3/28/02

AU'S BARTH TO SPEAK ON IMPACT OF BANK REGULATION/SUPERVISION

AUBURN -- James Barth, the Lowder Eminent Scholar in Finance at Auburn University, will present research findings at four financial conferences over the next several months in India, South Africa, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Barth, who teaches and does research in AU's College of Business, will discuss the impact of bank regulatory and supervisory policies on economic development.

He will also provide critical information to national policymakers struggling with banking system reform in their home country.

Bank regulation and supervision are the subjects of ongoing research, conducted by Barth, as part of a larger effort by the World Bank to help countries strengthen their financial systems, grow their economies, and restructure and modernize institutions.

The latest study, entitled Bank Regulation and Supervision: What Works Best?, was released by the World Bank in February. Barth and other contributors to the study have presented early versions of their study at Harvard University, the University of Michigan, Stanford University and Yale University as well as at various conferences throughout the world during the past year.

Barth says the study also has implications for the state of Alabama because as the U.S. economy continues its shift toward a service-oriented focus, the financial sector becomes ever more important. It plays a critical role in allocating earnings to these investment projects that will likely result in more jobs as well as greater opportunities for advancement.

Currently, five of the nationąs largest banking companies are headquartered in Alabama, and Birmingham is the fourth largest banking center in the United States.

Barth, a Senior Fellow at the Milken Institute, was chief economist for the federal Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board before coming to AU in 1990. He is the author of The Great Savings and Loan Debacle.

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CONTACT: Barth, 334/844-2469.