Purchases of stocks held by commercial banks  The Bank had been purchasing stocks held by commercial banks since November 2002 to reduce the risk that stock price fluctuations might impact negatively upon the business management of individual financial institutions, potentially resulting in instability of the financial system as a whole. This program was wound up at the end of September 2004.
And, we are automating more of our internal processes and systems to improve our service to you. The new economy is not something that will just happen. It is something that we have to make happen. Let us use this Week of Excellence to jumpstart our thinking and our actions in this area.