MEDIA RELEASE / December 4, 2008

Conference of State Bank Supervisors
1155 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20036

Massachusetts Becomes First State Accredited Under CSBS Mortgage Supervision Program

Washington, D.C. – The Conference of State Bank Supervisors announced today that the Massachusetts Division of Banks is the first state agency to become accredited under the recently-launched CSBS Mortgage Supervision Accreditation Program.

The grant of accreditation signifies that the Massachusetts Division of Banks has demonstrated conformance with the highest standards of mortgage supervision and regulation.

Massachusetts was also one of the first states in the country to join the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) in January 2008. Twenty state agencies are now utilizing this comprehensive system to manage their licensed mortgage lenders, brokers and originators. In the near future, all state mortgage regulators will be utilizing the NMLS.

In announcing the certification, Neil Milner, president and CEO of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, congratulated Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks Steven L. Antonakes and his staff, commenting that the new accreditation acknowledges the fact that the states are the front-line regulators of mortgage lenders.

“We believe that this new CSBS designation demonstrates in the most concrete fashion that state banking departments are well positioned to fulfill the responsibilities placed on them by state and federal legislation, including the provisions noted in Title V of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008,” Milner said.

“An effective mortgage supervisory program is essential to ensure consumer protection,” Commissioner Antonakes added. “We remain committed to providing immediate assistance to homeowners and implementing recent legislation signed by Governor Patrick to increase standards in the mortgage industry.”

The goal of the CSBS Mortgage Accreditation program is to encourage state mortgage regulatory agencies to enhance their capability to promote excellence in mortgage regulation with a minimum of regulatory burden and cost, and to assist them in achieving that capability.

Specific goals of the Program include:

• To provide guidance and assistance to state mortgage regulators through self-evaluation and self-improvement.
• To provide independent evidence of the capability of an accredited state mortgage regulator, in view of the interstate mortgage provider environment.
• To assist each agency by providing documentation that may help it to obtain the resources necessary to assure the effectiveness of state mortgage regulation.
• To strengthen the mortgage regulation system by demonstrating to Congress, the federal regulatory agencies, other state regulatory agencies and the public, the high level of capability of each accredited state mortgage regulator.
• To provide unifying standards for supervision in order to promote uniformity.

The Mortgage Accreditation program involves a comprehensive review of the critical elements that assure a state regulator's ability to discharge its mortgage supervisory responsibilities.

Besides the Mortgage Accreditation Program, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors also sponsors a comprehensive State Banking Department Accreditation Program, which was developed in the early 1980s to recognize and enhance overall excellence in state regulation. To date, 47 departments have attained this designation.

Details about the Mortgage Supervision Accreditation program may be found on the CSBS Web site at http://www.csbs.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ProfessionalDevelopment/DepartmentAccreditation/department_accredita.htm

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The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) is the nationwide organization for state banking, representing the bank regulators of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and approximately 6,100 state-chartered financial institutions. CSBS also is responsible for improving the quality of state bank supervision by providing department performance evaluation and accreditation programs and supervisory education/training programs for state banking department personnel.

Information Contact: Georgia High, Vice President, Accreditation and Certification, ghigh@csbs.org, (202) 329-7188