CHGDEL: Adoption of FAS 159 by some banks in 2008:1

The adoption by some banks of FAS 159, The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, affected charge-off and delinquency rate data for 2008:1. Because the effects of the accounting change on the dollar volume of loans reported on banks' loan books were small, the effects of the accounting change on banks' charge-off and delinquency rates were presumably small for the industry as a whole. Information on the dollar impacts on banks' loan books can be found on page 14 in the "Notes on the Data" section beginning with the April 11, H.8, Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Bank in the United States, statistical release. For more information on FAS 159, please refer to www.fasb.org/st/summary/stsum159.shtml.