The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) are looking for ways to reduce unnecessary burden on insured depository institutions. The agencies are undertaking this effort in accordance with the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA).

We are seeking your help in this effort by asking you to review rules in various categories and identify any provisions that you believe are outdated, unnecessary or unduly burdensome. We are currently seeking comments on the lending-related consumer protection rules. The rules in that category, as well as more information about our efforts to reduce regulatory burden, are included in the attached Federal Register notice.

Comments on the rules under review are due by April 20, 2004. You may submit your comments directly to the agencies on the EGRPRPA Web site at www.EGRPRA.gov or you may send your comments to the addresses listed in the attached Federal Register notice.

Working together, I am confident that we can reduce unnecessary regulatory burden by finding ways to regulate that are more intelligent, more efficient and less burdensome for all insured institutions. For more information about this interagency regulatory burden reduction project, please visit www.EGRPRA.gov or contact Claude A. Rollin of my staff at (202) 898-8741.

# # #