An uninformed business leader is a leader without a vision and quite likely without any success. Ladies and Gentlemen, we meet today at a challenging time with many headwinds going forward. The global economy is on a downhill path and financial turbulence continues to affect the masses across the globe.
One other matter is the recently issued Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) proposed rule that would significantly change supervisory implementation and qualifying activities. I strongly encourage you to review this proposal and comment so that banks subject to the CRA understand the changes and will be able to continue to effectively serve their customers and communities.