January 31, 2001 Activity Report

BOARD OF BANK INCORPORATION

Hearings

There are no public hearings scheduled for the month of February 2001.

DIVISION OF BANKS

Decisions

Industrial Credit Union, Boston - permission to relocate its main office from 126 State Street, Boston to One Liberty Square, Boston - approved January 17, 2001.

Mt. Washington Co-operative Bank, South Boston - permission to establish a branch office at 501 Southampton Street, Andrew Square, South Boston - approved January 31, 2001.

Provident Bank (The), Amesbury - permission to establish a branch office at 66 Storey Avenue, Newburyport - approved January 26, 2001.

St. Anne's Credit Union of Fall River, Fall River - permission to establish a branch office at 93 Adams Street, Fairhaven - approved January 11, 2001.

Woronoco Savings Bank, Westfield - permission to (1) relocate a branch office from 119 Winsor Street to 431 Center Street, Ludlow; and (2) establish a branch office at 72 Shaker Road, East Longmeadow - approved January 26, 2001.

Note: Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union, Lowell was approved on December 29, 2000 to establish a branch office at 150 Westford Road, Tyngsboro. However, the approval of that transaction did not appear on the December 29, 2000 Activity Report.

Applications Pending

Boston Bank of Commerce (The) ("the Bank"), Boston, Massachusetts and Founders National Bank of Los Angeles ("Founders"), Los Angeles, California- permission to merge Founders with and into the Bank under the charter, by-laws and name of The Boston Bank of Commerce. The main office of the Bank would remain the main office of the continuing institution and all of the banking offices of Founders would be retained as branch offices. Comment period ended November 24, 2000.

City of Boston Credit Union, Boston - permission to establish a branch office at 53-55 Tolman Street, Dorchester. Comment period ended January 16, 2001.

First Essex Bank, FSB ("Bank"), Lawrence - permission to convert to a state-chartered savings bank under the name First Essex Bank. The main office of the Bank will remain at 296 Essex Street, Lawrence. Comment period ended December 21, 2000.

General Electric River Works Employees Credit Union (the "Credit Union"), Lynn - permission to amend its by-laws to (1) expand membership eligibility to now include those who live, work or worship in Essex County or reside within twenty-five miles of the main office of the Credit Union, as well as other changes which include, but are not limited to, various relationships with General Electric Company, as specified in the proposed by-law; and (2) change the name of the Credit Union to West Lynn Credit Union. Comment periods ended June 22, 2000.

Lowell Co-operative Bank, Lowell - permission to establish a branch office at 687 Rogers Street, Lowell. Comment period ends February 16, 2001.

Metropolitan Credit Union ("Metropolitan"), Chelsea and Millipore Employees Federal Credit Union ("Millipore"), Bedford - permission to merge Millipore with and into Metropolitan under the charter, by-laws and name of Metropolitan Credit Union. The main office of Metropolitan would remain the main office of the continuing credit union and the sole banking office of Millipore would not be retained as a branch office. As part of this transaction, the by-laws of Metropolitan would be amended to change membership eligibility. Comment period ends February 15, 2001.

MetroWest Bank, Framingham - permission to establish branch offices at (1) 45 Lincoln Street, Newton Highlands; and (2) 15 Broad Street, Boston. Comment periods end February 12, 2001.

Provident Bank (The) ("Provident"), Amesbury and The Amesbury Co-operative Bank ("Amesbury"), Amesbury - permission to merge Amesbury with and into Provident under the charter, by-laws and name of The Provident Bank. As part of this transaction, a petition has been filed to close the sole banking office of Amesbury after the merger, if the application is approved. Comment period ended November 20, 2000.

Reading Co-operative Bank, Reading - permission to establish a branch office at 170 Park Street, North Reading. Comment period ends February 16, 2001.

Springfield Mass. Municipal Employees Credit Union, Springfield - permission to amend its by-laws to expand the associations which qualify persons for membership. The amendment relative to membership eligibility would now include individuals who work, reside or attend school in Hampden and Hampshire Counties. Comment period ended December 21, 2000.

FEBRUARY 2001 FILING DATE

Complete applications for the February Activity Report must be received by the Division or the Board on or before 5:00 P.M., Thursday, February 15, 2001.

COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT DESCRIPTIVE RATINGS AND EVALUATIONS
WHICH BECAME PUBLIC DURING THE MONTH

The following state-chartered institutions have Community Reinvestment Act Descriptive Ratings and Evaluations describing the basis for the Rating issued by the Division of Banks pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws chapter 167, section 14. The ratings, as set out in the statute, for a bank's record of meeting community credit needs are: Outstanding ("O"); High Satisfactory ("HS"); Satisfactory ("S"); Needs to Improve ("NI"); and Substantial Noncompliance ("SNC").

Applications to Sell Insurance

Bridgewater Savings Bank, Bridgewater - approved 01/19/01
Savings Bank (The), Wakefield - approved 01/08/01
Central Co-operative Bank, Somerville - pending
City Savings Bank, Pittsfield - pending
Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank (The), Lowell - pending
radius financial group, inc., Braintree - pending

Miscellaneous

Official action was taken to delay the effective date of the Division of Banks' (the "Division") high cost mortgage loan regulations, 209 CMR 32.00 et seq. and 209 CMR 42.00 et seq. from January 22, 2001 to March 22, 2001. A public hearing to complete the process for delaying these regulations has been rescheduled from March 5, 2001 to March 12, 2001 at 10:00 a .m. at One South Station, Boston.

Additionally on January 3, 2001, the Division filed its proposed regulation 209 CMR 40.00: UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN CONSUMER TRANSACTIONS, with the Clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives as required by section 2A of chapter 167 of the General Laws.

NEW SERVICE

PLEASE NOTE: The Division of Banks now offers email delivery of its publications, including the Monthly Activity Report. You now have the option of receiving the publication in an email addressed to you instead of by postal mail. Your participation is encouraged. To subscribe, simply send an email to:

dobactivityreport-subscribe@listserv.state.ma.us

If you need assistance or have questions, please contact Bernard N. Waxman at 617.956.1571.

For information relative to current Activity Reports please contact the Consumer Assistance Unit.