Experience clearly demonstrates that industry players in financial services will pursue business opportunities presented by technology and financial innovation with or without the banking community. The most ready examples of this are investment bankers' increased provision of business capital through syndication and securitization of commercial loans, to the disadvantage of commercial bank lending, and the procurement of a unitary thrift charter facilitating the furnishing of potentially nationwide banking services by the State Farm Insurance Company. I make a commitment to you to be an advocate for whatever statutory and regulatory changes are necessary, and appropriate , to allow the banking industry to operate with the same flexibility as a myriad of other financial services providers, financial or non-financial. I make the commitment, however, with this caveat. I believe it is incumbent upon the banking industry to be public advocates of enhanced supervision through the bank examination process.
Transparency is an over-used word in our business but it is appropriate.
If we have forgotten that truth, the turmoil in the capital markets of emerging countries should be a cold and hard reminder. The general public has little interest in or knowledge about the legal and accounting niceties of conducting non-traditional banking functions in subsidiaries or through holding company structures. Along the same lines, consider for a moment the consumer side of traditional banking. You know that I have been a strong supporter of CRA and fair lending standards, and last year's revision of the CRA regulatory provisions established a performance basis for evaluating banks' community lending and investment activities. While no government agency can require a bank to be a public advocate for expanded community lending and investment or for basic banking services, I do want to urge all of you to be public supporters of these policies.