BUFFALO, N.Y., Nov. 29, 2011 -- M&T Bank has received an "Outstanding" Community Reinvestment Act rating from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, representing the highest possible rating of how well the bank meets the credit needs of its communities.

M&T has earned the highest rating awarded by the Federal Reserve Bank on each of its period CRA exams since 1982. Major factors of the bank's performance cited by the Federal Reserve include:

• The bank was a leader in making community development loans and qualified investments.
• Retail delivery systems were readily accessible to all portions of the bank's assessment areas.
• The distribution of loans to individuals of different income levels and businesses of different sizes was good.
• The bank's community development lending volume "generally exceeded similarly-situated banks in the New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland full scope assessment area…M&T's community development lending was responsive to community needs."

The exam highlighted 456 community development loans made by M&T during the two-year assessment period for a total of more than $2.3 billion, a significant increase over the $1.9 billion made by M&T during its last two-year assessment period.

"While we've increased lending for the construction of affordable housing, health care facilities, senior housing and other community development projects in cities and towns where our employees live and work, we've also maintained lower loan losses than almost all other U.S. regional banks. Our experience shows community development lending, when done effectively and responsibly, can benefit the neighbors and communities we serve," said JoAnne Schwartz, Corporate CRA Officer for M&T.

The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 was enacted by Congress to encourage financial institutions to meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate.

The CRA exam measures a number of factors, including the depth of a bank's community development lending, the distribution of small business and home mortgage loans in communities served by the bank, the availability of bank branches and services in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods and the bank's commitment to offering "community development services."

The exam cited M&T as a leader in community development services, including sponsoring and participating in a significant number of seminars and presentations relating to affordable mortgages, small business assistance, and other banking education throughout its geographic areas. M&T provided financial or volunteer assistance for 1,876 events, such as financial literacy seminars and mortgage education programs, during the assessment period.

The 2011 rating issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reflects M&T's community reinvestment performance through December 31, 2009. Federal regulators spend months reviewing the bank's lending, service and investment data to determine the rating.

M&T Bank, founded in 1856, is one of the top 20 independent commercial bank holding companies in the nation, with $78 billion in assets and more than 770 retail and commercial branch offices in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Ontario, Canada. Read more about M&T Bank online at www.mtb.com/newsroom.

Media Contacts:

Delaware:  

Megen Morris 

(302)651-1462

Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia:  

Philip Hosmer 

(410)949-3042

New York:  

Chet Bridger 

(716)842-5182

Pennsylvania, New Jersey:  

Kent Wissinger 

(717)237-6110