Washington, DC -- The Michigan Financial Institutions Bureau (FIB) has successfully completed the rigorous reaccreditation process of Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS). CSBS is the national association of the state officials responsible for chartering, regulating and supervising the nation's 6,876 state-chartered commercial and savings banks, and more than 400 state-licensed offices of foreign banks.

The Michigan Financial Institutions Bureau supervises 132 state-chartered banks with assets of more than $89 billion. Commissioner Patrick M. McQueen heads the Bureau; Donald Mann serves as Director of its Bank and Trust Division.

Michigan was among the first state banking departments to receive CSBS accreditation, in 1986, and is only the fourth state to have completed this demanding process a third time. CSBS has reviewed the FIB's performance annually since 1986, and conducted full-scale reaccreditation reviews in 1993, and again earlier this year.

CSBS accreditation seeks to strengthen state banking departments and to demonstrate the high quality of state banking departments to the general public, the federal banking agencies, Congress, and other state banking departments. The process begins with a Self-Evaluation Questionnaire, which reviews all aspects of the Department's operations: its mission, policies, procedures, funding, and statutory authority. Next, a Review Team of veteran state and federal regulators visits the department to determine whether it can effectively fulfill its responsibility of chartering, regulating and supervising the state's banks and bank holding companies. The Review Team reports its findings and makes a recommendation to CSBS's Performance Standards Committee, which votes on the final accreditation decision.

"By any standard, Commissioner Pat McQueen and the Michigan FIB stand among the nation's top bank regulators," said CSBS President and CEO Neil Milner in a statement today. "Michigan has always led the way in state banking, and I am confident that this tradition will continue into the next century."

Forty-three state banking departments have received this honor; CSBS-accredited state banking departments supervise approximately 95% of the nation's state-chartered banking assets.

The Financial Institutions Bureau is the primary regulator of Michigan's state-chartered banks, credit unions, savings banks, and over 4000 other licensed lenders.