Mechanics and Farmers Bank CEO Kim D. Saunders was asked by U.S. Representative Melvin Watt, chairman of the Subcommittee of Oversight and Investigations, to speak before that Subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services in Washington, DC on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. at the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing's topic is "Preserving and Expanding Minority Banks," the first in a series of hearings focusing on the role of women and minorities in the financial services industry. This hearing will focus on the role of minority-owned financial institutions in the U.S. economy and examine the roles and responsibilities of the federal government in preserving and expanding minority-owned financial institutions. Saunders will discuss banking regulators' efforts to support minority banks and make specific recommendations to enhance those efforts.

Saunders, recent recipient of an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Shaw University, uniquely understands the hearing's topic as CEO of Mechanics and Farmers Bank, an African American owned financial institution celebrating its 100th anniversary throughout 2007 and 2008. "Every year we have been open, we've been profitable," Saunders said. "It's an achievement that few businesses in our country can claim. It makes us particularly well-positioned to speak to the subject before Congressman Watt's committee." M&F Bancorp, the bank's parent company, has used that success to build a network that now spans nine branches with locations in Durham, Raleigh, Charlotte and Winston-Salem.

Mechanics and Farmers Bank (M&F Bank), a state-chartered commercial bank, has operated continuously and profitably since 1908. The Bank's mission is to meet the financial services needs of the communities it serves, promote personal and community development, and to provide quality service to all while continuing its tradition of serving those who historically have been underserved. M&F Bank is the wholly owned subsidiary of M&F Bancorp, Inc., a one-bank holding company headquartered in Durham, NC, with assets of approximately $244 million as of June 30, 2007. The Company's common stock is quoted in the over-the-counter market through the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "MFBP."

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