Letter from the editor.

Bexley, James B. "Jim"

Welcome to the Journal of Commercial Banking and Finance. This is the first issue of what we hope will be a journal that will be of equal value to academics and practitioners alike. The Academy of Commercial Banking and Finance is an affiliate of the Allied Academies, Inc., a non profit association of scholars whose purpose is to encourage and support the advancement and exchange of knowledge, understanding, and teaching throughout the world. The JCBF is one of the principal vehicles for achieving the objectives of the Academy. The editorial mission of this journal is to publish empirical, theoretical, and practitioner manuscripts and cases which will advance the discipline of banking and institutional finance.

Dr. James B. "Jim" Bexley, Chair, Smith-Hutson Endowed Chair of Banking at Sam Houston State University, is the Editor and Dr. Joe F. James of Sam Houston State University is the Associate Editor.

The JCBF has an established policy of accepting no more than 25% of the manuscripts submitted for publication, and all articles contained in this volume have been double blind refereed. The Academy does not take copyrights on cases or manuscripts it publishes, and the authors retain ownership of said cases and manuscripts.

It is our mission to foster a supportive, mentoring effort on the part of the referees which will result in encouraging and supporting writers. We welcome different viewpoints because in those differences we improve knowledge and understanding.

Information about the Allied Academies, parent organization of the ACBF, the JCBF, and the other journals published by the Academy, as well as calls for conferences, are published on our web site, www.alliedacademies.org, which is updated regularly. Please visit our site and know that we welcome hearing from you at any time.

James B. "Jim" Bexley

Chair, Smith-Hutson Endowed Chair of Banking

Sam Houston State University

www.alliedacademies.org