Speeches and Congressional testimony

US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Quarterly Journal, Sep 2002

It's not an effort we expect the industry to undertake on its own, of course. As with technology, we in government are leading by example, and we're working in partnership with others to promote the cause of financial literacy.

I'm proud to report that the Treasury Department and its bureaus-especially the OCC-have been extremely active in this effort.

OCC has published resource guides and advisories to banks and others in search of ideas about where to obtain financial education and about how to help. We participate in the National Forum to Promote Low-Income Savings, an effort directed by the Consumer Federation of America to increase the savings rate in local communities. The OCC is one of only four federal agencies to have a formal partnership with the National Academy Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing young people for careers in the fields of finance, travel and tourism, and information technology.

And, of course, we work closely with banks, individually and through organizations like CBA, encouraging them to expand the scope and quality of their financial literacy activities.

Indeed, I believe it says something about our success in regard to numbers-numbers of banks participating and number of clients served, for example-that we're turning more to the question of program quality. Success in the financial literacy area cannot be measured simply in terms of raw statistics. We have to develop qualitative measures of our programs' effectiveness. We must set standards and measure outcomes where appropriate. I'm encouraged to see that many banks are engaging their community-based partners and other independent parties to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs.

Let me close by once again commending CBA and the banking industry for your important work in reaching out to the unbanked, the underbanked, and those in need of more and better information about their financial options. But we can't stop here, because the truth is that your work-our work-has just begun. There are millions more who remain outside the banking system-and outside the mainstream of our economy. We will never achieve our full potential as a nation as long as that's the case. And the banking industry will miss out on opportunities to serve, to grow, and to profit.

Reach out because it is the right thing to do; reach out because the American people need you. But do it most of all because it's good business. After all, doing good by doing well is the American way.

Statement of John D. Hawke, Jr., Comptroller of the Currency, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, on ending inequitable treatment of national banks, Washington, D.C., April 23, 2002

Statement required by 12 USC 250: The views expressed herein are those of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and do not necessarily represent the views of the President.

Introduction

Chairman Sarbanes, Senator Gramm, and members of the committee, I am pleased to have this opportunity to present the views of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on deposit insurance reform. As the current and most recent past chairmen of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have noted-and as I strongly agree-the system of federal deposit insurance adopted by the Congress in the early 1930s has served this nation well for the greater part of a century. No massive overhaul of the system is required to ensure that it will continue to contribute to financial confidence and stability in the twenty-first century.