FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2008
Contact: Jason Moon 517-335-1700

LANSING- The Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) has successfully completed the rigorous reaccreditation process of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS). CSBS is the national association of the state officials responsible for chartering, regulating and supervising the nation's 6,107 state-chartered commercial and savings banks.

"We are delighted that after a thorough review of our agency’s regulatory practices, OFIR has met the high standards set forth in CSBS’s accreditation program,” OFIR Commissioner Ken Ross said.

OFIR currently regulates 137 state-chartered banks with assets of more than $107 billion. In 1986, Michigan was among the first state banking departments to receive CSBS accreditation and this year’s accreditation marks the fifth consecutive certification for the agency.

CSBS accreditation seeks to strengthen state banking departments and to demonstrate the high quality of state banking regulation to the general public, the federal banking agencies, Congress, and other state banking departments. The process begins with a comprehensive self-evaluation questionnaire, in which the department reports on and evaluates all aspects of its operations: its mission, policies, procedures, funding, staffing and statutory authority. Next, a review team of veteran state and federal regulators visits the department to conduct an on-site assessment of whether it can effectively fulfill its responsibility of chartering, regulating and supervising the state's banks. The review team reports its findings and makes a recommendation to CSBS's Performance Standards Committee, which votes whether to re-accredit.

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