But what I can promise is that before we issue final capital rules, we will do everything possible to address the concerns that have been expressed by community bankers and still achieve the goal of having strong levels of high-quality capital – built up over a reasonable and realistic transitional period – in banks of all sizes, including community banks.
On July 6, 2004, I unveiled a 13-point reform agenda for the banking sector, which included the recapitalization of the deposit money banks and their consolidation through mergers and acquisitions.