PLATFORM : Minority S

Minority-owned S&Ls; are important because they are a primary source of capital for minorities to purchase homes or build small businesses. However, minority S&Ls; have been folding. In 1980 there were 88 minority S&Ls--29; of them Latino. Today, there are 44 minority S&Ls; and only eight are Latino.

These institutions are being forced to sell or are being taken over by the regulators, the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). The government regulators have been punishing the remaining S&Ls; for the sins of bad S&Ls; by imposing greater capital (reserve) requirements--regulations so stringent that they’re hurting many minority S&Ls.; It’s unfair because the (mainstream) S&Ls; have redlined--discriminated against the minority community.

(The OTS) recently pledged to assist minority-owned S&Ls; and give limited exemptions from capital rules. That would be a giant step. We hope it’s not just an (OTS) public relations effort.