The Banking Department is charged with protecting the public's interest by regulating and supervising an estimated 3,100 State chartered banking institutions with total assets of approximately $1.8 trillion.

The Banking Department is included in the Public Protection and General Government appropriation bill.

The Executive proposes All Funds appropriations totaling $73,288,000, a decrease of $1,760,000 or 2.3 percent over State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2002-03. The Banking Department is supported entirely by fees charged to regulated financial institutions and organizations.

State Operations

The Executive recommends support in SFY 2003-04 for the following programs:

• a net decrease of $1,787,000 to reflect salary adjustments, elimination of vacant positions, continuation of the hiring freeze and other costs associated with agency operations;

• a suballocation in the amount of $227,000 from the Banking Department to the Office of Inspector General for services and expenses related to investigating fraud; and

• a suballocation to the Departments of Law and Taxation and Finance in the amount of $938,000 for the services and expenses incurred on behalf of the Crime Proceeds Task Force.

The Executive proposal maintains support for the following programs:

• the Governor recommends $647,000 to continue the ongoing efforts of the Holocaust office. This office funds 12 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions to assist survivors of the Holocaust or their heirs in making claims on assets believed to have been in existence during the time period of 1933-1945. In addition, the State Insurance Department suballocates $447,000 to the Banking Department to assist these efforts;

• the Banking Department maintains offices in two overseas locations including London and Tokyo. The costs of these offices are funded through assessments made on banking institutions. The costs for these offices in SFY 2003-04 are $1,082,723 and $1,149,965, respectively;

• support to enforce the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Safety Program, allowing the Banking Department to comply with the Automated Teller Machine Safety Act of 1996; and

• the Executive Budget provides $2,700,000 in a Contingency appropriation for services and expenses related to insurance of funds transmitted by certain entities electronically, in the event of insolvency on the part of these entities.