William Bryan: “I share the observation and the conclusion reached by the distinguished ranking member. That is precisely the case. As…”

“I share the observation and the conclusion reached by the distinguished ranking member. That is precisely the case. As the Senator from Maryland knows, we are dealing with a changing dynamic in the financial marketplace. That really is the catalyst that brings us into this financial restructuring debate. The Senator may have been off the floor when I shared the observation that the Treasury Secretary made, which reflects the view that the Senator has expounded upon. He says, in effect: [I]f we wish to preserve the relevance of CRA at a time when the relative importance of bank mergers may decline and the establishment of non-bank financial [services] will become increasingly important, the authority to engage in newly authorized activities should be connected to. . .CRA. He is saying that much better than I. He is saying, in effect: Look, this marketplace is shifting, it is moving. From what we have seen historically, since CRA has been in effect, with the traditional consolidation and mergers of one bank with another, that is not likely to be where the dynamic is in the marketplace in the future. We have already seen it. What we are going to see are consolidations and mergers with other aspects of the financial services community--insurance and securities. And if you say that CRA has no reference or application to those applications, in effect you are relegating CRA to the dustbin of history; by and large, it is no longer as relevant as it is currently.…”