HARRY HUGHES, Governor                                          4221

Harry Hughes
Governor

PROCLAMATION OF MAY 14, 1985

WHEREAS, Public confidence in the security of deposits in
privately-insured savings and loan associations has been
severely undermined by the recent financial crisis in Ohio;

WHEREAS, The crisis in Ohio and the subsequent closing there of
privately-insured savings and loan associations have led to
heightened sensitivity in this State concerning the fiscal
integrity and financial stability of privately-insured
savings and loan associations;

WHEREAS, Severe management problems at Old Court Savings and
Loan, Inc., a privately-insured savings and loan
association, led to the replacement of Old Court's chief
executive officer and the placement of Old Court under a
Maryland Savings-Share Insurance Corporation management
agreement;

WHEREAS, As a result of those events, Old Court began to
experience extraordinary withdrawals by alarmed depositors,
resulting in long congested lines affecting the orderly
business operations of Old Court and threatening the public
peace, all of which continued unabated until the involuntary
imposition of a court-ordered conservatorship and the
limitation on withdrawals in the amount of $1,000 per
account per 30-day period;

WHEREAS, Public confidence continued to erode and led to similar
events at yet a second savings and loan association, Merritt
Commercial Savings and Loan, Inc., another privately-insured
association, which events also continued unabated until the
voluntary acceptance of a court-ordered conservatorship and
identical limitations on withdrawals;

WHEREAS, This erosion of public confidence has now spread
throughout the State to other privately-insured savings and
loan associations, resulting in threats to the stability of
these institutions and of the Maryland Savings-Share
Insurance Corporation;

WHEREAS, If these circumstances are allowed to continue unabated,
there is an immediate danger that public safety will be
imperiled;

WHEREAS, A state of public crisis and emergency, threatening the
public safety, health, and welfare, exists within the State
of Maryland;