MANAGEMENT POLICIES FOR COMMERCIAL BANKS.

By Howard D.Crosse '31. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1962. 310 pp.

Howard Crosse, Dartmouth '31, deserves congratulations for writing a book on commercial bank management policies which will be of genuine interest to both practical bankers and students of banking. Presently Vice President in charge of Bank Supervision with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he has drawn upon over thirty years of experience as bank examiner and operating officer to set forth his reasoned conclusions. The result is a well-balanced analysis of policies developed on a foundation of sound banking theory. As the title suggests, this book is not a description of detailed operating practices of banks; instead, it is a closely reasoned treatment of policies and problems that confront top management.

The first four chapters provide introductory background, dealing with banking functions, structure, and risks. From this point on the searchlight is turned on each of the major policy areas, including liquidity, loans, investments, capital adequacy, personnel, and community relations.

Readers will find the most original contribution in the chapters dealing with policies relating to bank liquidity and to adequacy of capital funds. Much confusion exists among both practical bankers and academicians with respect to the factors determining bank liquidity needs. Mr. Crosse succeeds in clearing this confusion by a well-balanced analysis of traditional and modern liquidity theories. His treatment of methods of measuring and determining capital adequacy is also sophisticated as well as practical. In particular, he emphasizes the uses and the limitations of ratios and formulas designed as measures of adequacy.

This is not just another book on banking. Rather, it is a real contribution to banking literature, and it will be read with profit by students, teachers, bank officers, bank directors, and interested laymen.