene Packer, Director of NPRC’s Community Development and Training Department, through 

which we have helped to shape Fleet’s community development strategies, and improve the 

bank’s relationship with the Hispanic community. 
More specifically we have worked on homeownership issues, including pre and post purchase 

housing counseling programs, and fair housing law public awareness; community reinvestment 

issues, including small business loan opportunities and affordable housing project financing. Fleet 

has also help to build the capacity of our community development agencies through training and 

technical assistance grants totaling over 175,000 during the last four years. This has direct,ly 

resulted in many organizations being able to provide new housing counseling services to members 

of their community. 

As we look to the future, NPRC believes that the proposed merger of Fleet and Bank Boston will 

expand and enhance Fleets ability to deliver improved banking services and community investment 

programs. With the expand financial capacity the merger will provide, we anticipate that Fleet 

will contribute more to the re-development and economic stability of our community through new 

community reinvestment programs, more flexible small business lending, responsible community 

and affordable housing lending, and sensitive consumer lending. Through improved charitable 

giving Fleet will help to support and stabilize important community programs which provide 

unique social, educational and cultural services to more than 3 million Hispanic Americans which 

reside in the Northeast. 

Based on the commitment to neighborhood investment, and corporate responsibility which Fleet 

has demonstrated in working with NPRC over the last six years, I encourage the Federal Reserve 

Bank to approve the merger between Fleet Financial Croup and BankBoston Corporation. 

Thank You. 
6tNC 

“Business in Partnership with the Community” 

Boston Chamber of Neighborhood Commerce l P.O. Box 35122 l Boston, MA 02135 . (617) 522-1552 l Fax (617) 562-7992 

Chairman 

Frank Moy, Jr. 

St. Elizabeth’s Medical 

Center 

1st Vice President 

Norman Levcnson 

West Fenway Business 

AssocialionlCopley Group 

2nd Vice President 

Bcrtram Alleync 

Grooe Hall Board of Trade/ 

Protecto Alarm 

Treasurer 

Nader Accvedo 

Fleet Bank 

Secretary 

Mark Luppi 

Citizens Bank 

Executive Advisor 

Robert Shortsleeve 

Jamaica Plain Business 

and Professional 

Association 

Executive Committee 

Edward Burke 

West Fenway Business 

Association 

Paul Guzzi 

Greater Boston Chamber of 

Commerce 

Barry Hoffman 

Back Bay Association 

Robert Imperato 

All&n Beard of Trade/ 

Boston Realty 

Mary Mulvcy-Jacobson 

West Roxbury Business 

and Professional 

Association 

Eleanor Jones 

Boston Edison 

Marvin Roscnkrantz 

Mission Hill Board of 

Trade 

Executive Director 

Carla E. Bennett 

July 7, 1999 

Fleet/BankBoston Merger Hearing 

My name is Frank Moy, Jr. and I am the Chairman of the Boston Chamber of Neighborhood Commerce (BCNC). The BCNC was formed 1991, during a difficult reccession 

period, by a group small business owners and representatives from every neighborhood 

business district in Boston representing several thousand neighborhood businesses. 

Recently the BCNC became an affiliate member of the Greater Boston Chamber of 

Commerce. 

The primary mission of the BCNC is to enhance the viability of Boston’s neighborhood 

commercial districts. 

The BCNC supports the Fleet/BankBoston Merger because both banks have New 

England roots and have been be active participants in promoting small business lending 

and banking services. Fleet and BankBoston provide financial and staff support to the 

BCNC. 

Staff from Fleet and BankBoston have and continue to serve on the BCNC Board of 

Directors and have participated in numerous workshops on small business leading 

procedures including credit scoring, the 5 C’s of credit, SBA Low Dot Program, 2nd 

look program if a loan is denied, and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Fleet 

and BankBoston have participated in business support programs on marketing, public 

relations/public review process, e-commerce, retail security, “One Stop Program at the 

Empowerment Center, and small business management. 

In closing, we support the Fleet and BankBoston merger because both organizations 

have a demonstrated their commitment to Boston’s small business community during 

good and bad economic times. 

Thank you. 

Sincerely yours, 

T& * 

Frank Moy, Jr. 

Chairman 

Members: Allston Board of Trade l Back Bay Association l Beacon Hill Board of Trade l Boston Main Streets l Bowdoin Street/Geneva AvenueMerchants 

Association l Brighton Board of Trade l Charlestown Business Association l Codman Square Merchant’s Association l Dorchester Board of Trade l 

Downtown Crossing Association l Downtown North Business Association l Dudley Square Merchant’s Association l East Boston Chamber of Commerce 

l Egleston Square Merchant’s Association l Field’s Corner Merchant’s Association l Fenway Board of Trade l Grove Hall Board of Trade l Haitian Business 

Development Council l Hyde Park Board of Trade l Hyde Square Business Association l Jamaica Plain Business and Professional Association l Kenmore 

Business Association l Lower MillsMerchant’s Association l Mattapan Boardof Trade l Mission Hill Board of Trade l Newbury Street League l Newmarket 

Business Association l Readvillc Merchant’s Association l Roslindale Board of Trade l South Boston Chamber of Commerce l Tremont Street Business 

Association l Upham’s Corner Board of Trade l Washington Street Business Group l West Fenway Business Association l West Roxbury Business 

Association