Welcome to Inner City Press’ CRA Report. Our other Reporters cover the financial services industry, human rights, the Federal Reserve, and other beats. ICP has published a book about the CRA-relevant topic of predatory lending - click here for sample chapters, a map, and ordering information. CBS MarketWatch of April 23, 2004, says the the novel has "some very funny moments," and that the non-fiction mixes "global statistics and first-person accounts." The Washington Post of March 15, 2004, calls Predatory Bender: America in the Aughts "the first novel about predatory lending;" the London Times of April 15, 2004, "A Novel Approach," said it "has a cast of colorful characters." See also, "City Lit: Roman a Klepto [Review of 'Predatory Bender']," City Limits, Oct. 2004. The Pittsburgh City Paper says the 100-page afterword makes the "indispensable point that predatory lending is now being aggressively exported to the rest of the globe." Click here for that review; click here to Search This Site Click here for Inner City Press' weekday news reports, from the United Nations and elsewhere.
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See, in November 2021, Inner City Press' book "Belt and Roadkill,"
here
SOUTH
BRONX, Dec
18 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying. After they applied late March 20,
Inner City Press submitted a second Freedom of
Information Act request to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (and to the Federal
Reserve).
On
May 14 - still without providing FOIA documents
- the OCC and Fed set a July 19 virtual public
meeting.
On
the eve of it, Capital One announced a vague and
less than credible plan - they previously
violated their ING Direct pledge - including
this time $75 billion in largely subprime auto
loans. Fair Finance Watch testified for three
minutes.
On
June 25 the OCC belatedly responded to Inner
City Press' FOIA request - by withholding in
full 185 pages. OCC FOIA production on
DocumentCloud here.
Inner City Press appealed.
On July 24, the very day on which the OCC and
Fed said they were closing the written comment
period, the OCC upheld in full its FOIA denials,
determination letter on Inner City Press'
Document Cloud here.
Inner City Press has requested an extension of
the comment periods - the Fed hasn't even
responded.
Meanwhile
Capitol One lobbying continues even now in mid
December, for example in Pennsylvania, here
Without
approvals, now the banks have set shareholders'
votes for February 18, 2025.
As
documented by Fair Finance Watch, Discover Bank
in 2022 denied mortgage loans application from
African Americans more than twice as frequently
as those of whites. It grew worse in the
just-out 2023 data.
Previously, Inner City Press and NCRC challenged Capital One's acquisition of ING Direct, see here.This time, given the antitrust enforcement claims being made in DC, this proposal should be denied. But will it be? Watch this site.
***
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 12 – The Federal Reserve - both the Board of
Governors in Washington and the FRBNY - have
been sued by Banco San Juan International for
the terminal of its master account(s).
On
the motion to dismiss, oral arguments were held
on December 12 before U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New York Judge John G.
Koeltl. Inner City Press was there. Thread:
Fed's
lawyers from Simpson Thacher law firm cite
Custodia (crypto) case. Does this outside
counsel rep raise conflicts of interest on
mergers?
Note:
Simpson Thacher represents many banks applying
to the Fed for merger approvals - why did
the Fed, which has many in house lawyers,
have to hire them? And isn't there now a
conflict of interest on the merger applications?
Fed: The Reserve Banks are not govt
Fed
/ Simpson Thacher: Congress has not provided
these [edgy] banks any remedy. Anyway we've
shown good faith in closing their master
account. [Isn't this now a variant of the
de-banking legislation in Congress?]
Fed
/ Simpson Thacher: The FRBNY, like me, is not
subject to the 5th Amendment, as a private
citizen.
FRBoard
Joshua: We don't know why the Board is in this
case. Judge: The plaintiff argues that the Board
controlled the decision FRBoard: We're not
responsible
Plaintiff:
The banks is down to 10 accounts, with $20,000
in them. It is for all intents & purposes
closed. We may appeal to the Supreme Court, now
that deference to agencies [Chevron]. The court
in Custodia denied the Fed's [Simpson
Thacher's?] motion to dusmiss
Plaintiff:
The Fed never closed the master accounts of
Deutsche Bank, despite wrongdoing - and what
about "Toronto Dominion, which pled guilty to
money laundering"?
[Note:
TD's Leonardo Ayala is being prosecuted in the
District of NJ]
Inner
City Press will stay on these cases.
This case is Banco San Juan Internacional, Inc. v. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, et al., 1:23-cv-06414 (Koeltl)
***
SOUTH
BRONX, Dec
6 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying. After they applied late March 20,
Inner City Press submitted a second Freedom of
Information Act request to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (and to the Federal
Reserve).
On
May 14 - still without providing FOIA documents
- the OCC and Fed set a July 19 virtual public
meeting.
On
the eve of it, Capital One announced a vague and
less than credible plan - they previously
violated their ING Direct pledge - including
this time $75 billion in largely subprime auto
loans. Fair Finance Watch testified for three
minutes.
On
June 25 the OCC belatedly responded to Inner
City Press' FOIA request - by withholding in
full 185 pages. OCC FOIA production on
DocumentCloud here.
Inner City Press appealed.
On July 24, the very day on which the OCC and
Fed said they were closing the written comment
period, the OCC upheld in full its FOIA denials,
determination letter on Inner City Press'
Document Cloud here.
Inner City Press has requested an extension of
the comment periods - the Fed hasn't even
responded.
Meanwhile
Capitol One lobbying continues even now in
December, for example a New Hampshire "IT
executive," here
As
documented by Fair Finance Watch, Discover Bank
in 2022 denied mortgage loans application from
African Americans more than twice as frequently
as those of whites. It grew worse in the
just-out 2023 data.
Previously, Inner City Press and NCRC challenged Capital One's acquisition of ING Direct, see here.This time, given the antitrust enforcement claims being made in DC, this proposal should be denied. But will it be? Watch this site.
***
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX,
Nov 25 –As ConnectOne Bank and First National
Bank of Long Island congratulate themselves on a
merger proposal, the preliminary review by Fair
Finance Watch finds problems.
ConnectOne, taking deposits in New York, New
Jersey and Florida, in 2023 made only one
mortgage loan to an African American
applicant.
Meanwhile First National Bank of Long Island,
after a weak and disparate lending performance
in 2023, now lists on its website that mortgages
are only offered through Rocket Mortgage. How do
and would these two banks - which should be kept
separate and not be allowed the merge, under the
Community Reinvestment Act, serve communities.
It appears that they don't.
Inner
City Press has now FOIA-ed and challenged the
required applications for regulatory approval,
on November 18 to the FDIC.
On
November 25 the FDIC wrote to ConnectOne
Bank Frank S. Sorrentino, III – Chairman
and CEO that Fair Finance Watch "raises issues
regarding both bank’s records of lending to
African American persons in New York and
nationwide, respectively. The anticipated
time and review required to investigate
these issues has necessitated the removal of the
application from expedited processing." FDIC
letter on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here
Watch this site
***
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
FEDERAL COURT, Nov 20 –
Sterling Bancorp, which settled with DOJ on
securities fraud, it trying to sell its Sterling
Bank & Trust including in New York, where it
has a need to improve CRA Investment Test rating
to Everbank. Fair Finance Watch with Inner City
Press on the FOIA has filed a timely first
comment on, the Applications
This is a request for a full copy of, and a
timely first comment on, the Applications of
EverBank to acquire Sterling Bank & Trust
(with a rare Needs to Improve CRA rating on
Investment Test in New York), and not scandal
plagued Sterling
Bancorp.
Sterling Bancorp was recently prosecuted by DOJ;
EverBank purports that by buying the bank
portion it is not touched by the scandal. But
what is the showing that the criminal conduct at
the Bancorp was entirely insulated from the bank
and those who work there, and its
practices? As a
CRA matter, militating for a hearing, Sterling
Bank has a rare Needs to Improve rating on the
investment test in NY. The rest of that
Performance Evaluation is not credit - it talks
about and praises mortgage lending when the HMDA
data show negligible volume. Inner City
Press is requesting an extension of the public
comment period, public / virtual evidentiary
hearings and that, on the current record, the
applications not be
approved FFW and
Inner City Press have been deeply concerned
about the rush by the Federal Reserve to
rubber-stamp mergers by redliners, money
launderers and predatory lenders. This has been
killing the Community Reinvestment Act and we
timely request public hearings
***
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
FEDERAL COURT, Nov 4 –
In the Midwest, Busey Bank is trying to move
into the Kansas City area via merger, with a
disparate lending record. Fair Finance Watch
with Inner City Press on the FOIA has filed a
timely first comment on, the Applications
Van Dukeman, First Busey's CEO called it a
"great fit from a cultural perspective." But
consider Busey Bank's culture - including
contempt for CRA, its disparate lending
record:
First
Busey's Busey Bank in Illinois in 2023 - data
not yet included in any CRA exam - made 1163
mortgage loans to whites, and only 772 loans to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 216
applications from whites, and fully 24 from
African Americans. Busey Bank should be referred
to DOJ.
Busey
Bank in Missouri in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 49 mortgage loans to
whites, and onlyseven loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 21
applications from whites, and fully eight from
African Americans
Busey
Bank in Indiana in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 22 mortgage loans to
whites, and only two loans to African
Americans.
Busey
Bank in Florida in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 80 mortgage loans to
whites, and only ONE loan to an African
American.
There
is litigation, for example under the FCRA, here
- dropped without explanation, presumable
settled, the FRB should ask First Busey about
all outstanding consumer litigation.
And
there was the First Busey board member,
Elisabeth Kimmel, caught in the college
admissions scandal, here.
When
the Fed provided the application, the banks had
withheld their CRA data. So, "This is a formal
FOIA request for the withheld exhibits to the
First Busey / CrossFirst application, in
particular "Confidential" Exhibits 9 ("First
Busey Community Reinvestment Act Data") and 10
("CrossFirst Community Reinvestment Act data").
This is presumptively public."
Rather
than provide the CRA info, First Busey's Monica
L. Bowe, Executive Vice President & Chief
Risk Officer of First Busey Corporation - and of
the Risk Management Association- submitted a
letter saying CRA conditions are never attached
- false, and telling.
Inner
City Press' FOIA request? The Fed on November 4
extended its time to reply - and unlike other
less arrogant banks, First Busey has provided
nothing. Watch this site.
***
SOUTH
BRONX,
Nov 5 – As US bank regulators talk about working
to increase the fairness of the financial
system, and closely scrutinizing mergers and the
spread of bad practices, banks continue to
assume they can combine.
Before the Capital One - Discover proposal, and
ABA lawsuit against the Community Reinvestment
Act regulation, there was FirstSun Capital
Bancorp of Denver and Dallas saying it will
merge with Homestreet, Inc. and Homestreet Bank
of Seattle, Washington.
On February 23 Fair Finance Watch with Inner
City Press on the FOIA filed a protest:
"FirstSun's flagship Sunflower Bank, in Texas in
2022, made 694 mortgage loans to whites, and
only 41 to African Americans. Meanwhile it
denied 12 applications from African Americans,
and only 34 from whites. This is
disparate, and more disparate both than the
aggregate in Texas.
Nationwide in 2022, Sunflower Bank made 3059
mortgage loans to whites, and only 194 to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied 49
applications from African Americans, and only
259 from whites.
For the record, on managerial resources and
otherwise, note that on September 27, 2023,
FirstSun Capital Bancorp, the parent company of
Sunflower Bank, Guardian Mortgage and First
National 1870 (collectively, “Sunflower”), filed
a notice of data breach with the Attorney
General of California... an unauthorized party
likely took advantage of the flaw in the MOVEit
software and downloaded copies of files
[containing] personally identifiable
information."
Then FirstSun simply changed charters to try to
get fast approval: FirstSun Capital Bancorp will
switch to a Texas state charter rather than a
national one as it continues to pursue its
acquisition of HomeStreet, the bank announced
last week: “In our discussions with the OCC in
Washington, it became obvious that we would not
gain near-term approval." What a scam.
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
FEDERAL COURT, Nov 1 –
In Virginia, a bank is trying to move into the
Richmond area via merger, with a disparate
lending record. Fair Finance Watch with Inner
City Press on the FOIA has filed a timely first
comment on, the Application by TowneBank to
acquire Village Bank & Trust.
But consider ChoiceOne's disparate lending
record:
In
Viginia in 2023 - in HMDA data not yet taken
into account in any CRA exam - Towne Bank based
on its marketing made 1282 mortgage loans to
whites, and only 192 loans to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 43 applications from African
Americans, and only 64from whites. It should be
referred to DOJ.
In
North Carolina in 2023 Towne Bank based on its
marketing made 1107 loans to whites, and only 80
loans to African Americans. Meanwhile it denied
10 applications from African Americans, and only
92 from whites.
In Maryland in 2023 Towne Bank based on its
marketing made 1172 loans to whites, and only
366 loans to African Americans. Meanwhile it
denied 30 applications from African Americans,
and only 40 from whites.
The
new Merger Guidance should be applied - that is
a test case.
Why
would regulators even consider approving this
merger? Watch this site.
***
SOUTH
BRONX, Oct
23 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying.
On
September 4, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City
Press submitted supplemental opposition to the
regulators, including about a newly filed class
action that "demonstrates Capital One's
outrageous, illegal, and widespread practice of
disclosing—without consent—the Nonpublic
Personal Information1 and Personally
Identifiable Financial Information2 (together,
“Personal and Financial Information”) of
Plaintiffs and the proposed Class Members to
third parties, including Meta, Google,
Microsoft, DoubleClick, NewRelic, Adobe,
Everest, Skai/Kenshoo, Snowplow, BioCatch,
Tealium, and possibly others."
Meanwhile
Capital One's "Astro-turfing" continues - for
example in California, here.
***
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
FEDERAL COURT, Oct
15
–
In the Midwest, Busey Bank is trying to move
into the Kansas City area via merger, with a
disparate lending record. Fair Finance Watch
with Inner City Press on the FOIA has filed a
timely first comment on, the Applications
Van Dukeman, First Busey's CEO called it a
"great fit from a cultural perspective." But
consider Busey Bank's culture - including
contempt for CRA, its disparate lending
record:
First
Busey's Busey Bank in Illinois in 2023 - data
not yet included in any CRA exam - made 1163
mortgage loans to whites, and only 772 loans to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 216
applications from whites, and fully 24 from
African Americans. Busey Bank should be referred
to DOJ.
Busey
Bank in Missouri in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 49 mortgage loans to
whites, and onlyseven loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 21
applications from whites, and fully eight from
African Americans
Busey
Bank in Indiana in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 22 mortgage loans to
whites, and only two loans to African
Americans.
Busey
Bank in Florida in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 80 mortgage loans to
whites, and only ONE loan to an African
American.
There
is litigation, for example under the FCRA, here
- dropped without explanation, presumable
settled, the FRB should ask First Busey about
all outstanding consumer litigation.
And
there was the First Busey board member,
Elisabeth Kimmel, caught in the college
admissions scandal, here.
When
the Fed provided the application, the banks had
withheld their CRA data. So, "This is a formal
FOIA request for the withheld exhibits to the
First Busey / CrossFirst application, in
particular "Confidential" Exhibits 9 ("First
Busey Community Reinvestment Act Data") and 10
("CrossFirst Community Reinvestment Act data").
This is presumptively public."
Rather
than provide the CRA info, First Busey's Monica
L. Bowe, Executive Vice President & Chief
Risk Officer of First Busey Corporation - and of
the Risk Management Association- submitted a
letter saying CRA conditions are never attached
- false, and telling. Watch this site.
***
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
SOUTH BRONX /
SDNY, Oct 11
–
When First Republic Bank failed / was given to
JP Morgan Chase, a small list of other regional
banks came into focus as in danger. Among them
was UMB - a bank whose lending Inner City Press
and Fair Finance Watch had been scrutinizing,
and now challenge.
UMB is asking its regulators to allow it to
expand, buying Denver-based Heartland. The
application, Fair Finance Watch on June 21
formally told the Fed, should not be
approved. In 2022, the most recent
year for which Federal data is available, UMB
Bank, N.A. made over 2000 mortgage loans to
whites, and only 117 loans to African Americans.
For
every denial to an African American, it made
only 2.02 loans. But for whites, for every
denial it made 3.45 loans. It should be referred
to DOJ.
There
is litigation, there is also this, reported at
the time of Silicon Valley Bank's failure: "UMB
Bank, a regional bank headquartered in Kansas
City, Missouri, and with branches across the
Midwest, Southwest, and Western United States,
has total assets of $38 billion and deposits
totaling $32 billion, according to the FDIC.
However, only 16% of deposits fall under the
$250,000 FDIC insurance threshold, leaving
74.11% (equivalent to $28.36 billion) vulnerable
to potential losses."
Why
would regulators even consider approving its
expansion? On June 21, Fair Finance Watch filed
a formal Community Reinvestment Act challenge to
UMB's application to the Federal Reserve, adding
state by state data:
UMB Bank in 2022 in Missouri made 842 mortgage
loans to whites, and only 76 loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied 41 applications
from African Americans, and only 257 from
whites.
UMB Bank in Colorado - in which it seeks to
expand - in 2022 made 378 mortgage loans to
whites, and only 13 loans to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied six applications from
African Americans, and only 107 from whites.
UMB Bank in 2022 in Texas made 78 mortgage loans
to whites, and only six loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied two applications
from African Americans, and only 27 from
whites.
These disparities cry out for a referral to DOJ,
and public hearings on, and denial of, UMB's
major expansion application.
On
October 11 UMB's outside counsel Davis Polk sent
the Fed a response but withheld branch closing,
subsidiary, fintech and crypto information from
Fair Finance Watch - so Inner City Press cc-ed
them on a FOIA request for:
This
is a formal FOIA request for the withheld
exhibits to UMB's October 11 submission to the
Federal Reserve in connection with its protested
application to acquire Heartland Financial, in
particular "Confidential" Exhibits A and B,
including about fintech and branch closings and
all activities engaged in by corporate
subsidiaries. This is presumptively public; if
any is withheld, all reasonably segregable
portions should be provided.
UMB
recites and responds: 1. Provide a description
of the activities conducted by the following UMB
subsidiaries: a. UMBCDC, Inc., Kansas City,
Missouri; b. UMB Financial Services, Inc.,
Kansas City, Missouri; c. UMB Management Equity
Holdings Inc., Kansas City, Missouri; d. UMB
Merchant LLC, Kansas City, Missouri; and e. UMB
Asset Management, LLC, Kansas City, Missouri The
requested information is included in AIR
Confidential Exhibit A. Convenience and Needs 2.
Provide an update on UMB Bank’s branch
consolidation analysis and confirm whether any
of the branches listed in Public Exhibit 3 of
the Additional Information Response, dated
August 5, 2024 (“August AI Response”) would be
consolidated, following consummation of the
proposed transaction. The requested information
is included in AIR Confidential Exhibit B.
Discuss any plans to engage in
crypto-asset-related activities or fintech
partnerships. The requested information is
included in AIR Confidential Exhibit
A.
Again,
this is both important for the public to know
and is presumptively public; if any is withheld,
all reasonably segregable portions should be
provided.
Watch
this site.
***
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH BRONX,
Oct 4
– Two tech-focused credit unions announced this
week they intend to merge, if they get approval
from the National Credit Union Association.
Digital Federal Credit Union is based on the
East Coast, and First Tech is on the West Coast,
wanting to follow Microsoft into Atlanta, and
Amazon into northern Virginia.
But
what are their lending records?
According
to 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data
reviewed be Fair Finance Watch, nationwide in
2023, First Technology Credit Union made
1532 mortgage loans to whites, and only 41 loans
to African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only
368 applications from whites, and fully 37 from
African Americans.
Digital Federal nationwide in 2023 made 2196
mortgage loans to whites, and only 178 loans to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 1122
applications from whites, and fully 261 from
African Americans.
These disparities should result in the denial of the proposed merger. But credit unions are for now not subject to the Community Reinvestment Act, and NCUA refuses to consider such issues. Watch this site
***
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
FEDERAL COURT, Sept 27
–
In the Midwest, Busey Bank is trying to move
into the Kansas City area via merger, with a
disparate lending record. Fair Finance Watch
with Inner City Press on the FOIA has filed a
timely first comment on, the Applications
Van Dukeman, First Busey's CEO called it a
"great fit from a cultural perspective." But
consider Busey Bank's culture, its disparate
lending record:
First
Busey's Busey Bank in Illinois in 2023 - data
not yet included in any CRA exam - made 1163
mortgage loans to whites, and only 772 loans to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 216
applications from whites, and fully 24 from
African Americans. Busey Bank should be referred
to DOJ.
Busey
Bank in Missouri in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 49 mortgage loans to
whites, and onlyseven loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 21
applications from whites, and fully eight from
African Americans
Busey
Bank in Indiana in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 22 mortgage loans to
whites, and only two loans to African
Americans.
Busey
Bank in Florida in 2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 80 mortgage loans to
whites, and only ONE loan to an African
American.
There
is litigation, for example under the FCRA, here
- dropped without explanation, presumable
settled, the FRB should ask First Busey about
all outstanding consumer litigation.
And
there was the First Busey board member,
Elisabeth Kimmel, caught in the college
admissions scandal, here.
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
FEDERAL COURT, Sept 20 –
In the battleground state of Michigan, a bank is
trying to move into suburban Detroit via merger,
with a disparate lending record. Fair Finance
Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA has
filed a timely first comment on, the
Applications ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc.,
Sparta, Michigan; to merge with Fentura
Financial, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
The State Bank
Kelly Potes, ChoiceOne’s CEO said that the
proposed "transaction will allow ChoiceOne to
strengthen its presence in the suburbs of
Detroit while adding the markets of Flint and
Saginaw." But consider ChoiceOne's disparate
lending
record:
Consider
that ChoiceOne Bank in Michigan in 2023 - data
not yet included in any CRA exam - made 759
mortgage loans to whites, and only TWENTY to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 246
applications from whites, while denying 10 of
the applications that, based on its marketing,
it received from African Americans. ChoiceOne
should be referred to DOJ.
Meanwhile
The State Bank in Michigan in 2023 - data not
yet included in any CRA exam - made 414 mortgage
loans to whites, and only THREE to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 36
applications from whites, while denying one of
the few applications that, based on its
marketing, it received from African Americans.
The State Bank should also be referred to DOJ.
On
September 17, ChoiceOne calling itself COB wrote
in, inter alia, that loans "denied were Home
Equity Line of Credit loans, for which no denial
reason is given. Reporting denial reasons for
HELOCs is optional, rather than mandatory for
COB, and COB opts not to report." This is far
from a best practice - we'll have more on this.
Why
would regulators even consider approving this
merger? Watch this site.
***
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX,
Sept 8 –As ConnectOne Bank and First National
Bank of Long Island congratulate themselves on a
merger proposal, the preliminary review by Fair
Finance Watch finds problems.
ConnectOne, taking deposits in New York, New
Jersey and Florida, in 2023 made only one
mortgage loan to an African American
applicant.
Meanwhile First National Bank of Long Island,
after a weak and disparate lending performance
in 2023, now lists on its website that mortgages
are only offered through Rocket Mortgage. How do
and would these two banks - which should be kept
separate and not be allowed the merge, under the
Community Reinvestment Act, serve communities.
It appears that they don't.
Inner City Press will be FOIA-ing the required applications for regulatory approval when they are filed. Watch this site
***
SOUTH
BRONX, Sept
4 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying.
On September 4, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press submitted supplemental opposition to the regulators, including about a newly filed class action that "demonstrates Capital One's outrageous, illegal, and widespread practice of disclosing—without consent—the Nonpublic Personal Information1 and Personally Identifiable Financial Information2 (together, “Personal and Financial Information”) of Plaintiffs and the proposed Class Members to third parties, including Meta, Google, Microsoft, DoubleClick, NewRelic, Adobe, Everest, Skai/Kenshoo, Snowplow, BioCatch, Tealium, and possibly others."
After
they applied late March 20, Inner City
Press submitted a second Freedom of Information
Act request to the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency (and to the Federal Reserve).
On
July 26, after a FOIA appeal - and after closing
the public comment period - the OCC belatedly
gave Inner City Press documents showing Capital
One briefed the OCC on a "big" deal in November
2023; it was code named "Project Sirius."
Then
overly chummy texts from Andy Navarrete, who
testified at the public meeting, and Pient Tran
to the OCC's Marci Heppner and others.
For
example, Andy to Marci, sorry for the late ping,
if Richard wanted to call, could you do a 1:1
Zoom at 7:30 [pm]. But of course. That and more
now on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here
Inner City Press continues to dig through the
records - and to prepare another FOIA appeal.
Back
on June 25 the OCC belatedly responded to Inner
City Press' FOIA request - by withholding in
full 185 pages. OCC FOIA production on
DocumentCloud here.
Inner City Press appealed.
On July 24, the very day on which the OCC and
Fed said they were closing the written comment
period, the OCC upheld in full its FOIA denials,
determination letter on Inner City Press'
Document Cloud here.
When did the Fed start secret talks with Capital
One?
***
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
FEDERAL COURT, Aug 27 –
In the battleground state of Michigan, a bank is
trying to move into suburban Detroit via merger,
with a disparate lending record. Fair Finance
Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA has
filed a timely first comment on, the
Applications ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc.,
Sparta, Michigan; to merge with Fentura
Financial, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
The State Bank
Kelly Potes, ChoiceOne’s CEO said that the
proposed "transaction will allow ChoiceOne to
strengthen its presence in the suburbs of
Detroit while adding the markets of Flint and
Saginaw." But consider ChoiceOne's disparate
lending
record:
Consider
that ChoiceOne Bank in Michigan in 2023 - data
not yet included in any CRA exam - made 759
mortgage loans to whites, and only TWENTY to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 246
applications from whites, while denying 10 of
the applications that, based on its marketing,
it received from African Americans. ChoiceOne
should be referred to DOJ.
Meanwhile
The State Bank in Michigan in 2023 - data not
yet included in any CRA exam - made 414 mortgage
loans to whites, and only THREE to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 36
applications from whites, while denying one of
the few applications that, based on its
marketing, it received from African Americans.
The State Bank should also be referred to DOJ.
Why
would regulators even consider approving this
merger? Watch this site.
***
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
SOUTH BRONX /
SDNY, Aug 9
–
When First Republic Bank failed / was given to
JP Morgan Chase, a small list of other regional
banks came into focus as in danger, banks whose
lending Inner City Press and Fair Finance Watch
had been scrutinizing, even more so that the
2023 data is out.
This week Inner City Press filed with the Fed, a
timely first comment on, the Applications of
SouthState Corporation to merge with Independent
Bank Group, Inc., and Independent
Bank.
SouthState in South Carolina in 2023 - data not
yet included in any CRA exam - made 5013
mortgage loans to whites, and only 228 loans to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 670
applications from whites, and fully 195 from
African Americans. SouthState should be referred
to DOJ.
SouthState in North Carolina in 2023 - data not
yet included in any CRA exam - made 1334
mortgage loans to whites, and only FIFTY SEVEN
loans to African Americans. Meanwhile it denied
only 173 applications from whites, and fully 20
from African Americans.
SouthState in Florida in 2023 - data not yet
included in any CRA exam - made 2755 mortgage
loans to whites, and only 165 loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 958
applications from whites, and fully 69 from
African Americans.
SouthState in Georgia in 2023 - data not yet
included in any CRA exam - made 1176 mortgage
loans to whites, and only 318 loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 304
applications from whites, and fully 88 from
African Americans.
SouthState in Alabama in 2023 - data not yet
included in any CRA exam - made 945 mortgage
loans to whites, and only FIFTY ONE loans to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied only 87
applications from whites, and fully 17 from
African Americans. SouthState should be referred
to DOJ.
Nationwide
in 2023, SouthState made 7798 mortgage loans to
whites, and only 947 loans to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied only 2491 applications from
whites, and fully 558 from African
Americans.
Why would regulators even consider approving its
expansion?
Even
more so now: on August 9, SouthStreet submitted
to the Fed a response - that deals only with
Independent Bank.
Inner City Press is requesting an extension of the public comment period, public / virtual evidentiary hearings and that, on the current record, the applications not be approved
***
SOUTH
BRONX, July
26 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying. After they applied late March 20,
Inner City Press submitted a second Freedom of
Information Act request to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (and to the Federal
Reserve).
On
July 26, after a FOIA appeal - and after closing
the public comment period - the OCC belatedly
gave Inner City Press documents showing Capital
One briefed the OCC on a "big" deal in November
2023; it was code named "Project Sirius."
Then
overly chummy texts from Andy Navarrete, who
testified at the public meeting, and Pient Tran
to the OCC's Marci Heppner and others.
For
example, Andy to Marci, sorry for the late ping,
if Richard wanted to call, could you do a 1:1
Zoom at 7:30 [pm]. But of course. That and more
now on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here
Inner City Press continues to dig through the
records - and to prepare another FOIA appeal.
Back
on June 25 the OCC belatedly responded to Inner
City Press' FOIA request - by withholding in
full 185 pages. OCC FOIA production on
DocumentCloud here.
Inner City Press appealed.
SOUTH
BRONX, July
24 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying. After they applied late March 20,
Inner City Press submitted a second Freedom of
Information Act request to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (and to the Federal
Reserve).
On
May 14 - still without providing FOIA documents
- the OCC and Fed set a July 19 virtual public
meeting.
On
the eve of it, Capital One announced a vague and
less than credible plan - they previously
violated their ING Direct pledge - including
this time $75 billion in largely subprime auto
loans. Fair Finance Watch testified for three
minutes.
On
June 25 the OCC belatedly responded to Inner
City Press' FOIA request - by withholding in
full 185 pages. OCC FOIA production on
DocumentCloud here.
Inner City Press appealed.
On July 24, the very day on which the OCC and
Fed said they were closing the written comment
period, the OCC upheld in full its FOIA denials,
determination letter on Inner City Press'
Document Cloud here.
Inner City Press has requested an extension of
the comment periods - the Fed hasn't even
responded.
Meanwhile
Capitol One lobbying continues, for example with
a Pennsylvania state legislator extolling
Capital One's subprime, here.
As
documented by Fair Finance Watch, Discover Bank
in 2022 denied mortgage loans application from
African Americans more than twice as frequently
as those of whites. It grew worse in the
just-out 2023 data.
Previously, Inner City Press and NCRC challenged Capital One's acquisition of ING Direct, see here.This time, given the antitrust enforcement claims being made in DC, this proposal should be denied. But will it be? Watch this site.
***
SOUTH
BRONX, July
19 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying. After they applied late March 20,
Inner City Press submitted a second Freedom of
Information Act request to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (and to the Federal
Reserve).
On
May 14 - still without providing FOIA documents
- the OCC and Fed set a July 19 virtual public
meeting.
On
the eve of it, Capital One announced a vague and
less than credible plan - they previously
violated their ING Direct pledge - including
this time $75 billion in largely subprime auto
loans.
Fair
Finance Watch testified, with Inner City Press
on the FOIA:
This
proposal is anticompetitive, and Capital One is
making a mockery of the Community Reinvestment
Act, with an absurdly small CRA assessment area
and now, at the 11th hour, a cynical pledge that
includes $75 billion in subprime, often
predatory car lending.
How much of this last minute pledge would in
fact be subprime? At what interest rates? The
regulators should ask, today - and must extend
the comment
period.
You have and will hear from colleagues about the
ongoing lending disparities. I want to focus in
my three minutes on the lack of transparency,
and the regulatory agencies' role in
it.
The day the banks announced the proposed merger,
Inner City Press submitted Freedom of
Information Act requests to both the Federal
Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency.
The Fed, as has become a pattern, granted Inner
City Press' FOIA request expedited treatment -
and then did not provide any of the responsive
documents, claiming it needed more
time. The OCC did at least
respond to the FOIA request - but it withheld,
in full, 193 out of 210 responsive
pages.
From what was released, it shows three meetings
with Capital One and the OCC in February and
March, right before the start of the public
comment period. An OCC email says "the
purpose of this meeting is to get everyone on
the same page out of the gate" in response to an
email from Capital One's lawyer. This is called
regulatory capture. Can you say, What's in your
wallet?
...The
Philadelphia National Bank case of the Supreme
Court, unlike the Chevron deference relied on
not yet overrule, stated that "a merger which
produces a firm controlling an undue percentage
share of the relevant market, and results in a
significant increase in the concentration of
firms in that market, is so inherently likely to
lessen competition substantially that it must be
enjoined in the absence of evidence clearly
showing that the merger is not likely to have
such anticompetitive effects." 374 U.S. 321 at
363.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, July 12 – The FDIC on July 12 imposed a
fair lending condition on banks Inner City Press
/ Fair Finance Watch challenged last November:
"Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing Peoples
Security Bank and Trust Company and FNCB Bank
including their 2022 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it
troubling. In Pennsylvania in 2022,
Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company made 532
HMDA-reported loans to whites - and only FOUR to
African Americans, while denying five
applications. FNCB Bank in
Pennsylvania in 2022 made 247 HMDA-reported
loans to whites - and only ONE to an African
Americans, while denying three applications. A
referral should be made to the DOJ for fair
lending violations."
At
that time, the FDIC wrote: "Matthew
Lee, Esquire Executive Director Inner City
Press/Fair Finance Watch P.O. Box 20047 New
York, New York 10017 Dear Mr. Lee: We received
your e-mail dated November 10, 2023, regarding
the application for Peoples Security Bank and
Trust Company to merge with FNCB Bank. We
reviewed your correspondence in accordance with
the guidelines of 12 C.F.R. Section 303.2(c) and
303.2(l), and we consider it a protest... Any
future comments should be sent to the applicant
and to this office."
The bank's outside
counsel Troutman Pepper responded. But
now in July 2024: "Dear Mr.
Lee: We are writing to inform
you that the FDIC approved Peoples
Security Bank and Trust
Company’s application to merge with
FNCB Bank. As part of the
application review process, we
investigated the issues you raised in
your e-mail dated November 10, 2023,
and after conducting our own
analysis, the FDIC approved the
application with conditions... In the
course of reviewing public input on
the application, the FDIC received an
adverse comment from a protester
that was considered a CRA
protest. The CRA protest was
critical of Peoples Security
Bank and Trust Company’s and FNCB
Bank’s home mortgage lending
efforts to Black applicants in
Pennsylvania and asserted that the
lack of lending was discriminatory
and should be referred to the
Department of Justice... After a
careful review of the concerns, the
FDIC decided to approve the
application with the following
condition. This condition will
help ensure Peoples Security Bank and
Trust Company meets the home
mortgage lending needs of the Black
population in its assessment
areas. Within 30 days of
consummation, adopt a Fair Lending
Action Plan deemed acceptable by the
FDIC to address low levels of
home mortgage applications from, and
lending to, Black applicants and
borrowers, and in
majority-minority areas, and provide
the New York Regional Office with
quarterly, written updates on
its progress under the plan."
Watch
this site.
SOUTH
BRONX, July
5 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying. After they applied late March 20,
Inner City Press submitted a second Freedom of
Information Act request to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (and to the Federal
Reserve).
On
May 14 - still without providing FOIA documents
- the OCC and Fed set a July 19 virtual public
meeting.
On
June 25 the OCC belatedly responded to Inner
City Press' FOIA request - by withholding in
full 185 pages. OCC FOIA production on
DocumentCloud here.
Inner City Press appealed.
Meanwhile
Capitol One lobbying continues, for example with
a Pennsylvania state legislator extolling
Capital One's work with subprime, here.
Has he seen their predatory car lending?
The OCC put part of its application in its
reading room. And it is an outrage, Capital One
gaming the CRA system. For example "the Proposed
Transaction would result in CONA establishing a
new assessment area in Delaware, which
will include all census tracts in Sussex County
and seven contiguous census tracts in Kent
County."
That
for a nationwide card and subprime auto
lender...
As
documented by Fair Finance Watch, Discover Bank
in 2022 denied mortgage loans application from
African Americans more than twice as frequently
as those of whites.
Previously, Inner City Press and NCRC challenged Capital One's acquisition of ING Direct, see here.This time, given the antitrust enforcement claims being made in DC, this proposal should be dead in the water. Watch this site.
***
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
SOUTH BRONX /
SDNY, June
21 –
When First Republic Bank failed / was given to
JP Morgan Chase, a small list of other regional
banks came into focus as in danger. Among them
was UMB - a bank whose lending Inner City Press
and Fair Finance Watch had been scrutinizing,
and now challenge.
UMB is asking its regulators to allow it to
expand, buying Denver-based Heartland. The
application, Fair Finance Watch on June 21
formally told the Fed, should not be
approved. In 2022, the most recent
year for which Federal data is available, UMB
Bank, N.A. made over 2000 mortgage loans to
whites, and only 117 loans to African Americans.
For
every denial to an African American, it made
only 2.02 loans. But for whites, for every
denial it made 3.45 loans. It should be referred
to DOJ.
There
is litigation, there is also this, reported at
the time of Silicon Valley Bank's failure: "UMB
Bank, a regional bank headquartered in Kansas
City, Missouri, and with branches across the
Midwest, Southwest, and Western United States,
has total assets of $38 billion and deposits
totaling $32 billion, according to the FDIC.
However, only 16% of deposits fall under the
$250,000 FDIC insurance threshold, leaving
74.11% (equivalent to $28.36 billion) vulnerable
to potential losses."
Why
would regulators even consider approving its
expansion? On June 21, Fair Finance Watch filed
a formal Community Reinvestment Act challenge to
UMB's application to the Federal Reserve, adding
state by state data:
UMB Bank in 2022 in Missouri made 842 mortgage
loans to whites, and only 76 loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied 41 applications
from African Americans, and only 257 from
whites.
UMB Bank in Colorado - in which it seeks to
expand - in 2022 made 378 mortgage loans to
whites, and only 13 loans to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied six applications from
African Americans, and only 107 from whites.
UMB Bank in 2022 in Texas made 78 mortgage loans
to whites, and only six loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied two applications
from African Americans, and only 27 from
whites.
These disparities cry out for a referral to DOJ,
and public hearings on, and denial of, UMB's
major expansion application.
Watch
this site.
***
SOUTH
BRONX, June
12 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying. While they applied late March 20, as of
1 pm on March 22 there was no notice of the
Federal Reserve's or OCC's websites. Inner City
Press submitted second FOIA requests to each
agency. Public hearings should be held, not only
on antitrust but also lending disparities at
both companies.
On
April 24 the Fed extended its comment period to
May 31 - without (yet?) granting public
hearings, nor providing the FOIA documents.
Yet on June 12, this: "June 11 (Reuters) -
Capital One Financial Corp: * CAPITAL ONE EXEC
SAYS IN CONVERSATION WITH U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE
AND OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER OF CURRENCY ON
DISCOVER DEAL - INVESTOR CONFERENCE." In
conversation? With no documents provided to the
opposed public? Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch registered for the public meeting, in
opposition.
On
May 14 - still without providing FOIA documents
- the Fed and OCC set a July 19 virtual public
meeting. And already, pro merger lobbying had
begun, for example here
by a group previously identified in a Trenton NJ
political quid pro quo scandal.
Then
an SC Astroturf
piece, then going green.
Next
a former NH
Commissioner, and a "former Democratic campaign
strategist in Southern Nevada."
Unreal. We'll have more on this.
The OCC first put its application in its reading
room. And it is an outrage, Capital One gaming
the CRA system. For example "the Proposed
Transaction would result in CONA establishing a
new assessment area in Delaware, which
will include all census tracts in Sussex County
and seven contiguous census tracts in Kent
County."
That
for a nationwide card and subprime auto
lender...
As
documented by Fair Finance Watch, Discover Bank
in 2022 denied mortgage loans application from
African Americans more than twice as frequently
as those of whites.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, May 16 – The Texas Bankers
Association and ABA managed to finagle a Federal
court ruling allowing its and the ABA's members'
non-compliance with the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau's small business data
collection rules, pending Supreme Court decision
on CFPB's structure and funding. Order here.
Now
on May 16, 2024, the Supreme Court has found the
CFPB's structure to be Constitutional, by a 7-2
vote. "Congress shielded the Bureau from the
influence of the political branches,” Justice
Clarence Thomas wrote in the majority opinion
for the court. “Under the
Appropriations Clause, an appropriation is
simply a law that authorizes expenditures from a
specified source of public money for designated
purposes. The statute that provides the Bureau’s
funding meets these requirements.”
SOUTH
BRONX,
May 8 – As US bank regulators talk about working
to increase the fairness of the financial
system, and closely scrutinizing mergers and the
spread of bad practices, banks continue to
assume they can combine.
Before the Capital One - Discover proposal, and
ABA lawsuit against the Community Reinvestment
Act regulation, there was FirstSun Capital
Bancorp of Denver and Dallas saying it will
merge with Homestreet, Inc. and Homestreet Bank
of Seattle, Washington.
On February 23 Fair Finance Watch with Inner
City Press on the FOIA filed a protest:
"FirstSun's flagship Sunflower Bank, in Texas in
2022, made 694 mortgage loans to whites, and
only 41 to African Americans. Meanwhile it
denied 12 applications from African Americans,
and only 34 from whites. This is
disparate, and more disparate both than the
aggregate in Texas.
Nationwide in 2022, Sunflower Bank made 3059
mortgage loans to whites, and only 194 to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied 49
applications from African Americans, and only
259 from whites.
For the record, on managerial resources and
otherwise, note that on September 27, 2023,
FirstSun Capital Bancorp, the parent company of
Sunflower Bank, Guardian Mortgage and First
National 1870 (collectively, “Sunflower”), filed
a notice of data breach with the Attorney
General of California... an unauthorized party
likely took advantage of the flaw in the MOVEit
software and downloaded copies of files
[containing] personally identifiable
information."
Now FirstSun is simply changing charters to try
to get fast approval: FirstSun Capital Bancorp
will switch to a Texas state charter rather than
a national one as it continues to pursue its
acquisition of HomeStreet, the bank announced
last week: “In our discussions with the OCC in
Washington, it became obvious that we would not
gain near-term approval." What a scam.
by
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon Substack
SOUTH BRONX /
SDNY, May 1 –
When First Republic Bank failed / was given to
JP Morgan Chase, a small list of other regional
banks came into focus as in danger. Among them
was UMB - a bank whose lending Inner City Press
and Fair Finance Watch had been
scrutinizing.
Now UMB, paradoxically, is asking its regulators
to allow it to expand, buying Denver-based
Heartland. The application, Fair Finance Watch
says, should not be approved. In
2022, the most recent year for which Federal
data is available, UMB Bank, N.A. made over 2000
mortgage loans to whites, and only 117 loans to
African Americans.
For
every denial to an African American, it made
only 2.02 loans. But for whites, for every
denial it made 3.45 loans. It should be referred
to DOJ.
There
is litigation, there is also this, reported at
the time of Silicon Valley Bank's failure: "UMB
Bank, a regional bank headquartered in Kansas
City, Missouri, and with branches across the
Midwest, Southwest, and Western United States,
has total assets of $38 billion and deposits
totaling $32 billion, according to the FDIC.
However, only 16% of deposits fall under the
$250,000 FDIC insurance threshold, leaving
74.11% (equivalent to $28.36 billion) vulnerable
to potential losses."
Why
would regulators even consider approving its
expansion? Watch this site.
***
SOUTH
BRONX, April
24 – Capital One has applied to buy Discover, in
an anticompetitive deal that should be rejected
by regulators if they mean what they have been
saying. While they applied late March 20, as of
1 pm on March 22 there was no notice of the
Federal Reserve's or OCC's websites. Inner City
Press submitted second FOIA requests to each
agency. Public hearings should be held, not only
on antitrust but also lending disparities at
both companies.
On
April 24 the Fed extended its comment period to
May 31 - without (yet?) granting public
hearings, nor providing the FOIA documents.
On April 19
the Fed wrote to extended its
time to respond to Inner City
Press' February 19 FOIA to May
3
April 19,
2024
RE: Docket
ID OCC–2022–0008 - FOIA
Acting
Comptroller Hsu and others at the OCC:
Inner City
Press, as an active FOIA requester to the OCC, timely comments
on your pending regulation to demand that the OCC rule on the
propriety of all requests for confidential treatment during the
comment period on an application - or automatically extend the
comment period.
Too often, applicant
national bank over-request confidential treatment, but benefit
from it due to the OCC's slow processing of FOIA requests. Case
in point is Capital One / Discover - Inner City Press on
February 19 submitted a request for communications between the
OCC and the banks. Still none of those records as of April 19,
as the comment period is set to close. (We expect it to be
extended, but this is not the case on most applications).
Nor even on the
application has the OCC ruled on the propriety of the requests
for confidential treatment. This must be addressed by the OCC.
There is other
FOIA problems at the OCC - as well as some polite staffers, we
note - but we emphasize the above to ensure consideration and
action.
Expectantly,
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX, NY, April 11– When the US
Department of Justice sued and
immediately settled with
Lakeland Bank for fair lending
violations, it announced a
proposed merger with Provident
Bank.
As
if to sweep it under the carpet.
And
when Fair Finance Watch looked into it, it found
that the DOJ settlement did not address in any
way the banks' disparities in New York. So on
December 1, the FDIC's comment deadline, it
filed a protest, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA.
Jump
cut to March 15, 2023, when Provident's Deputy
General Counsel filed a letter with the New York
Fed, cc-ing Rodgin Cohen - only on New Jersey,
nothing on the disparities in New York.
On
January 18 Provident asked two Board questions -
by withholding the entire answers. Inner City
Press immediately FOIAed: "The entire response
is withheld, about fair lending compliance,
including public commitments that are
unfulfilled. This cannot stand; the information
must be provided before the Board acts in any
way on the application (other than denial.)"
Jump
cut to mid-February: while still not providing
the withheld past answer, the Fed asked more
questions. Letter here.
On
February 27 Provident provided spin, including
that "under the consent order that it entered
into with the U.S. Department of Justice.
These obligations require Lakeland Bank to,
among other things, establish a $12
million loan subsidy fund to increase credit for
consumers applying for loans in
majority-Black and Hispanic census tracts in a
five-county area in and around Newark, New
Jersey" - but nothing where other disparities.
Letter here.
On
April 11, 2024, the Fed hauled off and approved,
noting Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
"objected to the proposal, alleging that in
2021, Provident Bank and Lakeland Bank made no
home loans to African American individuals in
New York State.30 30 The data cited by the
commenter corresponds to publicly available 2021
data by Provident Bank and Lakeland Bank under
HMDA. Following consummation of the proposed
transaction, the combined organization will add
to its assessment area Bronx and Kings counties,
each of which includes a significant number of
majority-minority and LMI communities... The
Board also has considered the DOJ Consent Order,
including Lakeland Bank’s efforts towards
meeting its obligations under the DOJ Consent
Order, and that the DOJ Consent Order binds
Provident without further action by the Board."
We'll see.
Watch this site.
***
SOUTH
BRONX,
April 1 – As US bank regulators talk about
working to increase the fairness of the
financial system, and closely scrutinizing
mergers and the spread of bad practices, banks
continue to assume they can combine.
Before the Capital One - Discover proposal, and
ABA lawsuit against the Community Reinvestment
Act regulation, there was FirstSun Capital
Bancorp of Denver and Dallas saying it will
merge with Homestreet, Inc. and Homestreet Bank
of Seattle, Washington.
On February 23, 2024 Fair Finance Watch with
Inner City Press on the FOIA filed with the
Federal Reserve: "FirstSun's flagship Sunflower
Bank, in Texas in 2022, made 694 mortgage loans
to whites, and only 41 to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 12 applications from African
Americans, and only 34 from whites.
This is disparate, and more disparate both than
the aggregate in Texas.
Nationwide in 2022, Sunflower Bank made 3059
mortgage loans to whites, and only 194 to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied 49
applications from African Americans, and only
259 from whites.
For the record, on managerial resources and
otherwise, note that on September 27, 2023,
FirstSun Capital Bancorp, the parent company of
Sunflower Bank, Guardian Mortgage and First
National 1870 (collectively, “Sunflower”), filed
a notice of data breach with the Attorney
General of California... an unauthorized party
likely took advantage of the flaw in the MOVEit
software and downloaded copies of files
[containing] personally identifiable
information."
HomeStreet, meanwhile, is politely said to have
had a "tough" 2023.
More
than a month later, FirstSun emailed Fair
Finance Watch and Inner City Press a response,
referring to, but not providing copies of,
letters of support it says it has procured. Nor
has the Federal Reserve forwarded these along,
or put them online. We'll have more on this.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the Federal Reserve
to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners, money
launderers and predatory lenders. This has been
killing the Community Reinvestment Act and so a
timely request public hearings.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
FEDERAL COURT /
S Bronx, March 29 –
Whether or not the U.S. Community Reinvestment
Act will be again enforced under this
Administration and its regulators including
under the incoming divided Congress is an open
question.
On November 25, 2022 Fair Finance Watch with
Inner City Press on the FOIA filed comments with
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
against
the
applications
by Prosperity
Bank in Texas.
In April 2023,
the FDIC
imposed
conditions on
one - and in
March 2024, on
the other,
Lone Star.
November
25, 2022
Federal
Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
Attn: Chairman
Martin J.
Gruenberg
Dallas Kristie
K. Elmquist,
Regional
Director Julie
V. Banfield,
Deputy
Regional
Director Chris
Finnegan
Re:
Comment on
Applications
by Prosperity
Bank, El
Campo, Texas
to acquire
Lone Star Bank
of West Texas
and
FirstCapital
Bank of Texas,
N.A.
Dear
Chairman
Gruenberg,
Regional
Director
Elmquist,
Ass't Regional
Director
Finnegan and
others at the
FDIC:
This is a
request for
all
information in
the possession
of the FDIC
about, and a
timely comment
on, the
Applications
of Prosperity
Bank, El
Campo, Texas
to acquire
Lone Star Bank
of West Texas
and
FirstCapital
Bank of Texas,
N.A. which
appear on the
FDIC website
under
"Applications
In Process
Subject to the
CRA Report"
with an
initial
comment
periods
running
through
December 16.
This comment
is
timely.
The applicant
Prosperity
Bank in 2021
in Texas based
on its
disparate
marketing made
5453 mortgage
loans to
whites --
while making
only 188 loans
to African
Americans.
Meanwhile it
denied fully
94
applications
from African
Americans,
versus only
1186 from
whites. This
is far out of
keeping with
the
demographics,
and others
lenders, in
Texas in
particularly
in Prosperity
Bank's CRA
assessment
areas - this
is
outrageous.
The applicant
Prosperity
Bank in 2021
in Oklahoma
based on its
disparate
marketing made
320 mortgage
loans to
whites --
while making
only 38 loans
to African
Americans.
This is far
out of keeping
with the
demographics,
and others
lenders, in
Oklahoma in
particularly
in Prosperity
Bank's CRA
assessment
areas - this
is
outrageous.
Very Truly
Yours,
Matthew Lee,
Esq.
Executive
Director
Inner City
Press/Fair
Finance Watch
On
April 6, 2024
sent April 10,
the FDIC
imposed this
condition:
"After a
careful review
of the
concerns, the
FDIC decided
to approve the
application
with the
following
condition.
This condition
will help
ensure the
home mortgage
lending needs
of African
American
populations in
Prosperity
Bank’s
assessment
areas are met.
Enhance the
bank’s Fair
Lending Action
Plan (Plan)
adopted by the
Board of
Directors of
Prosperity
Bank and
submit changes
to the FDIC
for approval
within 60 days
of the
application
approval date.
The Plan
updates and
revisions, as
applicable,
should provide
strategies to
improve the
volume of home
mortgage
applications
from, and
originations
to African
American
applicants
within each of
the designated
assessment
areas
established in
Texas. The
Plan should
also provide
strategies to
improve the
volume of home
mortgage
applications
from, and
originations
in
majority-minority
census tracts
and
majority-Hispanic
tracts within
designated
assessment
areas in
Texas. The
enhancements
should be
developed in
the context of
available
demographic
data, as well
as safe and
sound lending
considerations,
and provide
for periodic
review of the
Bank's
efforts, using
measurable
criteria, to
assess actions
and progress.
The Bank will
continue to
provide
quarterly
updates to the
FDIC's Dallas
Regional
Office
detailing the
Bank's
progress under
the Plan."
The
condition was
re-imposed in
March 2024
when the FDIC
approved the
Lone Star Bank
application.
Watch this
site.
Watch
this site.
***
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX,
March 23 – While the US bank regulators purport
to be cracking down on fair lending and other
abuses of consumers, they continue to allow
banks of all sizes to pass exams and merge when
they apply, despite deep
disparities.
On
December 9, Fair Finance Watch (with Inner City
Press on the FOIA) commented to the FDIC:
Merchants & Marine Bank to acquire
Mississippi River Bank:
The applicant Merchants & Marine Bank in
2022 in Mississippi based on its disparate
marketing made 148mortgage loans to whites --
while making only 10 loans to African Americans.
This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and others lenders, in Mississippi
in particularly in Merchants & Marine Bank's
CRA assessment areas.
In Alabama it is worse. And it would get worse
in Louisiana, into which the bank is apply to
expand via Mississippi River Bank.
The applicant Merchants & Marine Bank in
2022 in Alabama based on its disparate marketing
made 26 mortgage loans to whites -- and NONE. to
African Americans.
This
is far out of keeping with the demographics, and
others lenders, in Alabama in particularly in
Merchants & Marine Bank's CRA assessment
areas - this is outrageous.
There are other issues.... Fair Finance Watch is
requesting an extension of the public comment
period, evidentiary hearings and that, on the
current record, the applications not be
approved.
On
March 19, 2024, the FDIC recounted Fair Finance
Watch / Inner City Press' CRA protest and
imposed a condition, to develop a plan to serve
African American borrowers, we've uploaded it on
DocumentCloud here.
***
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, March 16– With no public comment
period, New York Community Bank was handed the
40 branches of Signature Bank, to re-open them
as braches of Flagstar, which NYCB bought in a
proceeding delayed by fair lending problems.
Back in April 2021, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press predicted that the proposed merger of New York Community Bank and Flagstar would flounder, on disparate lending and regulatory evasions. And it was delayed.
So, a fair lending rogue benefited from a bail out, or a bank with a former NYS Banking Superintendent Derrick Cephas, and Barney Frank, on its board of directors.
***
March
4, 2024
Capital One Should Discover Merger Dead as FTC Hits Kroger & Inner City Press FOIAs Fed
SOUTH
BRONX,
Feb 26 – Capital One will apply to buy Discover,
in an anticompetitive deal that should be
rejected by regulators if they mean what they
have been saying. Public hearings should be
held, not only on antitrust but also lending
disparities at both companies.
On February 20 Capital One CEO Rich Fairbanks
bragged about communications he's had with the
regulators, then referred to "customary
regulatory approvals." Inner City Press
immediately submitted Freedom of Information Act
requests to the Federal Reserve and OCC for all
such communications. Both agencies confirmed
receipt. The Fed wrote grandly that "You have
provided facts regarding your qualification as a
representative of the news media."
February
26, 2024
Capital One Should Discover Merger Dead CEO Brags to Zombies Inner City Press FOIAs Fed
SOUTH
BRONX,
Feb 20 – Capital One will apply to buy Discover,
in an anticompetitive deal that should be
rejected by regulators if they mean what they
have been saying. Public hearings should be
held, not only on antitrust but also lending
disparities at both companies.
On February 20 Capital One CEO Rich Fairbanks
bragged about communications he's had with the
regulators, then referred to "customary
regulatory approvals." Inner City Press
immediately submitted Freedom of Information Act
requests to the Federal Reserve and OCC for all
such communications. Both agencies confirmed
receipt.
The
call, a transcript of which was not posted hours
later, consisted of largely craven questions
from Capital One's stable of "analysts,"
including Goldman Sachs' Ryan Nash, TD Cohen's
Moshe Orenbuch, from Citi an Aaron sitting in
for Jill Shea, and finally JPMorgan's Rich
Shane, who said "I'm not big on saying this on
calls, but... congratulations." Really.
As
documented by Fair Finance Watch, Discover Bank
in 2022 denied mortgage loans application from
African Americans more than twice as frequently
as those of whites.
Previously, Inner City Press and NCRC challenged Capital One's acquisition of ING Direct, see here.This time, given the antitrust enforcement claims being made in DC, this proposal should be dead in the water. Watch this site.
***
February
19, 2024
As JPMorgan Chase Seeks to Grab More Money in Affluent Areas Fair Finance Watch Protests
by Matthew R. Lee
South Bronx, Feb 17 -- The
monopolization of banking in the US has seen JPMorgan
Chase grow well beyond the 10% of nationwide deposit cap
that Congress purported to set, as Chase was awarded First
Republic and parts of other failed banks.
Now Chase proposes to
gobble up even more deposits, this time by opening
hundreds of branches, in affluent and disproportionately
non-diverse communities.
Chase in applying to
its purported regulator the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency or OCC has chosen not to include the street
addresses of the branches it proposes to open.
So on February 17 Fair
Finance Watch, with Inner City Press on the FOIA,
submitted a sample first comment to the OCC, Acting
Comptroller Michael J. Hsu and others, comparing branches
Chase proposes to close and open in this instance,
February 2 and February 6, in Ohio:
On February 2, 2024
the OCC received a filing from Chase to close Eastgate
Wyler Park 867 WYLER PARK
DRIVE
CINCINNATI OH
45245 Hamilton
080223A
On February 6, 2024, the OCC
received an application from Chase to open Maineville Town
Center NWC of OH Hwy 48 and US Hwy
22
Maineville OH
45039 Warren
217362A
Now, because Chase chooses
to list its proposed branch openings not by street address
(which information it has) but instead by street-corner
(apparently, even if not on a corner), we will herebelow
compare the zip codes. [The OCC should henceforth require
Chase and others to including street address and census
tract in applications.]
In Zip Code 45245
where Chase is closing, there are 388 African American
residents and 17,817 whites - significantly more diverse
than Zip Code 45039 where Chase proposes to open (21,702
whites and only 191 African Americans).
In Zip Code
45245 where Chase is closing, fully 21% of households make
less than $30,000, and 16% make between $30,000 and
$50,000 - significantly lower income than Zip Code 45039
where Chase proposes to open (only 9% of households below
$30,000 and only 12% between $30,000 and $50,000).
This comparison is
troubling; the OCC should require Chase to (re) apply
listing street addresses and census tracts, and should
make its own comparisons, as this new Chase proposed
strategy is rolled out.
Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press are hereby opposing these applications / proposal (including proposed closings) and are requesting public hearing on this issue.
***
February
12, 2024
ABA of Large Banks Sue CRA Reg on Day FNB Settles on Fair Lending after CRA Protest
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX,
NY Feb 5 – On the day a bank that has been
permitted several mergers even as it engaged in
discrimination settled those charges, on
February 5 "The American Bankers Association,
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Independent
Community Bankers of America, Texas Bankers
Association, Independent Bankers Association of
Texas, Amarillo Chamber of Commerce and Longview
Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit in the
Northern District of Texas against the Federal
Reserve, FDIC and OCC."
Beyond venue shopping, the largest banks in the
US are responsible for the ABA lawsuit - they
are hypocrites, on which we'll have more.
Consider:
First National Bank of Pennsylvania applied to
the Federal Reserve to buy Yadkin bank in North
Carolina, Fair Finance Watch challenged it on
Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending
grounds.
The
Federal Reserve, as usually, rubber stamped the
merger. Now in February 2024 the
Justice Department had sued and settled with FNB
on fair lending grounds.
Inner
City Press had wanted to ask DOJ about the Fed
(including in its recent Patriot Bank action),
but has been unable so far. Watch this
site
February
5, 2024
As OCC Proposes to End Automatic Approvals It Withheld under FOIA US Bank Letter it Used
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX NYC, Jan 29 – How
untransparent
and pro-bank
are today's
regulators,
including the
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency?
We ask as the
OCC on January
29, 2024
announced a
proposal for
what it
pitched as
more
transparency
in merger
reviews. The
proposal, they
said,
"detail[s] the
types of deals
that would
typically
secure
approval and
the issues
that could
complicate or
derail
transactions,"
Michael Hsu,
the acting
comptroller,
said. The end
of so-called
automatic
approvals is
overplayed; a
database would
help. But too
some, this
appears to be
a sop to the
banks, not
communities or
consumers.
Consider:
Back
on February
10, 2023 came
the OCC's
denial in full
of Inner City
Press' Freedom
of Information
Act request
about its
approval of
U.S. Bank's
application to
acquire Union
Bank, which
Fair Finance
Watch and
others
challenged
under the
Community
Reinvestment
Act.
Inner
City Press
submitted the
request in
November 2022,
and
immediately
clarified and
narrowed the
request after
an OCC
inquiry.
On
February 10,
2023, the OCC
responded -
and withheld
16 pages in
full
On
February 14,
Inner City
Press filed
its appeal.
On
March 16,
2023, OCC
Deputy General
Counsel
Patricia S.
Grady denied
the appeal in
full - the
bank's
commitment
letter the OCC
based its
approval all
it totally
secret. Letter
on Inner City
Press'
DocumentCloud
here.
This is
unacceptable.
Will it be
addressed?
Watch this
site.
January
29, 2029
What is
happening to
the Federal
Reserve?
Beyond
misrating
Patriot Bank
just before
its DOJ
redlining
settlement,
how the Fed is
withholding
info about its
inquiry into
Lakeland
Bank's
discrimination
deal. Ten days
ago - with no
documents yet
- Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch
FOIA-ed the
Fed: "This is
a formal FOIA
request for
the two
exhibits
withheld in
full by
Provident
Financial
Services,
Inc., Jersey
City, New
Jersey in its
January 18,
2024
Additional
Information
response in
connection its
pending
application
to acquire
Lakeland
Bancorp, Inc.,
Oak Ridge, New
Jersey, and
thereby
indirectly
acquire
Lakeland Bank,
which recently
settled
lending
discrimination
charges with
DOJ
The January 18
response
recites then
states:
Provide an
update to all
action items
included in
the Consent
Order,
reflecting
those items
which have
been completed
and any other
pertinent
updates,
including, but
not limited
to, the status
of any
deliverables
required under
the Consent
Order that
have not yet
been
completed.
Please refer
to the
attached
Confidential
Exhibit 1 for
a response to
this
Item.
The entire
response is
withheld,
about fair
lending
compliance,
including
public
commitments
that are
unfulfilled.
This cannot
stand; the
information
must be
provided
before the
Board acts in
any way on the
application
(other than
denial.)
January 22,
2024
Patriot
Bank Settled
on Redlining
After CRA
Satisfactory
Rating from
Federal
Reserve
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX,
Jan 20 – Patriot Bank in Tennessee settled
redlining discrimination charges with DOJ on
January 17, 2024.
But
the Federal Reserve in 2022 gave Patriot Bank a
"Satisfactory" rating under the Community
Reinvestment Act, stating that "no evidence of
discriminatory or other illegal credit
practices inconsistent with helping to meet
community credit needs was identified."
So
the Federal Reserve, at least its CRA exams and
merger reviews, is not credible.
And
DOJ? Settling for less than $2 million?
Inner City Press has submitted a FOIA request to the Fed, on behalf of Fair Finance Watch, about another recent DOJ lending discrimiantion case and FRB merger, Provident / Lakeland - watch this site
***
January
15, 2024
Disparate Hudson Valley Credit Union Wants to Gobble Up a Bank Removing it from CRA
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 12 – The trend of credit unions buying banks
is growing - and credit unions are not subject
to the Community Reinvestment Act. Nor do some
of them respect the fair lending laws.
Take, this week, the proposed acquisition in New
York of Catskill Hudson Bancorp by Hudson Valley
Credit Union.
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data for 2022,
reviewed by Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch, show that Hudson Valley Credit Union made
141 loans to African Americans while denying
more applications, 164, from African Americans.
By contrast it made fully 2583 loans to white,
which less than half than number of denials:
1128.
HVCU should be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution. But it will not be under the Community Reinvestment Act. This loophole must be closed.
***
January
8, 2024
Truist Moving to Close 72 Bank Branches Amid Merger Fallout Covered Up by US Regulators
By
Matthew R. Lee, FOIA
docs
NEW
YORK CITY, Jan 5 – Back when
BB&T announced a $66
billion proposal to take over
Suntrust Bank, they
said they would
close an
undisclosed number
of branches.
Then after
Federal
Reserve Governor
Lael Brainard
was asked
by Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch
about the
Fed's lax
review of previous
mergers, conveniently,
the Fed "announce[d]
termination of
enforcement
action with
BB&T
Corporation" for
money
laundering.
Now in January
2024, the
re-named Truist
says it will
close 72
branches by
March. Nine
branches are
set to close
in North
Carolina and
seven in the DC metropolitan
area; also
in
Alabama,
Georgia (8),
Kentucky,
Maryland and
West Virginia. This is the
result of the
mergers the regulators
allow, then don't
follow up on.
January
1, 2024
Old National Bank Bid for CapStar Protested After 2021 Settlement 2022 Lending Disparities
SOUTH
BRONX,
Dec 27 – As US bank regulators talk about
working to increase the fairness of the
financial system, banks with striking histories
of discrimination, even histories acknowledged
by settlement, blithely apply for approval to
buy other banks.
So
it is with Old National, which settled lending
discrimination charges in 2021, but remained
disparate after that - and now seeks to buy
CapStar Bank in Nashville. On
December 27, Fair Finance Watch with Inner City
Press on the FOIA filed comments with the Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency: "This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the Applications by Old
National to acquire CapStar. As the
OCC must know, Old National was the subject of
fair lending discrimination charges and settled
them in 2021. See, e.g., "Old National Bank
preventing loan access to Black borrowers could
be illegal, experts
say"...
But
still in 2022, Old National in Indiana based on
its disparate marketing made 2609 mortgage loans
to whites, with 791 denials to whites -- while
making only 114 loans to African Americans, with
fully 97 denials. This is
unacceptable. In 2022 in Minnesota, based
on its disparate marketing, Old National made
850 loans to whites, with 223 denial and only 9
loans to African American, with just as many
denials to African Americans: nine. This is
totally
unacceptable.
CapStar in Tennessee in 2022 made 1522 loans to
whites with 125 denials, while making only 49
loans to African American, with ten denials. In
North Carolina in 2022, CapStar made five loans
to whites, and NONE to African
Americans. There is no public
benefit to this proposal.
Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press have
been deeply concerned about the rush by the
OCC's penchant to rubberstamp mergers by
redliners. We timely request public hearings.
The comment period should be extended;
evidentiary hearings should be held; and on the
current record, the application should not be
approved
December
25, 2023
Sleazy
as can be:
U.S. Bank will
pay $36
million over
allegations
the company
illegally
blocked
out-of-work
consumers from
accessing
unemployment
benefits
during the
coronavirus
pandemic, top
federal
banking
regulators
announced on
Tuesday.
At the onset
of the
COVID-19
pandemic, U.S.
Bank had
contracts with
at least 19
states and the
District of
Columbia to
deliver
unemployment
benefits to
millions of
newly
out-of-work
Americans
through its
prepaid
card.
But due to
expanded
antifraud
controls, the
nation's
fifth-largest
lender froze
tens of
thousands of
prepaid card
accounts
without
leaving users
a way to
regain access,
according to
the U.S.
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency
and U.S.
Consumer
Financial
Protection
Bureau.
December
18, 2023
Fair Finance Watch's CRA filing in Mississippi has been deemed by the FDIC to "constitute a protest for purposes of this application:
Dear
Mr. Lee,
This letter is
to acknowledge
receipt of
your
correspondence
on December 9,
2023,
concerning
an application
filed by
Merchants
& Marine
Bank,
Pascagoula,
Mississippi,
to merge
with
Mississippi
River Bank,
Belle Chasse,
Louisiana.
We reviewed
your
correspondence
in accordance
with the
guidelines of
12 C.F.R.
Section
303.2
(c) and (1)
and consider
it to
constitute a
protest for
purposes of
this
application. A
determination
on the request
for a hearing
has not yet
been made and
the FDIC will
provide
information
regarding that
request in
subsequent
correspondence.
cc: Merchants
& Marine
Bank CEO
Clayton Legear
December
11, 2023
Amid FDIC Questions Disparate Mississippi Bank Merger Challenged by Fair Finance Watch
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX,
Dec 9 – While the US bank regulators purport to
be cracking down on fair lending and other
abuses of consumers, they continue to allow
banks of all sizes to pass exams and merge when
they apply, despite deep
disparities.
On
December 9, Fair Finance Watch (with Inner City
Press on the FOIA) commented to the FDIC:
Merchants & Marine Bank to acquire
Mississippi River Bank:
The applicant Merchants & Marine Bank in
2022 in Mississippi based on its disparate
marketing made 148mortgage loans to whites --
while making only 10 loans to African Americans.
This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and others lenders, in Mississippi
in particularly in Merchants & Marine Bank's
CRA assessment areas.
In Alabama it is worse. And it would get worse
in Louisiana, into which the bank is apply to
expand via Mississippi River Bank.
The applicant Merchants & Marine Bank in
2022 in Alabama based on its disparate marketing
made 26 mortgage loans to whites -- and NONE. to
African Americans.
This
is far out of keeping with the demographics, and
others lenders, in Alabama in particularly in
Merchants & Marine Bank's CRA assessment
areas - this is outrageous.
There are other issues.... Fair Finance Watch is requesting an extension of the public comment period, evidentiary hearings and that, on the current record, the applications not be approved. Watch this site.
***
December
4, 2023
PA Merger Partner FNCB Admits Disparities As Link Was Hit by Fair Finance Watch Now Plan
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Dec 1 – Pennsylvania, Delaware and
Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the merger on the rebound between
New York-based Link Bank and Partners Bancorp,
which recently broke off its proposed deal with
OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the FDIC and Federal Reserve.
In
October, the FDIC required from LINKBANK a plan
to improve its lending to African Americans,
which Inner City Press has published on its
DocumentCloud
here.
On
November 10, Fair Finance Watch commented on an
even more disparate combination, Peoples
Security Bank and Trust Company bid to acquire
and merge with FNCB Bank, noting that on
Pennsylvania in 2022, Peoples Security Bank and
Trust Company made 532 HMDA-reported loans to
whites - and only FOUR to African Americans,
while denying five applications.
FNCB Bank in Pennsylvania in 2022 made 247
HMDA-reported loans to whites - and only ONE to
an African Americans, while denying three
applications. A referral should be made to the
DOJ for fair lending violations.
Now the banks have admitted to the FDIC: "FNCB
Bank’s preliminary HMDA data from the first
three quarters of 2023 reveals a significant
decrease in loan volume due to an unexpected and
unplanned change in FNCB Bank’s mortgage
processing system. In early 2022, FNCB Bank
partnered with a third party, Promontory
MortgagePath (“PMP”), to provide mortgage
fulfillment services. However, in October 2022,
PMP Deputy Regional Director Scott D.
Strockoz Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
December 1, 2023 Page 6 unexpectedly
announced closure of the company due to the
unprecedented and rapid deterioration of the
mortgage market. PMP did not provide FNCB Bank
with advance notice of its decision. In order to
continue to serve the needs of its communities
during 2023, FNCB Bank brokered residential
mortgage loan applications to a third-party
lender pending the establishment of a new
processing system. Consequently, FNCB Bank
recorded a total of 42 brokered loan
applications through September 30, 2023, which
resulted in 32 loans originated by its
third-party lender partner. Because these
brokered loans were not closed in FNCB Bank’s
name, the loans are not included in FNCB Bank’s
2023 HMDA data. Accordingly, a review of FNCB
Bank’s preliminary 2023 HMDA data will indicate
that it did not meet 2022 peer benchmarks for
loan originations in MMCTs and loan applications
generated in LMI tracts when reviewed in FNCB
Bank’s assessment areas (which, for peer
comparison, includes only those institutions in
its assessment area with an application volume
between 50% and 200% of FNCB Bank’s). Due to
PMP’s withdrawal from its partnership with FNCB
Bank, the following trends are evident based on
a total of 45 mortgage applications and 33
originations reported by FNCB Bank as HMDA loans
during this period: • Applications from MMCTs
were 2.22% of total applications. •
Majority-Minority loan originations were 0%."
Zero. Watch this site.
November
27, 2023
CRA Challenged to Burke & Herbert on Summit Is Deemed Protest by FDIC despite Bogus Reply
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Nov 20 – Virginia and Delaware portrayed
as diverse and ever progressive places. But
their banks, not so much.
Consider
for example the proposed acquisition by
Viriginia-based Burke & Herbert Bank &
Trust Company of Summit Community Bank. Despite
a showing of disparities at Burke & Herbert
even worse than at Linkbank, which the FDIC
imposed a condition on, Burke on November 15
issued a vacuous response. They drop an
ad-hominen footnote which ignores that the
evidence put forward in a litigation survives
the suit's withdrawal.
On
November 20, the FDIC overruled Burke &
Herbert's position: "
Matthew Lee,
Esquire Executive Director Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch P.O. Box 20047 New York, New York
10017 Dear Mr. Lee: We received your e-mail
dated November 10, 2023, regarding the
application for Peoples Security Bank and Trust
Company to merge with FNCB Bank. We reviewed
your correspondence in accordance with the
guidelines of 12 C.F.R. Section 303.2(c) and
303.2(l), and we consider it a protest... Any
future comments should be sent to the applicant
and to this office."
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on October
28 they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the FDIC:
"In
Virginia in 2022, Burke & Herbert Bank &
Trust Company made 104 mortgage loans to whites,
but only 12 to African Americans. This is out of
keeping with the demographics of its footprint,
and its competitors.
November
20, 2023
CRA Response by Burke & Herbert on Summit Merger Ignores FDIC Conditioning Linkbank
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Nov 15 – Virginia and Delaware portrayed
as diverse and ever progressive places. But
their banks, not so much.
Consider
for example the proposed acquisition by
Viriginia-based Burke & Herbert Bank &
Trust Company of Summit Community Bank. Despite
a showing of disparities at Burke & Herbert
even worse than at Linkbank, which the FDIC
imposed a condition on, Burke on November 15
issued a vacuous response. They drop an
ad-hominen footnote which ignores that the
evidence put forward in a litigation survives
the suit's withdrawal.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on October
28 they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the FDIC:
"In
Virginia in 2022, Burke & Herbert Bank &
Trust Company made 104 mortgage loans to whites,
but only 12 to African Americans. This is out of
keeping with the demographics of its footprint,
and its competitors.
Beyond
Virginia, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust
Company is scarcely better. In 2022, Burke &
Herbert Bank & Trust Company overall made
119 mortgage loans to whites, but only 16 to
African Americans.
Summit Community Bank is also of concern. In
West Virginia in 2022 it made 403 mortgage loans
to whites, and only EIGHT to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 3 applications from African
Americans, and only 97 from whites (compared to
403 originations). This is disparate, and
more disparate both than the aggregate in West
Virginia.
And that's not even getting into Burke &
Herbert's overdraft fee abuses. More on that to
follow - more than conditions, this application
should be denied.
In
October, after a similar challenge by Fair
Finance Watch on data and complaints not even as
bad, the FDIC required from LINKBANK a plan to
improve its lending to African Americans, which
Inner City Press has published on its
DocumentCloud
here.
November
13, 2023
Fair
lending beat,
filed in the
Pennsylvania
edition: "
Fair
Finance Watch
has been
reviewing
Peoples
Security Bank
and Trust
Company and
FNCB Bank
including
their 2022
HMDA data not
taken into
account in any
CRA exam and
finds it
troubling.
In
Pennsylvania
in 2022,
Peoples
Security Bank
and Trust
Company made
532
HMDA-reported
loans to
whites - and
only FOUR to
African
Americans,
while denying
five
applications.
A referral
should be made
to the DOJ for
fair lending
violations.
FNCB Bank in
Pennsylvania
in 2022 made
247
HMDA-reported
loans to
whites - and
only ONE to an
African
Americans,
while denying
three
applications.
A referral
should be made
to the DOJ for
fair lending
violations."
November 6, 2023
Atlantic Union CRA Protested on American National Replies 2.4 Disparities Is Fine
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Nov 4 – Two of 2023's largest US
proposed bank mergers were announced this
summer: Atlantic Union applying to buy Atlantic
National in Virginia, and Banc of California to
buy PacWest. Fair Finance
Watch had been monitoring the banks, and on
September 25 commented to the Federal Reserve on
and against Atlantic Union - American National,
below.
On
October 6, mailed October 11, Atlantic Union's
counsel claims that it's fine that Atlantic
Union, in Virginia in 2022, made 2819 mortgage
loans to whites, and only 197 to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied 159 applications
from African Americans, and only 944 from
whites.
Atlantic Union has told the Federal Reserve
that's fine.
That
is to say, beyond the 2.4 denial rate disparate,
American Union made fully 14 mortgage loans to
whites for every loan to an African
American. Statewide in Virginia for the
aggregate, the ratio was five to one.
This
is outrageous; again, American Union should be
referred by the FRB to the Department of
Justice.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the Federal Reserve
to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners, money
launderers and predatory lenders. This has been
killing the Community Reinvestment Act and we
timely request public hearings.
We'll have more on this.
***
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October
30, 2023
CRA Challenge to Burke & Herbert Summit Merger After Linkbank Conditioned by FDIC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Oct 28 – Virginia and Delaware portrayed
as diverse and ever progressive places. But
their banks, not so much.
Consider
for example the proposed acquisition by
Viriginia-based Burke & Herbert Bank &
Trust Company of Summit Community Bank.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on October
28 they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the FDIC:
"In
Virginia in 2022, Burke & Herbert Bank &
Trust Company made 104 mortgage loans to whites,
but only 12 to African Americans. This is out of
keeping with the demographics of its footprint,
and its competitors.
Beyond
Virginia, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust
Company is scarcely better. In 2022, Burke &
Herbert Bank & Trust Company overall made
119 mortgage loans to whites, but only 16 to
African Americans.
Summit Community Bank is also of concern. In
West Virginia in 2022 it made 403 mortgage loans
to whites, and only EIGHT to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 3 applications from African
Americans, and only 97 from whites (compared to
403 originations). This is disparate, and
more disparate both than the aggregate in West
Virginia.
See also, as to proposed acquirer Burke &
Herbert, this "civil action seeking monetary
damages, restitution and declaratory relief from
Defendant Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust
Company (“Burke & Herbert”), arising from
the unfair and unconscionable assessment and
collection of “overdraft fees” (“OD Fees”) on
accounts that were never actually overdrawn. 2.
This practice breaches contract promises made in
Burke & Herbert’s adhesion contracts. 3. In
plain, clear, and simple language, the checking
account contract documents discussing OD Fees
promise that Burke & Herbert will only
charge OD Fees or Non-Sufficient Funds Fees
(“NSF Fees”) on transactions where there are
insufficient funds to cover them. 4. As happened
to Plaintiff, however, Burke & Herbert
charges OD Fees even when there are sufficient
funds to cover a debit card transaction,"
citation, etc.
Earlier
in October, after a similar challenge by Fair
Finance Watch on data and complaints not even as
bad, the FDIC required from LINKBANK a plan to
improve its lending to African Americans, which
Inner City Press has published on its
DocumentCloud
here.
October
23, 2023
Linkbankcorp
Bid To Buy
Partners
Bancorp
Conditioned by
FDIC Now
Linkbank Spins
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Oct 21 – Pennsylvania, Delaware and
Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the FDIC and Federal Reserve.
Now in October, the FDIC has required from
LINKBANK a plan to improve its lending to
African Americans, which Inner City Press has
published on its DocumentCloud
here.
The ABA's Rob
Nichols,
formerly of
the Treasury
Department,
has attacked
the reporting
of
demographics
in small
business
lending,
saying it will
be painting
“an incomplete
and
potentially
misleading
picture of
small business
lending to
underserved
groups." Then
there are the
lawsuit trying
to stop any
reporting.
Because,
apparently, no
picture is
better than a
supposedly
incomplete
one. Mean
while the ABA
is an
investor: the
"American
Bankers
Association, a
trade group
for U.S.
banks, said on
Friday that
[it] had
joined a $30
million
investment
round in
Finxact, a
startup." How
does that
work?
October
16, 2023
Who can get
into banking
in the USA?
Well, bunq is
trying,
despite being
fined in
Benelux for
using AI as
their anti
money
laundering
screen. And
how would that
work for fair
lending? Watch
this site.
October
9, 2023
Link Bank Bid To Buy Partners Bancorp Was Hit by Fair Finance Watch Now Plan Required
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Oct 7 – Pennsylvania, Delaware and
Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the FDIC and Federal Reserve.
October
2, 2023
Deutsche Bank Fined for Greenwashing Scam, Next Should Be Fine for False CRA Claims
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Sept 25 – Deutsche
Bank was sued
for their enabling of Jeffrey
Epstein, in lawsuits filed on
Thanksgiving 2022 in the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York,
where Inner City Press found
them in the docket.
September
25, 2023
CRA Challenge to Atlantic Union - American National Proposed Merger on Loan Disparities
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Sept 23 – Two of 2023's largest
US proposed bank mergers were announced this
summer: Atlantic Union applying to buy Atlantic
National in Virginia, and Banc of California to
buy PacWest. Fair Finance
Watch had been monitoring the banks, and on
September 25 commented to the Federal Reserve on
and against Atlantic Union - American
National:
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a timely first comment
on, the Applications of Atlantic Union
Bankshares Corporation to acquire American
National Bankshares.
Atlantic Union, in Virginia in 2022, made 2819
mortgage loans to whites, and only 197 to
African Americans. Meanwhile it denied 159
applications from African Americans, and only
944 from whites.
This is disparate, and more disparate both than
the aggregate in Virginia, and than American
National Bank and Trust.
That
is to say, beyond the 2.4 denial rate disparate,
American Union made fully 14 mortgage loans to
whites for every loan to an African
American. Statewide in Virginia for the
aggregate, the ratio was five to one.
This
is outrageous; American Union should be referred
by the FRB to the Department of Justice.
In
Maryland in 2022, American Union denied the
applications of African Americans 4.31 times
more frequently than those of whites.
In
North Carolina in 2022, American Union made 17
loans to whites for every loan to an African
American. Again, this is outrageous; American
Union should be referred by the FRB to the
Department of Justice.
We
also note the issues in the overdraft class
action that Atlantic Union settled, but on
information and belief did not fully address, in
2021. See, MARTY HINTON, individually and on
behalf of all others similarly situated,
Plaintiff, v. ATLANTIC UNION BANK, Defendant.
Civil Action No. 3:20-cv-651-JAG (Complaint)
and (Order
denying Atlantic Union's motion to
dismiss) Inner City Press is requesting an
extension of the public comment period, public /
virtual evidentiary hearings and that, on the
current record, the applications not be
approved
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the Federal Reserve
to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners, money
launderers and predatory lenders. This has been
killing the Community Reinvestment Act and we
timely request public hearings.
September
18, 2023
Citigroup has
been rightly
targeted with
protest for
years (see for
example
Predatory
Bender) - but
last week the
ongoing
lending
protest turned
environmental,
and a
Citigroup
staffer showed
the bank's
attitude,
pushing and
yelling and it
seems
splashing
coffee, video
here.
More next
week, after
UNGA...
September
11, 2023
Schwab Moved Bank and CRA Duty to Desert SW After TD Ameritrade Buy, Now Challenge
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX, Sept 8 – There are largely non-bank
company which buy or charter a bank to serve
them, but barely if at all comply with the
Community Reinvestment Act.
On
September 8, 2023, Fair Finance Watch called out
Charles Schwab's two banks, to the Federal
Reserve:
On
behalf of Fair Finance Watch, this is a timely
comment on the CRA performance and plans of
Charles Schwab, including as impacted by the TD
Ameritrade acquisition.
That acquisition raised a number of issues
adverse for consumers, but there was not FRB
comment period. However, this
is a timely comment on the CRA PE of the two
Charles Schwab banks, Charles Schwab Bank, SSB
and Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, which have
in connection with the acquisition moved their
headquarters to Texas, with an amorphous
additional service area of "the desert
Southwest."
Significantly,
looking at the top 100 banks regulated by the
Federal Reserve, Charles Schwab has the lowest
ratio of CRA lending and investments as a % of
total assets. It cannot pass
its CRA exam, and its CRA plan cannot continue
to be accepted or approved, on this
basis.
September
4, 2023
Link Bank Bid To Buy Partners Bancorp On the Ocean Rebound has More Fed CRA Questions
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Sept 1 – Pennsylvania, Delaware and
Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the Federal Reserve.
August
28, 2023
Lakeland Bank DOJ Deal Left Disparities in NY So Protest now Fed Asks of DOJ Settlement
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH
BRONX, NY, Aug 26– When the US
Department of Justice sued and
immediately settled with
Lakeland Bank for fair lending
violations, it announced a
proposed merger with Provident
Bank.
As
if to sweep it under the carpet.
And
when Fair Finance Watch looked into it, it found
that the DOJ settlement did not address in any
way the banks' disparities in New York. So on
December 1, the FDIC's comment deadline, it
filed a protest, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA.
Jump
cut to March 15, 2023, when Provident's Deputy
General Counsel filed a letter with the New York
Fed, cc-ing Rodgin Cohen - only on New Jersey,
nothing on the disparities in New York.
On
August 22, the Fed asked the banks: "Department
of Justice Consent Order (“Consent Order”) 1.
Provide an update to all action items included
in the Consent Order, reflecting those items
which have been completed and any other
pertinent updates." As of August 26, no response
received from these banks...
Watch this site.
***
August
21, 2023
Credit Union Associations Demand Stay of CFPB 1071 Rule As They Also Move to Merge
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, August 14 – The Texas Bankers
Association and ABA managed to finagle a Federal
court ruling allowing its and the ABA's members'
non-compliance with the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau's small business data
collection rules, pending Supreme Court decision
on CFPB's structure and funding. Order here.
On
August 3, the ABA wrote to demand the CFPB
extend the stay to its non-members, here.
On
August 11 the two credit union associations
wrote it to get a stay - while they themselves
try to merger. The letter
was signed by NAFCU Vice President of Regulatory
Affairs Ann Petros and CUNA Deputy Chief
Advocacy Officer and Managing Counsel Alexander
Monterrubio.
August
14, 2023
Banks Downgraded as Regulators Encourage Mergers But Link Bid To Buy Partners is Litmus
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Aug 8– Regional banks are being
downgraded, by Moody's and others; the US bank
regulators are encouraging mergers. But will
they uphold the Community Reinvestment Act as
they have, of late, not been? See below.
ecf
Moody's cut ratings of 10 banks on Monday.
Here's the list of banks downgraded:
Commerce Bancshares BOK Financial
Corporation M&T Bank Corporation Old
National Bancorp Prosperity Bancshares
Amarillo National Bancorp Webster Financial
Corporation Fulton Financial Corporation
Pinnacle Financial Partners Associated
Banc-Corp
Moody's
also said it placed six large banks under review
for possible downgrades. They are: Bank of
New York Mellon Corporation Northern Trust
Corporation State Street Corporation
Cullen/Frost Bankers Truist Financial
Corporation U.S. Bancorp
Moody's
also said it shifted the outlook of 11 banks
from stable to negative. They are: PNC
Financial Services Group Capital One Financial
Corporation Citizens Financial Group Fifth Third
Bancorp Huntington Bancshares
Regions Financial Corporation Cadence Bank
F.N.B. Corporation Simmons First National
Corporation Ally Financial Bank OZK
Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia are
portrayed as diverse and ever progressive
places. But their banks, not so much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
August
7, 2023
ABA Demands Stay of CFPB 1071 Rule As Regulators Triggered PacWest Merger Proposal
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, August 3 – The Texas Bankers
Association and ABA managed to finagle a Federal
court ruling allowing its and the ABA's members'
non-compliance with the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau's small business data
collection rules, pending Supreme Court decision
on CFPB's structure and funding. Order here.
On
August 3, the ABA wrote to demand the CFPB
extend the stay to its non-members, here.
There will be fightback.
Meanwhile,
Pennsylvania, California, Delaware and Virginia
are portrayed as diverse and even progressive
places. But their banks, not so much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the Federal Reserve, below.
July
31, 2023
Regulatory Double Talk Triggers PacWest Merger Proposal Like Link Bank Doomed Bid
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, July 25 – Pennsylvania, California,
Delaware and Virginia are portrayed as diverse
and ever progressive places. But their banks,
not so much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the Federal Reserve, below.
July
23, 2023
Link Bank In Bid To Buy Partners Bancorp On the Ocean Rebound Misrepresented to FDIC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX, July 22 – Pennsylvania, Delaware
and Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the Federal Reserve:
This
is a timely first comment on the Applications of
LINKBANCORP, Inc. Camphill, Pennsylvania; to
acquire Partners Bancorp, Salisbury, Maryland,
and thereby indirectly acquire The Bank of
Delmarva, Seaford, Delaware, and Virginia
Partners Bank, Fredericksburg, VA "and more."
Since
Partners Bancorp's attempt to sell itself to
Ocean Bancorp died amid reports of regulator
concern, documents in that regard should be
provided (and made part of the record on this
application), too.
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing LinkBank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
In
Pennsylvania in 2021, Link Bank made 49
HMDA-reported loans to whites - and only TWO to
African Americans, worse that its peers.
When one expands the review to include loans
beyond Pennsylvania, Link Bank's loans in 2021
to whites increase to 53, but to African
Americans remains the same insufficient
TWO.
Virginia
Partners Bank is only slightly better. In 2021
it made 48 HMDA reported loans and only THREE to
African Americans. While insufficient, that is
still more than Link Bank's TWO. A terrible bank
would be acquiring a bad bank, and making it
even worse.
After Inner City Press' comments were filed,
LINKBANK's outside counsel Luse Gorman PC by
Agata S. Troy and Benjamin Azoff rather than
addressing the disparities argued that they have
no merit, including lying to the Federal Reserve
that the FDIC considered them substantive, then
urging the FDIC to reconsider.
On
July 12, the FRBP asked Link questions,
including "5. Discuss whether a compliance
committee or any fair lending or CRA-related
committees have been established by
Applicant or LinkBank. If so, provide the
minutes. If not, provide any minutes of
the board of either Applicant or LinkBank since
the March 22, 2021, Consumer Affairs
Report of Examination discussing consumer
compliance, fair lending, and/or CRA
matters. 6. Provide LinkBank’s most recent
consumer compliance risk assessment."
On
July 19, Link admitted it has misspoken to the
FDIC and tried to amend it: "Dear Ms. Goñi: On
behalf of LINKBANK, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, a
Pennsylvania chartered commercial bank, we would
like to revise LINKBANK’s responses to comments
received ... as follows: Subsidiaries and
Affiliates 1. Describe ownership details for the
two subsidiaries partially owned by the Virginia
Partners Bank (Johnson Mortgage Company) and the
Bank of Delmarva (FBW LLC) and what will happen
to these subsidiaries and all the other
subsidiaries of each bank as part of the merger
transactions. LINKBANK would like to retract the
following statement made in LINKBANK’s response
to comment 1, “The parties expect to dissolve
all of the subsidiaries of TBOD and VPB at or
following consummation of the closing of the
Transaction with the exception of Johnson
Mortgage and 410 William Street, LLC.”
LINKBANK will acquire all of the current
subsidiaries of TBOD and VPB in the Bank Mergers
and none of these subsidiaries will be dissolved
at or prior to the consummation of the
transaction. Prior to dissolving any
subsidiaries post-closing, LINKBANK will conduct
an analysis pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 1828(c)(1)(A)
and contact FDIC staff to confirm whether any
notice or application is necessary."
July
17, 2023
Link Bank Bid To Buy Partners Bancorp On the Ocean Rebound Protested Inaction on Bad Exam
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX, July 15 – Pennsylvania, Delaware
and Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the Federal Reserve:
This
is a timely first comment on the Applications of
LINKBANCORP, Inc. Camphill, Pennsylvania; to
acquire Partners Bancorp, Salisbury, Maryland,
and thereby indirectly acquire The Bank of
Delmarva, Seaford, Delaware, and Virginia
Partners Bank, Fredericksburg, VA "and more."
Since
Partners Bancorp's attempt to sell itself to
Ocean Bancorp died amid reports of regulator
concern, documents in that regard should be
provided (and made part of the record on this
application), too.
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing LinkBank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
In
Pennsylvania in 2021, Link Bank made 49
HMDA-reported loans to whites - and only TWO to
African Americans, worse that its peers.
When one expands the review to include loans
beyond Pennsylvania, Link Bank's loans in 2021
to whites increase to 53, but to African
Americans remains the same insufficient
TWO.
Virginia
Partners Bank is only slightly better. In 2021
it made 48 HMDA reported loans and only THREE to
African Americans. While insufficient, that is
still more than Link Bank's TWO. A terrible bank
would be acquiring a bad bank, and making it
even worse.
After Inner City Press' comments were filed,
LINKBANK's outside counsel Luse Gorman PC by
Agata S. Troy and Benjamin Azoff rather than
addressing the disparities argued that they have
no merit, including lying to the Federal Reserve
that the FDIC considered them substantive, then
urging the FDIC to reconsider.
On
July 12, the FRBP asked Link questions,
including "5. Discuss whether a compliance
committee or any fair lending or CRA-related
committees have been established by
Applicant or LinkBank. If so, provide the
minutes. If not, provide any minutes of
the board of either Applicant or LinkBank since
the March 22, 2021, Consumer Affairs
Report of Examination discussing consumer
compliance, fair lending, and/or CRA
matters. 6. Provide LinkBank’s most recent
consumer compliance risk assessment."
July
10, 2023
Oakwood Bank Was Protested on MapleMark Bank Merger Now Both Downgraded on CRA
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, July 8 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question.
This has become even more true in 2023, with
regulators under fire for misregulation of the
failing banks, and of handing them over to mega
banks like JPM Chase. Hence Janet Yellen
has promised "openness" to mergers of midsized
(and presumably small) banks. Let the rubber
stamping begin!
This
perhaps explains the industry press
hand-wringing about the failure of some mergers
subject to CRA protest, largely by Fair Finance
Watch. In May 2023, there's MVB bank, here.
Sometimes
a CRA protest presage / precedes a downgrade.
Back in August 2022: "Matthew Lee, Esq. Fair Finance Watch P.O. Box 20047 New York City, New York 10017 Re: MapleMark Bank’s Application to Acquire Oakwood Bank Dear Mr. Lee, We are writing to inform you that MapleMark Bank, Dallas, Texas, withdrew its application to acquire and merge with Oakwood Bank, Dallas, Texas. Please note that we will perform any necessary follow-up of the concerns you raised as part of our consumer compliance and Community Reinvestment Act examination programs. We appreciate your concerns and value community input into the application process." Yeah.
Fair Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the
FOIA filed comments with the Federal
Deposit Insurance Company to a proposed merger
involving a bank subject to a rare CRA
condition: Oakwood Bank in Dallas, and MapleMark
Bank:
"March
21, 2022 Dear Regional Director Elmquist,
Ass't Regional Director Finnegan and others at
the FDIC: This is a request for all
information in the possession of the FDIC about,
and a timely comment on, the Applications of
Oakwood Bank to merge with MapleBank Bank, both
of Dallas, Texas.
The
FDIC publicly imposed a CRA / fair lending
condition on Oakwood for its underperformance in
Dallas, see, e.g., FDIC required Oakwood Bank to
"develop plans to equitably lend to low- and
moderate-income borrowers in predominately
minority parts of Southern Dallas... [and]
action plans to improve small business lending
in census tracts in majority-minority, and low-
to moderate-income areas. Those action plans
have to be adopted by the banks' board of
directors and submitted to the FDIC, which is
also requiring regular updates on the banks'
progress."
There
is a long history here. See, e.g., American
Banker, "Oakwood's CRA Problems
Continue."
Inner
City Press has submitted a FOIA request to the
FDIC for All records reflecting and regarding
the fair lending / Community Reinvestment Act
condition publicly imposed by the FDIC on
Oakwood Bank in Dallas, Texas, including all non
exempt portions of reports purporting to show
performance
This
is a matter of public interest, as it
MapleMark's engagement with fintech(s), see,
e.g., MapleMark Bank is utilizing German fintech
in a partnership Jun 9, 2021 — A
Dallas-based bank funded by local family offices
is partnering with a German fintech.. Very Truly
Yours, Matthew Lee,
Esq. Executive Director Inner
City Press/Fair Finance Watch
July
3, 2023
Link Bank Bid To Buy Partners Bancorp On the Ocean Rebound Evasively Answers on Lehman
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX, June 28 – Pennsylvania, Delaware
and Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the Federal Reserve:
This
is a timely first comment on the Applications of
LINKBANCORP, Inc. Camphill, Pennsylvania; to
acquire Partners Bancorp, Salisbury, Maryland,
and thereby indirectly acquire The Bank of
Delmarva, Seaford, Delaware, and Virginia
Partners Bank, Fredericksburg, VA "and more."
Since
Partners Bancorp's attempt to sell itself to
Ocean Bancorp died amid reports of regulator
concern, documents in that regard should be
provided (and made part of the record on this
application), too.
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing LinkBank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
In
Pennsylvania in 2021, Link Bank made 49
HMDA-reported loans to whites - and only TWO to
African Americans, worse that its peers.
When one expands the review to include loans
beyond Pennsylvania, Link Bank's loans in 2021
to whites increase to 53, but to African
Americans remains the same insufficient
TWO.
Virginia
Partners Bank is only slightly better. In 2021
it made 48 HMDA reported loans and only THREE to
African Americans. While insufficient, that is
still more than Link Bank's TWO. A terrible bank
would be acquiring a bad bank, and making it
even worse.
After Inner City Press' comments were filed,
LINKBANK's outside counsel Luse Gorman PC by
Agata S. Troy and Benjamin Azoff rather than
addressing the disparities argued that they have
no merit, including lying to the Federal Reserve
that the FDIC considered them substantive, then
urging the FDIC to reconsider.
On
June 14, LINKBANK through counsel answered the
Federal Reserve's questions including:
"The
proposed acquisitions will increase LINKBANK’s
size by approximately 150
percent and will increase its presence from one
state (Pennsylvania) to five (with the
addition of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and
Virginia). Please explain your
plan to ensure continued satisfactory oversight
of consumer compliance, CRA, and
fair lending matters, including any changes to
staffing and committees.
LINK acknowledges that the increase in scale and
geographic scope resulting from the
proposed transaction necessitates confirmation
of a compliance management framework
that ensures sufficient oversight of bank
activities, particularly with respect to
consumer
compliance, CRA and fair lending matters.
LINK’s executive management team has significant
experience leading larger community
banking institutions, ranging in asset size from
$3 billion to $18 billion. Accordingly, as
LINK has developed and executed its growth
strategy, it has placed a high priority on
building the infrastructure, including policies,
procedures and systems, as well as the
senior management talent, necessary to support a
significantly larger and more complex
organization, including early investments in
compliance and related functions. For
example, LINK’s management team includes a
legal, compliance and risk management
structure comparable to much larger
institutions, including seasoned professionals
in the
roles of Chief Risk Officer, General Counsel,
Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Risk
Officer, which is robust for an institution the
size of LINK. These individuals, together
with LINKBANK’s President, Chief Consumer
Banking Officer, Director of Training
and Development, and senior leaders from
deposit, lending and branch operations
functions, comprise LINK’s management Compliance
Committee" -
who
ARE these people?
On
June 28, LINK BANK regurgitated this empty
answer to the FDIC, which also asked "5. Clarify
or provide support for the responses to merger
application question 8 regarding the pro forma
financial statements: a. Explain the difference
between the goodwill impact amounts of $43.934
million and $28.993 million. Please see
Confidential Exhibit A. 2. Provide a narrative
description of how the transaction affects and
is affected by the chain banking organization to
which the target banks belong, whether the
target banks have engaged in any transactions
with the other members of the chain banking
organization in connection with the proposed
mergers, and indicate whether Ken Lehman will
have a continuing role in the combined entities.
The parties respectfully submit that the
proposed merger transaction will not have a
significant impact on, and is not significantly
affected by, the chain banking organization to
which the target banks belong. The target banks
have not engaged in any transactions with other
members of the chain banking organization in
connection with the proposed merger transaction.
As described in more detail in the response to
Question 8 in the Interagency Bank Merger
Application for both TBOD and VPB, following the
proposed merger transaction, Mr. Lehman will
serve as a director of LINKBANK and LINKBANCORP
but will not serve as Chairman, Vice Chairman or
an executive officer of these combined
entities."
June
26, 2023
Key Bank Amid Data Breach Lawsuits Brags of Goodwill Grant As Engages In Disparate Loans
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX, June 21 - Key Bank is in decline, both in
consumer compliance and in fair lending.
Reporting from and on the Federal courts, Inner
City Press has noticed a slew of data breach
cases filed against KeyCorp, since August 2022,
now moving toward a multi-district consolidation
- in February 2023 to the Northern District of
Georgia, to the Honorable Steven D. Grimberg.
Fair Finance Watch, looking at Key Bank's 2021
lending at first in New York State, notes that
while Key Bank made 7916 mortgage loans to
whites, with 1733 denials, it made only 266
loans to African Americans, with fully 140
denial.
It
should be sued by the Department of Justice, and
many
others.
In amateur response, KeyBank on June 20 bragged
about a grant to Goodwill Industries of
Michiana, Inc. Seth Keirns,
KeyBank Northern Indiana
Market President, gushed that
"At
Key, we’re passionate about removing barriers" -
just not barriers to fair lending and fair
housing.
How
do these grants compare to the lending promises
Key made, and broke? Watch this site.
June
19, 2023
Link Bank Bid To Buy Partners Bancorp On the Ocean Rebound Has Nameless CRA Answers
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX, June 17 – Pennsylvania, Delaware
and Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the Federal Reserve:
This
is a timely first comment on the Applications of
LINKBANCORP, Inc. Camphill, Pennsylvania; to
acquire Partners Bancorp, Salisbury, Maryland,
and thereby indirectly acquire The Bank of
Delmarva, Seaford, Delaware, and Virginia
Partners Bank, Fredericksburg, VA "and more."
Since
Partners Bancorp's attempt to sell itself to
Ocean Bancorp died amid reports of regulator
concern, documents in that regard should be
provided (and made part of the record on this
application), too.
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing LinkBank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
In
Pennsylvania in 2021, Link Bank made 49
HMDA-reported loans to whites - and only TWO to
African Americans, worse that its peers.
When one expands the review to include loans
beyond Pennsylvania, Link Bank's loans in 2021
to whites increase to 53, but to African
Americans remains the same insufficient
TWO.
Virginia
Partners Bank is only slightly better. In 2021
it made 48 HMDA reported loans and only THREE to
African Americans. While insufficient, that is
still more than Link Bank's TWO. A terrible bank
would be acquiring a bad bank, and making it
even worse.
After Inner City Press' comments were filed,
LINKBANK's outside counsel Luse Gorman PC by
Agata S. Troy and Benjamin Azoff rather than
addressing the disparities argued that they have
no merit, including lying to the Federal Reserve
that the FDIC considered them substantive, then
urging the FDIC to reconsider.
On
June 14, LINKBANK through counsel answered the
Federal Reserve's questions including:
"The
proposed acquisitions will increase LINKBANK’s
size by approximately 150
percent and will increase its presence from one
state (Pennsylvania) to five (with the
addition of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and
Virginia). Please explain your
plan to ensure continued satisfactory oversight
of consumer compliance, CRA, and
fair lending matters, including any changes to
staffing and committees.
LINK acknowledges that the increase in scale and
geographic scope resulting from the
proposed transaction necessitates confirmation
of a compliance management framework
that ensures sufficient oversight of bank
activities, particularly with respect to
consumer
compliance, CRA and fair lending matters. LINK’s
executive management team has significant
experience leading larger community
banking institutions, ranging in asset size from
$3 billion to $18 billion. Accordingly, as
LINK has developed and executed its growth
strategy, it has placed a high priority on
building the infrastructure, including policies,
procedures and systems, as well as the
senior management talent, necessary to support a
significantly larger and more complex
organization, including early investments in
compliance and related functions. For
example, LINK’s management team includes a
legal, compliance and risk management
structure comparable to much larger
institutions, including seasoned professionals
in the
roles of Chief Risk Officer, General Counsel,
Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Risk
Officer, which is robust for an institution the
size of LINK. These individuals, together
with LINKBANK’s President, Chief Consumer
Banking Officer, Director of Training
and Development, and senior leaders from
deposit, lending and branch operations
functions, comprise LINK’s management Compliance
Committee" -
June
12, 2023
Link Bank Bid To Buy Partners Bancorp On the Ocean Rebound Has CRA Contemptuous Reply
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, June 7 – Pennsylvania, Delaware and
Virginia are portrayed as diverse and ever
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger on the rebound
between New York-based Link Bank and Partners
Bancorp, which recently broke off its proposed
deal with OceanFirst.
Inner
City Press and Fair Finance Watch have long
exposed redlining - and in this vein, on May 6
they filed a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge with the Federal Reserve:
This
is a timely first comment on the Applications of
LINKBANCORP, Inc. Camphill, Pennsylvania; to
acquire Partners Bancorp, Salisbury, Maryland,
and thereby indirectly acquire The Bank of
Delmarva, Seaford, Delaware, and Virginia
Partners Bank, Fredericksburg, VA "and more."
Since
Partners Bancorp's attempt to sell itself to
Ocean Bancorp died amid reports of regulator
concern, documents in that regard should be
provided (and made part of the record on this
application), too.
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing LinkBank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
In
Pennsylvania in 2021, Link Bank made 49
HMDA-reported loans to whites - and only TWO to
African Americans, worse that its peers.
When one expands the review to include loans
beyond Pennsylvania, Link Bank's loans in 2021
to whites increase to 53, but to African
Americans remains the same insufficient
TWO.
Virginia
Partners Bank is only slightly better. In 2021
it made 48 HMDA reported loans and only THREE to
African Americans. While insufficient, that is
still more than Link Bank's TWO. A terrible bank
would be acquiring a bad bank, and making it
even worse.
After Inner City Press' comments were filed,
LINKBANK's outside counsel Luse Gorman PC by
Agata S. Troy and Benjamin Azoff rather than
addressing the disparities argued that they have
no merit, including lying to the Federal Reserve
that the FDIC considered them substantive, then
urging the FDIC to reconsidering. This should
not be countenanced - rather than conditional
approval, denial is called for.
On
June 10, Inner City Press sumbitted a reply to
the FDIC: Since Fair Finance Watch's inital
comment in May, LINKBANK has submitted a
response contemptuous of the Community
Reinvestment Act process, rather than address
the disparities in its lending
record. To remind, the
disparity in 2021 for LINKBANK was 49 (or 53)
HMDA-reported loans to whites versus TWO to
whites. LINKBANK responds by attacking the
comment and commenter, and claiming that comment
says it lends "only" to whites - as if the two
loans, compared at 53, are fine with
it. The FDIC is aware of
the conditions it has imposed on applicants less
disparate than this one, even if LINKBANK and/or
its counsel are unaware. These
applications should be denied
June
5 2023
First Republic Given to JPM Chase amid Dimon Epstein Link now Closes 21 Branches Cites Cars
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, June 2 – After the failures of
Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in New
York, now it's First Republic Bank.
At 3 am Eastern time on May 1, the First
Republic (and $13 billion) was given to JPMorgan
Chase, which is already over the "maximum" 10%
of US deposits threshold - and whose CEO Jamie
Dimon has been ordered deposed about his
knowledge of, and link to, the pedophile
conspiracy of Jeffrey Epstein. It's come to
this.
The JPM Chase
complaint is on Patreon, here.
On
June 1, it was
reported that JPMorgan
Chase will shut 21
branches of First Republic
Bank by the end of the
year as it integrates the
failed lender into its
operations, a JPMorgan
spokesperson said. 'These
locations have relatively
low transaction volumes
and are generally within a
short drive from another
First Republic office,' the
spokesperson said." Of
course, in urban areas
underserved by Chase, most people don't
have cars...
On March 20, 2023 U.S.
District Court for
the Southern District
of New York Judge
Jed S. Rakoff in a
bottom line order
dismissed some but
not all claims,
in the Epstein-related
cases against
JPMC and Deutsche
Bank.
***
May
29, 2023
After SBA Fraud Trial of Shin Noah Bank Got Bank of Princeton To Buy It Despite Ongoing Issues
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Video, Alamy
photos
Federal
Court / S Bronx, May 21 – Noah Bank's Edward
Shin was on arrested for defrauding the U.S.
Small Business Administration on May 29, 2019
and would, it was said, be presented later on
May 29 before Magistrate
Judge James L. Cott in the
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York.
Inner
City Press after reporting the arrest
went the SDNY Magistrate's Courtroom 5A and
was told Shin would be
presented at
some undefined
later hours.
But with the door
to 5A locked at 4:30 pm,
Inner City Press was told
Shin "has not been
presented, there are no conditions
agreed to."
Jump cut to
April 25,
2022. The case
was
re-assigned to
Judge John P.
Cronan, who has set trial
for April 26.
On the eve of it
the US put in
SBA
documents
about loans
to produce
companies,
offering to
redact
some.
On
October 6, 2022,
Judge Cronan
sentenced Shin
to 14 months "in
prison for his
role in
defrauding a
Pennsylvania-based
bank (the
“Bank”) while
serving as its
CEO.
SHIN was
convicted
after a
three-week
trial before
U.S. District
Judge John P.
Cronan on all
counts, which
charged SHIN
with taking
bribes in
connection
with the
Bank’s
issuance of
loans that
were
guaranteed by
the United
States Small
Business
Administration
Judge Cronan
sentenced SHIN
to three years
of supervised
release and
ordered SHIN
to pay
forfeiture in
the amount of
$5,506,050 and
a $600 special
assessment
fee."
On
October 14,
the US
Attorney's
Office wrote
to Judge
Cronan "to
inform the Court
that that
Government has
consulted
with Noah
Bank; the Bank
is no longer
seeking
restitution in
light of its settlement
with the defendant."
May
22, 2023
Amid Bank Meltdowns Yellen Says Bring on the Mergers But Silent on CRA and Public Input
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, March 14 – Alongside the
flame-out of Silicon Valley
Bank, New York-based
Signature Bank too failed. On
Signature Bank's board of
directors were
not only Barney Frank (who
after leaving Congress
undermine his own Dodd Frank
Act) but also former New York
State Superintendent of Banks
Derrick D. Cephas.
Now
after the failure (and
give-away to JPMorgan Chase) of First
Republic, at the G7
Janet Yellen has
said, "I anticipate
regulators to be
open to increased
mergers among
regional banks in
current banking
environment."
It is not mere
speculation - Yellen
is the boss of
the Treasury's
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency,
and of the
Administration's
appointees at
the Fed and
FDIC.
So, bringing
on the mergers
- with
Community
Reinvestment
Act review and
public input be damned!
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, May 13 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question.
This has become even more true in t 2023, with
regulators under fire for misregulation of the
failing banks, and of handing them over to mega
banks like JPM Chase. Hence Janet Yellen
has promised "openness" to mergers of midsized
(and presumably small) banks. Let the rubber
stamping begin!
This
perhaps explains the industry press
hand-wringing about the failure of some mergers
subject to CRA protest, largely by Fair Finance
Watch. In May 2023, there's MVB bank, here.
Back in August 22: "Matthew Lee, Esq. Fair Finance Watch P.O. Box 20047 New York City, New York 10017 Re: MapleMark Bank’s Application to Acquire Oakwood Bank Dear Mr. Lee, We are writing to inform you that MapleMark Bank, Dallas, Texas, withdrew its application to acquire and merge with Oakwood Bank, Dallas, Texas. Please note that we will perform any necessary follow-up of the concerns you raised as part of our consumer compliance and Community Reinvestment Act examination programs. We appreciate your concerns and value community input into the application process." Yeah.
Fair Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA filed comments with the Federal Deposit Insurance Company to a proposed merger involving a bank subject to a rare CRA condition: Oakwood Bank in Dallas, and MapleMark BankMay
15, 2023
Protest of MBV Leads To Merger Failure and Uncorrected Lies about Activist Investor
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon MVB File
SOUTH
BRONX NY, May 13 – Alongside the
wrongdoing by big banks from JPMorgan Chase to
KeyCorp, there are other also dubious proposed
merger by smaller banks and predators.
Fair Finance Watch is on the lookout, with Inner City Press on the FOIA, and filed this sample on MVB Bank:
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a request for
a full copy of, and a timely first comment on,
the Applications of MVB Financial Corp.,
Fairmont, West Virginia; to acquire Integrated
Financial Holdings, Inc., Raleigh, North
Carolina, and thereby indirectly acquire West
Town Bank & Trust, North Riverside,
Illinois, and acquire voting shares of West Town
Payments, LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, "and
more."
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing West Town Bank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
FFW in looking into MVB Bank find its offers of
banking for gaming, but for CRA questions, not
even an email address, only a snail mail
address. This is not a best practice, far from
it.
In terms of HMDA data, in 2021, West Town Bank
made 319 mortgage loans to whites with seven
denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made
only TWENTY FIVE loans, while denying five
applications. A referral should be made to the
DOJ for fair lending
violations. MVB,
proposing to buy West Town Bank including its
hemp lending, is engaged in gaming lending,
fintechs - but has not put its CRA file online
or even available by emailing."
Since filing, MVB provided Fair Finance Watch
with what it calls its 271-page CRA file (for
some reason, only "as of April 2022") which we
put on DocumentCloud here
to make it public as all CRA files should be,
and the Fed has now informed Inner City Press
that MVB withdrew its application.
MVB
was quoted, lying, that it was because of "an
activist investor" challenging the CRA rating:
"Larry Mazza, CEO of the $3.6 billion-asset MVB
Financial, said in an interview Wednesday that
"a activist investor in IFHI had challenged the
company's Community Reinvestment Act rating.
With regulators exceptionally busy managing the
regional bank failures, MVB and IFHI determined
it could prove difficult to resolve that matter
efficiently." The publication never fact-checked
Mezza. We'll have more on this.
***
May
8, 2023
First Republic Given to JPM Chase by FDIC Despite Antitrust and Dimon Epstein Link
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, May 1 – After the failures of
Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in New
York, now it's First Republic Bank.
At 3 am Eastern time on May 1, the First
Republic (and $13 billion) was given to JPMorgan
Chase, which is already over the "maximum" 10%
of US deposits threshold - and whose CEO Jamie
Dimon has been ordered deposed about his
knowledge of, and link to, the pedophile
conspiracy of Jeffrey Epstein. It's come to
this.
The JPM Chase
complaint is on Patreon, here.
On March 20, 2023 U.S.
District Court for
the Southern District
of New York Judge
Jed S. Rakoff in a
bottom line order
dismissed some but
not all claims,
in the Epstein-related
cases against
JPMC and Deutsche
Bank.
***
May
1, 2023
First Republic Searches For Savior But KeyCorp Can't Get a Handout for Disinvestment
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, April 26 – Key Bank is in decline,
in consumer compliance and in fair lending - and
now, in deposits and stock price.
Faring worse, at least for now, is First
Republic. The talk is of a bailout or forced
sale. But to whom?
With the US bank regulators giving away troubled
banks, Silicon Valley Bank to First Citizens,
and Signature Bank to NYCB, it is imperative
they know the Key Bank cannot be given any more
branches, any more communities to take advantage
of. Already, Key has government contract to
distribute benefits, and garnish wages.
Fair Finance Watch, looking at Key Bank's 2021
lending at first in New York State, notes that
while Key Bank made 7916 mortgage loans to
whites, with 1733 denials, it made only 266
loans to African Americans, with fully 140
denial. It should be sued by the
Department of Justice, and many others - just
ask NCRC.
Key Bank is, Fair Finance Watch now says, the
Key to Disinvestment. It is the redlining bank.
Reporting
from and on the Federal courts, Inner City Press
has noticed a slew of data breach cases filed
against KeyCorp, since August 2022, now moving
toward a multi-district consolidation - in
February 2023 to the Northern District of
Georgia, to the Honorable Steven D.
Grimberg.
In amateur response, KeyBank on February 7 bragged on the for-pay CSR Wire about grants it is giving out. But how do they compare to the lending promises Key made, and broke? Watch this site
***
April
24, 2023
Key Falls So As US Banks Being Handed Out KeyCorp Can't Get a Handout for Disinvestment
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, April 20 – Key Bank is in decline,
in consumer compliance and in fair lending - and
now, in deposits and stock price.
On April 20 KeyCorp underperformed the estimate,
with deposits down year on year; its price fell.
If only investors knew how much worse it is.
With the US bank regulators giving away troubled
banks, Silicon Valley Bank to First Citizens,
and Signature Bank to NYCB, it is imperative
they know the Key Bank cannot be given any more
branches, any more communities to take advantage
of. Already, Key has government contract to
distribute benefits, and garnish wages.
Fair Finance Watch, looking at Key Bank's 2021
lending at first in New York State, notes that
while Key Bank made 7916 mortgage loans to
whites, with 1733 denials, it made only 266
loans to African Americans, with fully 140
denial. It should be sued by the
Department of Justice, and many others - just
ask NCRC.
Key Bank is, Fair Finance Watch now says, the
Key to Disinvestment. It is the redlining bank.
Reporting
from and on the Federal courts, Inner City Press
has noticed a slew of data breach cases filed
against KeyCorp, since August 2022, now moving
toward a multi-district consolidation - in
February 2023 to the Northern District of
Georgia, to the Honorable Steven D.
Grimberg.
In amateur response, KeyBank on February 7 bragged on the for-pay CSR Wire about grants it is giving out. But how do they compare to the lending promises Key made, and broke? Watch this site
***
April
17, 2023
Prosperity Bank Hit by CRA Challenge to FirstCapital Bank now FDIC Condition Imposed
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
FEDERAL COURT /
S Bronx, April 10 –
Whether or not the U.S. Community Reinvestment
Act will be again enforced under this
Administration and its regulators including
under the incoming divided Congress is an open
question.
On November 25, 2022 Fair Finance Watch with
Inner City Press on the FOIA filed comments with
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
against
the
applications
by Prosperity
Bank in Texas.
In April 2023,
the FDIC
imposed
conditions,
see below.
November
25, 2022
Federal
Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
Attn: Chairman
Martin J.
Gruenberg
Dallas Kristie
K. Elmquist,
Regional
Director Julie
V. Banfield,
Deputy
Regional
Director Chris
Finnegan,
Assistant
Regional
Director
(Consumer
Protection)
1601 Bryan
Street, 38th
Floor Dallas,
Texas
75201-4586
Re:
Comment on
Applications
by Prosperity
Bank, El
Campo, Texas
to acquire
Lone Star Bank
of West Texas
and
FirstCapital
Bank of Texas,
N.A.
Dear
Chairman
Gruenberg,
Regional
Director
Elmquist,
Ass't Regional
Director
Finnegan and
others at the
FDIC:
This is a
request for
all
information in
the possession
of the FDIC
about, and a
timely comment
on, the
Applications
of Prosperity
Bank, El
Campo, Texas
to acquire
Lone Star Bank
of West Texas
and
FirstCapital
Bank of Texas,
N.A. which
appear on the
FDIC website
under
"Applications
In Process
Subject to the
CRA Report"
with an
initial
comment
periods
running
through
December 16.
This comment
is
timely.
The applicant
Prosperity
Bank in 2021
in Texas based
on its
disparate
marketing made
5453 mortgage
loans to
whites --
while making
only 188 loans
to African
Americans.
Meanwhile it
denied fully
94
applications
from African
Americans,
versus only
1186 from
whites. This
is far out of
keeping with
the
demographics,
and others
lenders, in
Texas in
particularly
in Prosperity
Bank's CRA
assessment
areas - this
is
outrageous.
The applicant
Prosperity
Bank in 2021
in Oklahoma
based on its
disparate
marketing made
320 mortgage
loans to
whites --
while making
only 38 loans
to African
Americans.
This is far
out of keeping
with the
demographics,
and others
lenders, in
Oklahoma in
particularly
in Prosperity
Bank's CRA
assessment
areas - this
is
outrageous.
Very Truly
Yours,
Matthew Lee,
Esq.
Executive
Director
Inner City
Press/Fair
Finance Watch
On
April 6, sent
April 10, the
FDIC imposed
this
condition:
"After a
careful review
of the
concerns, the
FDIC decided
to approve the
application
with the
following
condition.
This condition
will help
ensure the
home mortgage
lending needs
of African
American
populations in
Prosperity
Bank’s
assessment
areas are met.
Enhance the
bank’s Fair
Lending Action
Plan (Plan)
adopted by the
Board of
Directors of
Prosperity
Bank and
submit changes
to the FDIC
for approval
within 60 days
of the
application
approval date.
The Plan
updates and
revisions, as
applicable,
should provide
strategies to
improve the
volume of home
mortgage
applications
from, and
originations
to African
American
applicants
within each of
the designated
assessment
areas
established in
Texas. The
Plan should
also provide
strategies to
improve the
volume of home
mortgage
applications
from, and
originations
in
majority-minority
census tracts
and
majority-Hispanic
tracts within
designated
assessment
areas in
Texas. The
enhancements
should be
developed in
the context of
available
demographic
data, as well
as safe and
sound lending
considerations,
and provide
for periodic
review of the
Bank's
efforts, using
measurable
criteria, to
assess actions
and progress.
The Bank will
continue to
provide
quarterly
updates to the
FDIC's Dallas
Regional
Office
detailing the
Bank's
progress under
the Plan."
April
10, 2023
FRB Claims No Review of Signature Crypto So FOIA Appeal Citing Gov Barr on Transparency
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, April 8 – Alongside the
larger flame-out of Silicon
Valley Bank, Signature Bank
too failed.
Now
the Federal Reserve in belated
response to Inner City Press'
FOIA request says it has no record
of reviewing Signature and crypto, nor any "record
reflecting any
review by the FRS of
Silvergate’s (and
Provident Bancorp
Inc.,
Metropolitan
Commercial Bank,
Signature Bank,
Customers
Bancorp Inc.) of the
banks’ connections
with crypto-currency firms."
Federal Reserve
letter
to Inner City
Press here
The
Fed did, however,
belatedly give Inner
City Press
the Farmington
State
Bank
application it
approved, with
100%
ownership by
Bahamas
based Jean
Chalopin. It's now on
Inner City
Press'
DocumentCloud
here.
On
April 8, Inner
City Press filed a
FOIA appeal
with the Fed:
"This is an
appeal of the
FRB's denial
and delayed
and
untransparent
processing of
and
determinations
on Inner City
Press'
December 22,
2022 FOIA
request... After
more than
three months,
all the FRB
provided was
the public
portion of
Farmington
State Bank's
application -
this while FRB
Governor Barr
just told
Congress that
the Fed wants
to be
transparent,
including to
outside
reviews.
Most
cynically, the
Denial claims
that
"confidential
information is
not
responsive" -
basing that on
its
interpretation
of a first
request for
clarification,
a
misinterpretation
that all Inner
City Press was
request was
previously
public
information -
information
which even
then the Fed
did not
provide for
eleven
weeks.
We wanted and
want the
records
reflecting the
FRS' review of
Farmington
State Bank's
application,
and the
records about
the Fed's
review of
crypto and the
names firms:
Silvergate
with its FTX
connections,
record
reflecting any
review by the
FRS of
Silvergate's
(and Provident
Bancorp Inc.,
Metropolitan
Commercial
Bank,
Signature
Bank,
Customers
Bancorp Inc).
Does the Fed as Governor Barr said want to be transparent or not?
We'll have more on this.April
3, 2023
With US Banks Being Handed Out Key Bank Cannot Get a Handout As Key to Disinvestment
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, March 29 – Key Bank is in decline,
both in consumer compliance and in fair
lending.
Now with the US bank regulators giving away
troubled banks, Silicon Valley Bank to First
Citizens, and Signature Bank to NYCB, it is
imperative they know the Key Bank cannot be
given any more branches, any more communities to
take advantage of. Already, Key has government
contract to distribute benefits, and garnish
wages.
Fair Finance Watch, looking at Key Bank's 2021
lending at first in New York State, notes that
while Key Bank made 7916 mortgage loans to
whites, with 1733 denials, it made only 266
loans to African Americans, with fully 140
denial. It should be sued by the
Department of Justice, and many others - just
ask NCRC.
Key Bank is, Fair Finance Watch now says, the
Key to Disinvestment. It is the redlining bank.
Reporting
from and on the Federal courts, Inner City Press
has noticed a slew of data breach cases filed
against KeyCorp, since August 2022, now moving
toward a multi-district consolidation - in
February 2023 to the Northern District of
Georgia, to the Honorable Steven D.
Grimberg.
March
27, 2023
Signature Bank Handed to NYCB Fair Lending Rogue as Barney Frank & Cephas on Board
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, March 19 – Back in April 2021,
Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press
predicted that the proposed merger of New York
Community Bank and Flagstar would flounder, on
disparate lending and regulatory evasions. And
it was delayed, see below.
But
now, erasing history, it is announced that New
York Community Bank has agreed to buy a
significant chunk of the failed Signature Bank
in a $2.7 billion deal, the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. said late Sunday. The 40
branches of Signature Bank will become Flagstar
Bank, starting Monday. Flagstar is one of New
York Community Bank’s subsidiaries. The deal
will include the purchase of $38.4 billion in
Signature Bank’s assets, a little more than a
third of Signature’s total when the bank failed
a week ago.
So, a fair lending rogue benefits from a bail
out, or a bank with a former NYS Banking
Superintendent Derrick Cephas, and Barney Frank,
on its board of directors? We'll have more on
this.
Fair Finance Watch found that in 2019 Flagstar
made 60,982 mortgage loans to whites, with
13,963 denial to whites - while making only 3799
loans to African Americans with fully 1777
denials to African American. This was
significantly worse than other lenders.
New York Community Bank's record as an enabler
of and profiteer off slumlords led Inner City
Press file a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge to its then-proposed merger with
Astoria Bank, which fell
apart.
Now
a year a half later, the proposed merger is
still not done and the extended deadline is
approaching, amid talk of, as we predicted, fair
lending action. Both companies' stock prices are
down. CRA and fair lending sometimes do have an
impact. Watch this site.
Watch this site.
CRA Protest to Gaming MVB Bank Bid On Hemp Lender West Town Bank Yields More Questions
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon MVB File
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX NY, March 23 – Amid the focus
on big mergers like Bank of Montreal Harris -
BNP Paribas and the stalled Flagstar / NYCB,
there are other also dubious smaller merger
proposals.
Fair
Finance Watch is on the lookout, with Inner City
Press on the FOIA, and filed this:
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a request for
a full copy of, and a timely first comment on,
the Applications of MVB Financial Corp.,
Fairmont, West Virginia; to acquire Integrated
Financial Holdings, Inc., Raleigh, North
Carolina, and thereby indirectly acquire West
Town Bank & Trust, North Riverside,
Illinois, and acquire voting shares of West Town
Payments, LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, "and
more."
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing West Town Bank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
FFW in looking into MVB Bank find its offers of
banking for gaming, but for CRA questions, not
even an email address, only a snail mail
address. This is not a best practice, far from
it.
In terms of HMDA data, in 2021, West Town Bank
made 319 mortgage loans to whites with seven
denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made
only TWENTY FIVE loans, while denying five
applications. A referral should be made to the
DOJ for fair lending
violations. MVB,
proposing to buy West Town Bank including its
hemp lending, is engaged in gaming lending,
fintechs - but has not put its CRA file online
or even available by emailing."
First after the filing, MVB provided Fair
Finance Watch with what it calls its 271-page
CRA file (for some reason, only "as of April
2022") which we've put on DocumentCloud here
to make it public as all CRA files should be.
On
March 23, 2023 - with no reference to SVB or
Signature, Fed questions including
"MVB has agreed to sell its Chartwell Compliance subsidiary to the consulting firm, Ankura. a. Update the pro forma organizational chart provided in Confidential Exhibit A of the Additional Information Response, dated February 7, 2023, to reflect the sale of this subsidiary. b. Discuss whether MVB will retain any personnel associated with its Chartwell Compliance subsidiary following consummation of its sale to Ankura. c. Describe any anticipated changes to MVB’s compliance function, as a result of the proposed sale of Chartwell Compliance. d. Provide the date the transaction is expected to close. 2. Provide an update on the status of IFHI’s sale of and the dissolution of West Town Insurance Agency, Inc. Confirm whether any other IFHI subsidiaries have been or are expected to be sold or disposed of prior to consummation of the proposed transaction. If yes, identify each such subsidiary and provide the status of the sale or disposition. 3. In addition to data conversion, discuss proposed integration steps to incorporate West Town Bank & Trust with and into MVB Bank, Inc. (“MVB Bank”), Fairmont, West Virginia. INTERNAL FR/OFFICIAL USE // SECURE EXTERNAL 4. On page 21 of the FR Y-3, MVB states that MVB Bank is in the process of reviewing the products and services of West Town Bank. The additional information submitted on November 30, 2022, stated that that review was still ongoing and was expected to be completed in early 2023. Assuming that analysis is now completed, explain whether any products and services offered by either MVB Bank or West Town Bank would be discontinued after consummation of the proposed transaction. Additionally, discuss whether there would be any changes to the terms or provision of the products and services currently provided, including fees.
March
20, 2023
OCC Withheld US Bank CEO Letter It Used To Approve Union Bank Merger now Denies Appeal
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SOUTH
BRONX NYC, March 18 – How
untransparent
and pro-bank
are today's
regulators,
including the
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency?
The
example on
February 10,
2023 was the
OCC's denial
in full of
Inner City
Press' Freedom
of Information
Act request
about its
approval of
U.S. Bank's
application to
acquire Union
Bank, which
Fair Finance
Watch and
others
challenged
under the
Community
Reinvestment
Act.
Inner
City Press
submitted the
request in
November 2022,
and
immediately
clarified and
narrowed the
request after
an OCC
inquiry.
On
February 10,
2023, the OCC
responded -
and withholds
16 pages in
full,
providing no
information at
all. This on
the day the
OCC holds a
symposium
about mergers
- with
speakers from
corporate law
firms.
Here's
from the OCC's
letter:
"Your
request for
the October
10, 2022
letter from
Andrew Cecere
and records
related or
directly
referenced in
the October
10, 2022 is
denied.
We
have withheld
16 pages..."
On February 14, Inner City Press filed its appeal...
On
March 16,
2023, OCC
Deputy General
Counsel
Patricia S.
Grady denied
the appeal in
full - the
bank's
commitment
letter the OCC
based its
approval all
it totally
secret. This
while banks
are failing.
She wrote:
"The October
10 letter is a
communication
between the
Bank and the
supervisory
office
responsible
for the
examination of
the Bank,
related to
commitments
made by the
Bank that are
matters of
supervisory
concern and
related to the
examination of
the Bank.
Likewise, the
related
information is
connected to
the OCC’s
exercise of
its regulatory
responsibilities
over the Bank
and to the
examination of
the Bank.
Therefore, the
requested
information is
covered by the
broad scope of
Exemption 8.
Accordingly, I
find that
these records
were properly
withheld
under
Exemption 8."
Full letter
now on Inner
City Press'
DocumentCloud
here.
This is
unacceptable.
Watch this
site.
March
13, 2023
First Bank Wanting To Sell to Credit Union Not Subject to Community Reinvestment Act Draws Protest
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, March 11 – There is a trend of credit
unions buying banks, throughout the United
States. But credit unions are not subject to the
Community Reinvestment Act, despite being
insured by the public - and therefore the effect
is to undermine the CRA.
Now
in March 2023 Fair Finance Watch with Inner City
Press on the FOIA has commented on one:
"Dear
Director Gruenberg, Tom Dujenski, Regional
Director, Susan Janson & Rick Packard, Dana
English, Ms Patton and others in the
FDIC: This is a request for a full
copy of, and a timely first comment on, the
Applications by Alabama ONE Credit Union to buy
First Bank, Wadley, AL. This
application is listed on the FDIC's website of
application subject to CRA comment, with a
comment period running through at least March
11, 2023.
https://cra.fdic.gov/cram02?inApplNb=20230117&inApplType=MERGER
This comment is timely. As an initial
matter, this is a request that the FDIC
immediately send by email to Inner City Press
all non-exempt portions of the applications /
notices for which the Applicants have requested
confidential treatment. Fair Finance Watch has
been reviewing Alabama ONE Credit Union
including its 2021 HMDA data and finds it
troubling. In terms of HMDA data, in
2021 in Alabama, Alabama ONE Credit Union made
390 mortgage loans to whites with only 18
denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made
only SIXTY ONE loans, while denying fully 13
applications. A referral should be made to the
DOJ for fair lending
violations. Public evidentiary
hearings are needed, particularly given the
trend of less regulated credit union buying
FDIC-insured banks."
March
6, 2023
Park National Bank Settled Redlining Case with DOJ As Federal Reserve Rubber Stamps Mergers
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SOUTH
BRONX, March 1 – Park
National Bank
discriminates,
the Department
of Justice has
belatedly
concluded, and
fined the bank
$9 million.
Too little,
too late.
The Federal
Reserve and
other
regulators
have rubber
stamped
mergers by
this bank, and
others like
it.
In
2015, Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch told the
Federal
Reserve and
other
regulators
about the
problems at
City National
Bank. And the
Fed(s) did
nothing.
Here's from
that time:
Royal
Bank of Canada
and
affluent-focused
Los
Angeles-based
City National
Bank, has
since April
been the
subject of a
Community
Reinvestment
Act challenge
by Fair
Finance Watch.
Back on April 11, Inner City Press submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Reserve for it communication with and about RBC and City National. Only on September 30, more than five MONTHS later, did the Fed response. In the spirit of transparency, we are putting the FOIA response online here.
It
shows among many other things that RBC
was meeting with the Federal Reserve
well before the public announcement of
its City National proposal; it has
many redactions which we will be
appealing, for example “When you have
a chance, please put a note in our
files indicating that we asked Charles
Fleet about [REDACTED] (b)(5) .
Thanks.”
FOIA: On Royal Bank of
Canada-CNB, Here's Federal Reserve's Response to ICP On FOIA
Five Months Ago by Matthew Russell Lee
February
27, 2023
NBT Bank Bid To Combines Its Disparities With Salisbury Is a CRA Litmus Test for the OCC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH
BRONX, Feb 24 – New York and Connecticut
are portrayed as diverse and progressive places.
But their banks, not so much.
Consider
for example the proposed merger between New
York-based NBT Bank NA and Salisbury Bank &
Trust with branches in Connecticut and New York,
where it is closing one in Poughkeepsie.
New
York-based Inner City Press and Fair Finance
Watch have long exposed redlining - and in this
vein, on February 24 they filed a Community
Reinvestment Act challenge with the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency:
This is a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Applications by NBT Bank NA to acquire Salisbury Bank & Trust. The applicant NBT Bank NA in 2021 based on its disparate marketing made 1813 mortgage loans to whites, with 666 denials to whites -- while making only TWENTY THREE loans to African Americans, with fully 21 denials. This is far out of keeping with the demographics, and others lenders, in NYS and beyond - this is outrageous. NBT is in fact worse in New York State, where in 2021 it made 1332 mortgage loans to whites, with 508 denials to whites -- while making only 12 loans to African Americans, with fully 18 denials. This is even more outrageous. A combination with Salisbury would be toxic. In Connecticut in 2021, Salisburn made 125 mortgage loans to whites with 7 denied - and NO loans to African Americans. Notably, in preparation for this proposed transction, Salisbury is engage in branch closing: SALISBURY BANK AND TRUST COMPANY 5 Bissell Street, Lakeville, CT 06039 Notice of intention to close branch office at 2064 New Hackensack Road, Town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York 12603 There is no public benefit to this proposal. FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply concerned about the rush by the OCC's penchant to rubberstamp mergers by redliners, contrary to its rhetoric. We timely request public hearings.
If the regulators at the OCC mean what they claim, this application should be denied. Watch this site.February
20, 2023
OCC Withheld US Bank CEO Letter It Used To Approve Union Bank Merger Now Appeal Filed
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SOUTH
BRONX NYC, Feb 14 – How
untransparent
and pro-bank
are today's
regulators,
including the
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency?
The
example on
February 10,
2023 was the
OCC's denial
in full of
Inner City
Press' Freedom
of Information
Act request
about its
approval of
U.S. Bank's
application to
acquire Union
Bank, which
Fair Finance
Watch and
others
challenged
under the
Community
Reinvestment
Act.
Inner
City Press
submitted the
request in
November 2022,
and
immediately
clarified and
narrowed the
request after
an OCC
inquiry.
On
February 10,
2023, the OCC
responded -
and withholds
16 pages in
full,
providing no
information at
all. This on
the day the
OCC holds a
symposium
about mergers
- with
speakers from
corporate law
firms.
Here's
from the OCC's
letter:
"Your
request for
the October
10, 2022
letter from
Andrew Cecere
and records
related or
directly
referenced in
the October
10, 2022 is
denied.
We
have withheld
16 pages..."
On
February 14,
Inner City
Press filed
its appeal:
"This
is a FOIA
appeal of the
OCC's denial
in full of the
FOIA request I
submitted on
November 23,
2022 on behalf
of Inner City
Press and in
my personal
capacity,
which the OCC
summarized:
"You requested
the OCC's U.S.
Bank - Union
Bank merger
approval
order,
including any
conditions and
any and all
records
related to the
basis for the
conditions,
and approval.
By PAL message
dated December
7, 2022, you
clarified that
you are
seeking the
October 10,
2022 letter
from Andrew
Cecere to OCC
as referenced
in the
approval order
and records
related or
directly
referenced in
the October
10, 2022
letter (Date
Range for
Record Search:
From
01/01/2022 To
11/23/2022)."
On
February 10,
2023 -- eleven
weeks after
the request --
the OCC denied
the narrowed
request in
full,
providing not
a single line
or portion of
the letter on
which the OCC
conditioned
its merger
approval. This
is outrageous,
and is hereby
(within days,
not weeks)
appealed.
FOIA expressly
mandates that
any
"reasonably
segregable
portion" of a
record must be
disclosed to a
requester
after the
redaction (the
deletion of
part of a
document to
prevent
disclosure of
material
covered by an
exemption) of
the parts
which are
exempt. 5
U.S.C. §
552(b). And
see, Trans-Pac.
Policing
Agreement v.
U.S. Customs
Serv., 177
F.3d 1022,1028
(D.C.Cir.
1999) and PHE,
Inc. v. Dep’t.
of Justice,
983 F.2d
248,252
(D.C.Cir.
1993).
The
OCC's approval
order
said:
"The Resulting
Bank shall
comply with
the
commitments
contained in
the letter
from Andrew
Cecere,
Chairman,
President and
Chief
Executive
Officer, U.S.
Bank National
Association,
to Tanya
Smith, Deputy
Comptroller
for Large Bank
Supervision,
dated October
10,
2022."
The public and
community
groups have a
right to know
about, assess
and act on the
regulation and
supervision
activities of
the OCC, which
purport to
protect and
assist
consumers. But
to say that
the approval
is based on
"commitments"
by the bank -
with its own
compliance
problems -
while keeping
those
commitments
entirely
secret from
the public
undermines
this
principle, and
the
credibility of
the OCC. It is
inconsistent
with the
Administration's
and Acting
Controller's
claims. The
denial should
be immediately
reverse, and
the letter
provided."
Watch
this site.
February
13, 2023
OCC Withholds US Bank CEO Letter It Used To Approve Union Bank Merger, Corporate Capture
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SOUTH
BRONX NYC, Feb 10 – How
untransparent
and pro-bank
are today's
regulators,
including the
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency?
Today's
example is the
OCC's denial
in full of
Inner City
Press' Freedom
of Information
Act request
about its
approval of
U.S. Bank's
application to
acquire Union
Bank, which
Fair Finance
Watch and
others
challenged
under the
Community
Reinvestment
Act.
Inner
City Press
submitted the
request in
November 2022,
and
immediately
clarified and
narrowed the
request after
an OCC
inquiry.
Now
on February
10, 2023, the
OCC responds -
and withholds
16 pages in
full,
providing no
information at
all. This on
the day the
OCC holds a
symposium
about mergers
- with
speakers from
corporate law
firms.
Here's
from the OCC's
letter:
"You
requested the
OCC's U.S.
Bank - Union
Bank merger
approval
order,
including any
conditions and
any and all
records
related to the
basis for the
conditions,
and approval.
By PAL message
dated December
7, 2022, you
clarified that
you are
seeking the
October 10,
2022 letter
from Andrew
Cecere to OCC
as referenced
in the
approval order
and records
related or
directly
referenced in
the October
10, 2022
letter (Date
Range for
Record Search:
From
01/01/2022 To
11/23/2022).
By PAL message
dated December
7, 2022, we
provided you a
link to the
OCC's approval
order on OCC's
website.
Your
request for
the October
10, 2022
letter from
Andrew Cecere
and records
related or
directly
referenced in
the October
10, 2022 is
denied.
We
have withheld
16 pages by
the authority
of U.S.C.
552(b)(4) and
12 C.F.R.
4.12(b)(4),
trade secrets
and commercial
or financial
information
obtained from
a person and
privileged or
confidential;
and 5 U.S.C.
552 (b)(8) and
12 C.F.R.
4.12(b)(8),
relating to
records
contained in
or related to
examination,
operating, or
condition
reports
prepared by,
on behalf of,
or for the use
of an agency
responsible
for the
regulation or
supervision of
financial
institutions.
We have
reviewed the
information
protected by
the cited
exemption(s)
under a
presumption of
openness but
have
determined
that it is
reasonably
foreseeable
that the
disclosure of
the
information
would harm an
interest
protected by
the applicable
exemption(s).
And what is that interest? Watch this site.
***
February
6, 2023
Protest of Predatory TAB Bank Leads to CRA Downgrade amid Hemp Lender West Town Docs
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon MVB File
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Feb 3 – Alongside the
wrongdoing by big banks from JPMorgan Chase to
KeyCorp, there are other also dubious proposed
merger by smaller banks and predators.
Fair
Finance Watch is on the lookout, with Inner City
Press on the FOIA, and filed the sample on MVB
Bank, below. On February 3, 2023 the FDIC issued
a rare Needs to Improve rating under the
Community Reinvestment Act to Transportation
Alliance Bank d/b/a TAB Bank: "The FDIC lowered
the CRA rating from “Satisfactory” to “Needs to
Improve” due to an illegal credit practice
present during the review period for this CRA
evaluation."
Note
that "TAB has six strategic partners to offer
consumer loans and credit cards: EasyPay
Finance: EasyPay offers unsecured, closed-end,
subprime consumer loans. Loans are originated
through a network of merchants, primarily for
retail products and services, such as automotive
services, furniture, and pets. • Mission Lane:
Mission Lane offers subprime credit card program
for borrowers working to rebuild credit. • Snap
Finance, Sunbit, FlexLending (new): FlexLending
offers POS, closed-end loans to consumers
purchasing tires. FlexLending also recently
began offering a new direct-to-consumer loan
program. • Integra (new): Integra offers
unsecured, closed-end, subprime consumer loans."
#PredatoryBedner. We'll have more on this. And
on this, which we filed:
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a request for
a full copy of, and a timely first comment on,
the Applications of MVB Financial Corp.,
Fairmont, West Virginia; to acquire Integrated
Financial Holdings, Inc., Raleigh, North
Carolina, and thereby indirectly acquire West
Town Bank & Trust, North Riverside,
Illinois, and acquire voting shares of West Town
Payments, LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, "and
more."
January
30, 2023
Lakeland Bank DOJ Deal Left Disparities in NY Now Provident Pitches Tech Musical Chairs
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Jan 24 – When the US
Department of Justice sued and immediately
settled with Lakeland Bank for fair lending
violations, it announced a proposed merger with
Provident Bank.
As
if to sweep it under the carpet.
And
when Fair Finance Watch looked into it, it found
that the DOJ settlement did not address in any
way the banks' disparities in New York. So on
December 1, the FDIC's comment deadline, it
filed the below, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA.
In
January 2023, Provident's public face is to brag
about musical chairs in its tech department,
with no mention of the glaring fair lending
issues: "Over the past year, Provident Bank in
Iselin, New Jersey, has been rethinking how it
defines top tech leadership roles as it prepares
to double in size in a pending merger. The
bank filled three high-level technology
positions in the last six months. Although none
of these positions are new, some of the roles
have been expanded and redefined. For example,
Ravi Vakacherla succeeded the retired chief
information officer of the bank at the end of
August — but his role became chief digital and
innovation officer. Damiano Tulipani was
appointed chief information security in
September. Most recently, Scott Hurlbert joined
Provident in January as digital channels
director, which encompasses channels that may
not traditionally be seen as digital, such as
the customer contact center and debit card
services. Redefining certain roles was
part of a vision by CEO Anthony Labozzetta to
advance innovation at the bank, a unit of the
$13.6 billion-asset Provident Financial
Services. The new appointments largely predate
the bank's announcement that it would acquire
Lakeland Bancorp in Oak Ridge, New Jersey —
which will roughly double the bank's asset size
if the merger closes as planned in the second
quarter."
January
23, 2023
BMO Harris BNP Gets Fed OK Despite Peters Case With Climate and Job Loss Dismissed
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
FED
COURT / S Bronx, Jan 17 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will actually be
enforced under the Administration and its
regulators remains an open question, or one
answered in the negative, at least by the
Federal Reserve. Consider: Inner City Press
immediately reported that BMO Harris'
application to buy Bank of the West and its more
than 500 branches from BNP would be a litmus
test.
Fair
Finance Watch noted, from Day 1, that in 2020
BMO Harris denied many more mortgage
applications from African Americans than it
approved: 509 denied versus only 223 loans made
to African Americans, nationwide. BMO's numbers
for whites were the reverse: 9270 loans made,
versus less then six thousand denials. As noted,
there are also climate and secrecy issues. Fair
Finance Watch and other raised branch closings.
This
was outrageous. The Fed itself should make these
exhibits public.
On
January 17, the Fed approved the merger, without
the word "ponzi" appearing in the order, but
these did appear: " The potential for job losses
resulting from a merger is outside of the
limited statutory factors that the Board is
authorized to consider when reviewing an
application or notice under the BHC Act. See
Western Bancshares, Inc. v. Board of Governors,
480 F.2d 749 (10th Cir. 1973); see also U.S.
Bancorp, FRB Order No. 2022-22 (October 14,
2022); BB&T Corp., FRB Order No. 2019-16
(November 19, 2019); KeyCorp, FRB Order No.
2016-12 (July 12, 2016); Community Bank System,
Inc., FRB Order No. 2015-34 (November 18, 2015);
Wells Fargo & Co., 82 Federal Reserve
Bulletin 445 (1996);" and
"Some
commenters expressed concerns regarding the
amount of funding that BNP Paribas and Bank of
Montreal have provided to fossil-fuel companies,
while one commenter requested that the combined
organization publish annual disclosures related
to environmental issues. In addition, one
commenter expressed concern that BOTW had not
disclosed information regarding the diversity of
its employees. These comments concern matters
that are outside the scope of the limited
statutory factors that the Board is authorized
to consider when reviewing an application under
the BHC Act. See Western Bancshares, Inc. v.
Board of Governors, 480 F.2d 749 (10th Cir.
1973)."
January
16, 2023
City National Bank Settled Redlining Case with DOJ After Federal Reserve Ignored FFW Proof
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SOUTH
BRONX, Jan 12 – City
National Bank
discriminates,
the Department
of Justice has
belatedly
concluded, and
fined the bank
- owned by
Royal Bank of
Canada - $31
million. Too
little, too
late.
In
2015, Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch told the
Federal
Reserve and
other
regulators
about the
problems at
City National
Bank. And the
Fed(s) did
nothing.
Here's from
that time:
Royal
Bank of Canada
and
affluent-focused
Los
Angeles-based
City National
Bank, has
since April
been the
subject of a
Community
Reinvestment
Act challenge
by Fair
Finance Watch.
Back on April 11, Inner City Press submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Reserve for it communication with and about RBC and City National. Only on September 30, more than five MONTHS later, did the Fed response. In the spirit of transparency, we are putting the FOIA response online here.
It
shows among many other things that RBC
was meeting with the Federal Reserve
well before the public announcement of
its City National proposal; it has
many redactions which we will be
appealing, for example “When you have
a chance, please put a note in our
files indicating that we asked Charles
Fleet about [REDACTED] (b)(5) .
Thanks.”
FOIA: On Royal Bank of
Canada-CNB, Here's Federal Reserve's Response to ICP On FOIA
Five Months Ago by Matthew Russell Lee
January
9, 2023
On
a application
by a redliner
involved in
crypto, Fair
Finance Watch
filed a
challenge
citing lending
disparities
(and the CRA)
under the
Change in Bank
Control Act:
"Fair Finance
Watch has been
reviewing
Quontic Bank
including its
2021 HMDA data
not taken into
account in any
CRA exam and
finds it
troubling.
In terms of
HMDA data, in
2021 in New
York State,
Quontic Bank
made 594
mortgage loans
to whites with
39denials.
Meanwhile to
African
Americans it
made only 73
loans, while
denying 11
applications.
This is more
disparate that
other banks in
NYS. A
referral
should be made
to the DOJ for
fair lending
violations.
Quontic is
being sued,
active case:
22-cv-7188
(SDNY).
An evidentiary
hearing is
necessary.
This comment
is
timely"
Comments
regarding each
of these
applications
must be
received at
the Reserve
Bank indicated
or the offices
of the Board
of Governors,
Ann E.
Misback,
Secretary of
the Board,
20th Street
and
Constitution
Avenue NW,
Washington, DC
20551-0001,
The Estate of
Steven B.
Schnall,
Sherri Silver
Schnall as
Preliminary
Executor, both
of New York,
New
York; to
retain voting
shares of
Quontic Bank
Acquisition
Corp., and
Quontic Bank
Holdings
Corp., and
thereby
indirectly
retain voting
shares of
Quontic Bank,
all of New
York, New
York. In
addition, the
Schnall
Disclaimer
Trust A,
Sherri Silver
Schnall,
individually
and as
co-trustee,
both of New
York, New
York, with
Amie Hoffman,
as co-trustee,
New Hope,
Pennsylvania;
the Sherri S.
Schnall Family
Irrevocable
Trust, Amie
Hoffman as
trustee, both
of New Hope,
Pennsylvania;
to acquire
voting shares
of Quontic
Bank
Acquisition
Corp., and
Quontic Bank
Holdings
Corp., and
thereby
indirectly
acquire voting
shares of
Quontic Bank.
Accordingly,
all
notificants in
this notice to
become a group
acting in
concert.
Public
evidentiary
hearings are
needed.
FFW and Inner
City Press
have been
deeply
concerned
about the rush
by the Federal
Reserve to
rubber-stamp
smaller
applications
by these sized
redliners. We
timely request
public
hearings."
The
Fed denied any
extension of
the comment
period, and
Quontic says
CRA and fair
lending have
nothing to do
with their
application.
Watch this
site.
January
2, 2023
Lakeland Bank DOJ Deal Left Disparities in NY Glaring Now Provident Let 'em Eat Cake Reply
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Dec 28 – When the US
Department of Justice sued and immediately
settled with Lakeland Bank for fair lending
violations, it announced a proposed merger with
Provident Bank.
As
if to sweep it under the carpet.
And
when Fair Finance Watch looked into it, it found
that the DOJ settlement did not address in any
way the banks' disparities in New York. So on
December 1, the FDIC's comment deadline, it
filed the below, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA.
Tellingly,
the banks' response to not only the lending
disparities but even the rare DOJ discrimination
settlements is to attack the comments. Provident
Bank's Deputy General Counsel Bennett MacDougall
writes that Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch (the Commenter)
"notes
three points: (1) Lakeland Bank recently entered
into a consent order with the U.S. Department of
Justice (the “DOJ”) to resolve certain fair
lending-related allegations (the “DOJ Consent
Order”); (2) Lakeland allegedly engages in
“disparate marketing” in New York; and (3) in
2021, Lakeland made 27 mortgage loans to white
borrowers in New York and no mortgage loans to
African American borrowers in New York. None of
these three points, however, can be considered
substantive: 1. It is true that Lakeland Bank
entered into the DOJ Consent Order on September
27, 2022. By its terms, however, the DOJ Consent
Order has no bearing on Lakeland’s activities in
New York. Both the claims made in the DOJ
complaint resolved by the DOJ Consent Order (the
“DOJ Complaint”) and the actions required of
Lakeland Bank under the DOJ Consent Order were
expressly limited to five counties in New
Jersey. The DOJ Complaint and the DOJ Consent
Order only mention New York in passing, noting
that Lakeland Bank has a single branch in the
state. It is also important to note that the DOJ
Complaint and the DOJ Consent Order represent
the culmination of a DOJ investigation into
Lakeland Bank—and that the investigation
resulted in no claims being made against
Lakeland Bank related to any unlawful practices
in New York.4 The DOJ Consent Order is
irrelevant to 3 The Comment Letter also requests
“an extension of the comment period” and
“evidentiary hearings” without providing any
reason or justification whatsoever for either. 4
To the extent that the Commenter seeks to argue
that the DOJ Consent Order should have addressed
Lakeland Bank’s mortgage lending activities in
New York, we submit that an implied Eileen K.
Banko Federal Reserve Bank of New York -4- the
Commenter’s stated concern regarding Lakeland’s
mortgage lending activities in New York. This
allegation relating to the DOJ Consent Order
therefore does not “relate to a statutory
factor” or matters that “otherwise warrant
action by the Board.” 2. The Commenter states
that Lakeland engages in “disparate marketing”
in New York. The Commenter, however, provides
nothing to substantiate this statement, other
than this conclusory allegation. This allegation
relating to a purported violation of law by
Lakeland is therefore “without any supporting
evidence” and does not “otherwise warrant action
by the Board.” 3. The Commenter notes that, as
reported in Lakeland Bank’s reported Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”) data for 2021,
the bank made 27 mortgage loans in New York to
white borrowers and concludes, based on the
selective information, that Lakeland Bank made
no mortgage loans to African American borrowers
in New York in 2021. However, the Commenter
fails to note that the HMDA data reflects that
Lakeland originated a total of 46 mortgage loans
in New York in 2021. The 19 loans the Commenter
failed to mention were to borrowers whose race
was reported as Asian or Joint or whose race was
not available in the HMDA data, and therefore
cannot be known. The suggestion in the Comment
Letter that Lakeland originates mortgages in New
York only to white borrowers is wrong and the
Commenter fails to provide important and readily
available facts.5 This allegation relating to a
purported violation of law by Lakeland is
therefore “without any supporting evidence” and
does not “otherwise warrant action by the
Board.” The Commenter’s apparent concerns with
Provident’s mortgage lending activities in New
York are similarly baseless. The principal
support that the Commenter provides for this
concern is that, in 2021, Provident made 20
mortgage loans to white borrowers in New York
and none to African Americans. As with Lakeland,
the claim that another agency, in this case the
DOJ, did not act responsibly does not constitute
a “substantive” protest. Furthermore, the
Commenter provides no facts that could plausibly
support a conclusion that, notwithstanding the
results of the DOJ’s investigation, which the
Commenter was not privy to, the DOJ Consent
Order should have had a broader scope. 5 The
Commenter also does not mention that New York is
only a minimal geography for Lakeland’s mortgage
lending activities. Lakeland’s 46 mortgage loans
originated in the state in 2021 represent less
than 3% of all mortgage loans originated by the
bank in 2021. Eileen K. Banko Federal Reserve
Bank of New York -5- Commenter’s suggestion that
Provident only originates mortgages to white
borrowers omits crucial facts: the Commenter
does not mention that, in addition to these 20
mortgage loans, Provident originated 11 others
in New York in 2021 for which the borrower’s
race is not available in the HMDA data.6 The
Commenter’s allegation relating to a purported
violation of law by Provident is therefore
“without any supporting evidence” and does not
“otherwise warrant action by the Board.” The
Commenter also notes that the Transaction is the
subject of two lawsuits filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New
York (the “Transaction Litigation”). The
Transaction Litigation, which is of a type that
frequently accompanies bank (and other) mergers,
has no relation whatsoever to the Commenter’s
purported concern about fair lending or any
other CRA-related issues.7 The Transaction
Litigation is entirely irrelevant to Lakeland’s
or Provident’s mortgage lending activities..
Instead, the
Commenter’s assertions are so
clearly “make weight” that the
Commenter’s purpose in the
Comment Letter is to delay
timely processing of the
Application and to express
general dissatisfaction with
the Board’s processing of bank
acquisition applications."
December
26, 2022
Key Bank Amid Data Breach Lawsuits Engages In Disparate Loans Regulators Asleep at Switch
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX, Dec 19 - Key Bank is in decline,
both in consumer compliance and in fair lending.
Reporting from and on the Federal courts, Inner
City Press has noticed a slew of data breach
cases filed against KeyCorp, since August 2022,
now moving toward a multi-district
consolidation.
Fair Finance Watch, looking at Key Bank's 2021
lending at first in New York State, notes that
while Key Bank made 7916 mortgage loans to
whites, with 1733 denials, it made only 266
loans to African Americans, with fully 140
denial.
It
should be sued by the Department of Justice, and
many
others - watch this site.
December
17, 2022
Brookline Bank Bid To Bring Disparities To NY By Buying PCSB Bank Rubber Stamped by Fed
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX, Dec 15 – New York and Massachusetts
are portrayed as diverse and progressive places.
But their banks, not so much.
Consider
for example the proposed and today FRB approved
merger between Brookline Bank in Massachusetts
and PCSB Bank in New York, with branches in
Mount Vernon, Eastchester and
elsewhere.
The Federal Reserve, while withholding beyond the comment period even the public portion of the application involving Lakeland Bank, with settled lending discrimination charges recently with DOJ, on December 15 rubber stamped Brookline's application, with this line: "The commenter objected to the proposal, alleging that in 2021, Brookline Bank made fewer home loans to African American individuals as compared to white individuals." They don't name the commenter - Inner City Press / FFW.
Bronx-based
Inner City Press has long exposed redlining.
Along with Fair Finance Watch it finds that in
2020, the most recent year for which Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data is publicly
available, PCSB Bank in New York State made 79
loans to whites - and only seven to African
America. The dollar volume difference is even
worse, a twenty to one disparity.
So
what is the lending record in Massachusetts of
Brookline Bank, the proposed acquirer of PCSB?
December
12, 2022
Lakeland Bank DOJ Settlement Left Disparities in NY Unaddressed But Fed Slow on the Draw
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Dec 10 – When the US
Department of Justice sued and immediately
settled with Lakeland Bank for fair lending
violations, it announced a proposed merger with
Provident Bank.
As
if to sweep it under the carpet.
And
when Fair Finance Watch looked into it, it found
that the DOJ settlement did not address in any
way the banks' disparities in New York. So on
December 1, the FDIC's comment deadline, it
filed with the FDIC, with Inner City Press on
the FOIA.
On
December 9, Inner City Press filed with the
Federal Reserve, in both NY and DC, asking for a
copy of the application that day. As of December
10, none has been provided. This is unacceptable
- what this site.
Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation Attn: Chairman
Martin J. Gruenberg, Frank Hughes 350 Fifth
Avenue, Suite 1200 New York, NY 10118-0110
Re: Comment on Applications by Provident Bank to
merge with Lakeland Bank
Dear
Chairman Gruenberg, Regional Director Hughes and
others at the FDIC: This is a timely
comment on, the Application of Provident Bank to
merge with Lakeland Bank which appears on the
FDIC website under "Applications In Process
Subject to the CRA Report" with an initial
comment periods running through December 1. This
comment is timely. And as set forth below, the
FDIC should extend its comment period, at least
until December 15 to coincide with the Federal
Reserve comment period on the proposed holding
company merger.
Lakeland was sued by DOJ and settled, just
before this proposed merger was announced. See here
"The DOJ said that all of Lakeland’s
branches were located in majority-white
neighborhoods and that its loan officers did not
serve the credit needs of Black and Hispanic
neighborhoods... Lakeland, a community
bank, operates 68 branches in northern New
Jersey and in New York’s Hudson Valley."
December
5, 2022
Lakeland Bank DOJ Settlement Left Disparities in NY Unaddressed so CRA Merger Challenge
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Dec 3 – When the US
Department of Justice sued and immediately
settled with Lakeland Bank for fair lending
violations, it announced a proposed merger with
Provident Bank.
As
if to sweep it under the carpet.
And
when Fair Finance Watch looked into it, it found
that the DOJ settlement did not address in any
way the banks' disparities in New York. So on
December 1, the FDIC's comment deadline, it
filed the below, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA:
Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation Attn: Chairman
Martin J. Gruenberg, Frank Hughes 350 Fifth
Avenue, Suite 1200 New York, NY 10118-0110
Re: Comment on Applications by Provident Bank to
merge with Lakeland Bank
Dear
Chairman Gruenberg, Regional Director Hughes and
others at the FDIC: This is a timely
comment on, the Application of Provident Bank to
merge with Lakeland Bank which appears on the
FDIC website under "Applications In Process
Subject to the CRA Report" with an initial
comment periods running through December 1. This
comment is timely. And as set forth below, the
FDIC should extend its comment period, at least
until December 15 to coincide with the Federal
Reserve comment period on the proposed holding
company merger.
Lakeland was sued by DOJ and settled, just
before this proposed merger was announced. See here
"The DOJ said that all of Lakeland’s
branches were located in majority-white
neighborhoods and that its loan officers did not
serve the credit needs of Black and Hispanic
neighborhoods... Lakeland, a community
bank, operates 68 branches in northern New
Jersey and in New York’s Hudson Valley."
Notably, the settlement does not address
in any way Lakeland's redlining in New York.
But consider, for the record: in 2021 in New
York based on its disparate marketing Lakeland
made 27 mortgage loans to whites -- while making
NO loans to African Americans. None. Zero. Zip.
This must be addressed.
And
it would not be addressed by Provident, which in
New York in 2021 made 20 mortgage loans to
whites -- while making NO loans to African
Americans. None. Zero. Zip. This merger should
be denied.
Note also that in the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New York, this proposed
merger is already the subject of two lawsuits:
22-cv-9946 and 22-cv-9980.
Inner
City Press is requesting an extension of the
public comment period, public / virtual
evidentiary hearings and that, on the current
record, the applications not be
approved FFW and
Inner City Press have been deeply concerned
about the rush by the FDIC's to rubber-stamp
mergers by redliners, money launderers and
predatory lenders. This has been killing the
Community Reinvestment Act and we timely request
public hearings. The comment period should
be extended; evidentiary hearings should be
held; and on the current record, the application
should not be approved.
Watch this site.
November
28, 2022
Prosperity Bank Faces CRA Challenge to Lone Star State Bank and FirstCapital Bank in Texas
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
FEDERAL COURT /
S Bronx, Nov 25 –
Whether or not the U.S. Community Reinvestment
Act will be again enforced under this
Administration and its regulators including
under the incoming divided Congress is an open
question.
Now Fair Finance Watch with Inner City Press on
the FOIA has filed comments with the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation against
the
applications
by Prosperity
Bank in Texas:
November
25, 2022
Federal
Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
Attn: Chairman
Martin J.
Gruenberg
Dallas Kristie
K. Elmquist,
Regional
Director Julie
V. Banfield,
Deputy
Regional
Director Chris
Finnegan,
Assistant
Regional
Director
(Consumer
Protection)
1601 Bryan
Street, 38th
Floor Dallas,
Texas
75201-4586
Re:
Comment on
Applications
by Prosperity
Bank, El
Campo, Texas
to acquire
Lone Star Bank
of West Texas
and
FirstCapital
Bank of Texas,
N.A.
Dear
Chairman
Gruenberg,
Regional
Director
Elmquist,
Ass't Regional
Director
Finnegan and
others at the
FDIC:
This is a
request for
all
information in
the possession
of the FDIC
about, and a
timely comment
on, the
Applications
of Prosperity
Bank, El
Campo, Texas
to acquire
Lone Star Bank
of West Texas
and
FirstCapital
Bank of Texas,
N.A. which
appear on the
FDIC website
under
"Applications
In Process
Subject to the
CRA Report"
with an
initial
comment
periods
running
through
December 16.
This comment
is
timely.
The applicant
Prosperity
Bank in 2021
in Texas based
on its
disparate
marketing made
5453 mortgage
loans to
whites --
while making
only 188 loans
to African
Americans.
Meanwhile it
denied fully
94
applications
from African
Americans,
versus only
1186 from
whites. This
is far out of
keeping with
the
demographics,
and others
lenders, in
Texas in
particularly
in Prosperity
Bank's CRA
assessment
areas - this
is
outrageous.
The applicant
Prosperity
Bank in 2021
in Oklahoma
based on its
disparate
marketing made
320 mortgage
loans to
whites --
while making
only 38 loans
to African
Americans.
This is far
out of keeping
with the
demographics,
and others
lenders, in
Oklahoma in
particularly
in Prosperity
Bank's CRA
assessment
areas - this
is
outrageous.
Beyond
these
disparities,
there is the
question of
possible
service
reductions.
Already, for
the record,
consider this:
"I was with
Prosperity
Bank in
Cleveland,
Texas and my I
was with
Prosperity
Bank in
Cleveland,
Texas and my
account was
scammed and I
lost 2 of my
Social
Security
checks and the
cash I had in
the bNK. tHEY
PAID MY BILLS
IN NOVEMBER
AND NOW THEY
SAY i HAVE TO
PAY THEM $1013
after they
didn't protect
my account and
I lost over
$2,828 and had
nothing to
live on. I
paid on a plan
with Noeton
Security and
they got my
debit card
number and
took all my
money and the
bank says I
gave Noeton
permission to
get American
Express gift
cards. What
can I do about
this? Yes I
did speak with
the manager of
Prosperity
Bank in
Cleveland,
Texas.... The
bank says they
will turn me
in for
collection and
the BBB and I
will never be
able to open
another bank
account
November
21, 2022
CRA Protest to Gaming MVB Bank Bid On Hemp Lender West Town Bank Yields Questions
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon MVB File
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Nov 17 – Amid the focus
on big mergers like Bank of Montreal Harris -
BNP Paribas and the stalled Flagstar / NYCB,
there are other also dubious smaller merger
proposals.
Fair
Finance Watch is on the lookout, with Inner City
Press on the FOIA, and filed this:
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a request for
a full copy of, and a timely first comment on,
the Applications of MVB Financial Corp.,
Fairmont, West Virginia; to acquire Integrated
Financial Holdings, Inc., Raleigh, North
Carolina, and thereby indirectly acquire West
Town Bank & Trust, North Riverside,
Illinois, and acquire voting shares of West Town
Payments, LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, "and
more."
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing West Town Bank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
FFW in looking into MVB Bank find its offers of
banking for gaming, but for CRA questions, not
even an email address, only a snail mail
address. This is not a best practice, far from
it.
In terms of HMDA data, in 2021, West Town Bank
made 319 mortgage loans to whites with seven
denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made
only TWENTY FIVE loans, while denying five
applications. A referral should be made to the
DOJ for fair lending
violations. MVB,
proposing to buy West Town Bank including its
hemp lending, is engaged in gaming lending,
fintechs - but has not put its CRA file online
or even available by emailing."
First after the filing, MVB provided Fair
Finance Watch with what it calls its 271-page
CRA file (for some reason, only "as of April
2022") which we've put on DocumentCloud here
to make it public as all CRA files should be.
Now
on November 17, Fed questions including
"This
correspondence relates to the application filed
by MVB Financial Corp. (“MVB”), Fairmont, West
Virginia, to acquire Integrated Financial
Holdings, Inc. (“IFHI”), Raleigh, North
Carolina, and thereby indirectly acquire West
Town Bank & Trust (“West Town Bank”), North
Riverside, Illinois, pursuant to sections
3(a)(3) and 3(a)(5) of the Bank Holding Company
(“BHC”) Act, and to indirectly acquire voting
shares of West Town Payments, LLC, Raleigh,
North Carolina, pursuant to sections 4(c)(8) and
4(j) of the BHC Act. Based on Federal Reserve
staff’s review of the current record, the
following additional information is requested.
Please provide responses to the following items,
including those in the Confidential Annex.
Supporting documentation should be provided as
appropriate: 1. Provide a revised page 1 of the
FR Y-3 Application to Become a Bank Holding
Company and/or Acquire an Additional Bank or
Bank Holding Company (“FR Y-3”) form to state
that MVB’s application is submitted pursuant to
both sections 3(a)(3) and 3(a)(5) of the BHC
Act. 2. In response to Question 20 of the FR
Y-3, MVB represents, “No existing branches will
be closed or consolidated as a result of the
Proposed Transaction.” However, Exhibit A of the
Agreement and Plan of Merger of West Town Bank
with and into MVB Bank does not include West
Town Bank’s North Riverside, Illinois branch in
the list of surviving bank branch locations.
Confirm, if such is the case, that MVB does not
intend to close any existing branches of either
West Town Bank or MVB Bank, Inc. (“MVB Bank”),
Fairmont, West Virginia, in connection with the
proposed transaction. 3. MVB represents that the
following IFHI’s wholly-owned nonbank
subsidiaries are anticipated to be sold or
dissolved prior to consummation of the proposed
transaction: (1) SBA Loan Documentation
Services, LLC, (2) West Town Insurance Agency,
Inc., (3) Glenwood Structured Finance, LLC, and
(4) Patriarch, LLC. For each subsidiary: a.
Provide a status update on the dissolution or
sale of the subsidiary; b. For any subsidiary
that has not yet been dissolved or sold, provide
an estimated date by which the dissolution or
sale is expected to be completed; and c.
Confirm, if such is the case, that the
subsidiary would not be acquired or operated by
MVB following consummation of the proposed
transaction.
4. Confirm MVB intends to maintain an ownership
interest in VeriLeaf, Inc. and Dogwood State
Bank, following consummation of the proposed
transaction. 5. The FR Y-3 and Agreement and
Plan of Merger and Reorganization dated as of
August 12, 2022, between IFHI and MVB
indicate that IFHI provides services to
marijuana- related businesses (“MRBs”). Indicate
whether MVB anticipates continuing to
provide services to MRB customers
following consummation of the proposed
transaction. If not, describe how and when the
combined organization would terminate that
business line. If yes, describe the nature and
scope of IFHI’s current activities with MRB
customers and the combined organization’s
anticipated activities with MRB customers. The
response should summarize product or services
offerings and the size and scope of the business
line. In addition, the response should describe
the criteria or system for identifying and
classifying MRB customers and the combined
organization’s definition of MRB customer, if
any. 6. Discuss the due diligence process MVB
undertook relating to IFHI’s servicing of MRB
customers. In addition, summarize any due
diligence findings relating to that business
line, including whether the due diligence
identified any risks, weaknesses, or concerns at
IFHI and how the combined organization intends
to address them following consummation of the
proposed transaction. 7. If applicable, provide
an overview of the laws, regulations, orders, or
other requirements or guidance that impact
IFHI’s and the combined organization’s provision
of services to MRB customers. The response
should: a. Discuss how the combined organization
would manage and mitigate risks associated with
servicing MRB customers and ensure compliance
with any statutes, regulations, or guidance in
each jurisdiction in which the combined
organization would service MRB customers. b.
Indicate how the combined organization would
monitor potential changes to applicable laws
concerning providing services to MRB customers
in the future. c. Discuss existing policies and
procedures as well as any contemplated changes
at the combined organization to ensure
compliance with applicable law and the 2014
Financial Crime Enforcement Network guidance
titled “BSA Expectations Regarding
Marijuana-Related Businesses.” 8. Discuss
MVB and/or MVB Bank’s record of compliance with
the West Virginia Community Reinvestment Act, W.
Va. Code §§ 31A-8B-1 to 5, including the date of
MVB and/or MVB Bank’s most recent evaluation and
rating, as applicable. 9. In the FR Y-3, MVB
states that the proposed transaction would
create benefits for clients of West Town Bank by
enabling them to take advantage of a larger
branch and ATM network. Describe in greater
detail how the clients of West Town Bank, whose
only branch is located in Illinois, would
benefit from access to the MVB Bank’s branch and
ATM network, which is located in West Virginia
and Virginia. 10. Provide a copy of the most
recent version of the CRA Strategic Plan that is
expected to become effective in January
2023. NONCONFIDENTIAL // EXTERNAL
11. On page 21 of the FR Y-3, MVB states that
MVB Bank is in the process of reviewing the
products and services of West Town Bank.
Indicate when that review is expected to be
completed. If already completed, explain whether
any products and services offered by either MVB
Bank or West Town Bank would be discontinued
after consummation of the proposed transaction.
Additionally, discuss whether there would be any
changes to the terms or provision of the
products and services currently provided,
including fees. 12. Confirm whether the consumer
compliance program of the merged bank would be
MVB Bank’s current program. Describe any
modifications to the consumer compliance risk
management program that are planned as a result
of the proposed transaction. 13. Discuss any
enhancements that would be made to MVB Bank’s
consumer compliance risk management system to
accommodate the proposed additional and expanded
activities described in the strategic business
plan in Confidential Exhibit E." Full letter on
Patreon here.
Watch
this site.
***
November
14, 2022
Predatory Lender Republic Bank & Trust Faces CRA Challenge to CBank Merger Application
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
FEDERAL COURT /
S Bronx, Nov 11 –
Whether or not the U.S. Community Reinvestment
Act will be again enforced under this
Administration and its regulators including
under the incoming Congress is an open question.
The same is the case about predatory lending.
Now Fair Finance Watch with Inner City Press on
the FOIA has filed comments with the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation against
the
application by
notorious
predatory
lender
Republic Bank
& Trust to
buy CBank:
November
11, 2022
FDIC Chairman
Martin J.
Gruenberg FDIC
- Chicago
Regional
Director, John
Conneely
Deputy
Regional
Director,
Teresa Sabanty
Re: Timely
Comment
opposition and
requesting an
extension of
the comment
period on the
application by
high-cost
lender
Republic Bank
& Trust to
acquire CBank
and Commercial
Industrial
Finance, Inc.
Dear
Chairman
Gruenberg,
Regional
Director
Conneely,
Deputy
Regional
Director
Sabanty:
On
behalf of Fair
Finance Watch
and Inner City
Press and in
my personal
capacity, this
is a timely
comment
opposing and
requesting an
extension of
the comment
period on the
application by
high-cost
lender
Republic Bank
& Trust to
merge with
CBank and its
wholly-owned
subsidiary,
Commercial
Industrial
Finance, Inc.
which
"provides
equipment
leasing and
financing to
businesses
nationwide."
Republic
is a notorious
high-cost
lender.
"Non-bank
payday lenders
try to get in
on the action
by putting a
bank’s name on
the loan,
allowing them
the
pre-emption
protection.
One company
engaged in
this is
Elevate
Financial. Its
line-of-credit
product,
Elastic, uses
Republic Bank,
which is
chartered in
Kentucky, to
make the
loans. Elevate
supplies the
underwriting
software and
therefore
controls who
gets a loan.
Republic Bank
holds onto the
loans, but
then sells a
90 percent
“participation
interest” to
an affiliate
of Elevate.
Functionally
speaking,
Elevate issues
and
effectively
owns the
loans, but it
has a legal
fig leaf that
enables it to
point to
Republic Bank
as the actual
lender. This
enables
Elevate to
sell Elastic,
which its
financial
disclosures
say carries an
annual
percentage
rate of 109
percent, in
states like
Minnesota,
Montana, and
Oregon, which
cap interest
rates at 36
percent. It
also allows
Elevate to
sell what is
effectively a
payday
lending/installment
loan product
called Rise in
states where
payday lending
has been
banned, like
Arizona."
Note
for the record
on this
application,
subject to
CRA, that
Republic Bank
and Trust
enables Enova,
which operates
payday and
installment
lender
CashNetUSA, to
make
NetCredit-
branded
installment
loans at rates
up to 99.99%
APR.
In terms of
HMDA data, in
2021, Republic
Bank and Trust
in Kentucky
made 2429
mortgage loans
to whites with
162 denials.
Meanwhile to
African
Americans it
made 303
loans, while
denying fully
51
applications.
In Ohio in
2021, Republic
Bank and Trust
made 72
mortgage loans
to whites with
seven denials.
Meanwhile to
African
Americans it
made ten
loans, while
denying four
applications.
In Florida in
2021, Republic
Bank and Trust
made 260
mortgage loans
to whites with
45 denials.
Meanwhile to
African
Americans it
made eleven
loans, while
denying six
applications.
Public
evidentiary
hearings are
needed.
FFW
and Inner City
Press have
been deeply
concerned
about the rush
by the FDIC to
rubber-stamp
smaller
mergers by
these sized
redliners.
This has been
killing the
Community
Reinvestment
Act and we
timely request
public
hearings. The
comment period
should be
extended;
evidentiary
hearings
should be
held; and on
the current
record, the
application
should not be
approved.
Very Truly
Yours,
Matthew Lee,
Esq.
Executive
Director
Inner City
Press/Fair
Finance Watch
November
7, 2022
CRA Protest to Gaming MVB Bank Bid For Redlining Hemp Lender West Town Bank Yields Docs
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon MVB File
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Oct 31 – Amid the
focus on big mergers like Bank of Montreal
Harris - BNP Paribas and the stalled Flagstar /
NYCB, there are other also dubious smaller
merger proposals.
Fair
Finance Watch is on the lookout, with Inner City
Press on the FOIA, and filed the below. Since
filing, MVB provided Fair Finance Watch with
what it calls its 271-page CRA file (for some
reason, only "as of April 2022") which we've put
on DocumentCloud here
to make it public as all CRA files should be,
and the Fed has provided portions of the
application, including that target "IFHI owns a
30.5% interest in VeriLeaf, Inc., a Delaware
corporation with its main office in Austin,
Texas, which is a start-up company that provides
automated software solutions and related
compliance and risk management services to
assist banks with enhanced due diligence needed
for higher-risk customer bases, such as hemp
businesses." Watch this site.
October
31, 2022
CRA Challenge to Gaming MVB Bank Bid For Redlining Hemp Lending West Town Bank
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX NY, Oct 25 – Amid the
focus on big mergers like Bank of Montreal
Harris - BNP Paribas and the stalled Flagstar /
NYCB, there are other also dubious smaller
merger proposals.
Fair
Finance Watch is on the lookout, with Inner City
Press on the FOIA, and just filed this:
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a request for
a full copy of, and a timely first comment on,
the Applications of MVB Financial Corp.,
Fairmont, West Virginia; to acquire Integrated
Financial Holdings, Inc., Raleigh, North
Carolina, and thereby indirectly acquire West
Town Bank & Trust, North Riverside,
Illinois, and acquire voting shares of West Town
Payments, LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, "and
more."
Fair
Finance Watch has been reviewing West Town Bank
including its 2021 HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and finds it troubling.
FFW in looking into MVB Bank find its offers of
banking for gaming, but for CRA questions, not
even an email address, only a snail mail
address. This is not a best practice, far from
it.
In terms of HMDA data, in 2021, West Town Bank
made 319 mortgage loans to whites with seven
denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made
only TWENTY FIVE loans, while denying five
applications. A referral should be made to the
DOJ for fair lending
violations. MVB,
proposing to buy West Town Bank including its
hemp lending, is engaged in gaming lending,
fintechs - but has not put its CRA file online
or even available by
emailing. Public
evidentiary hearings are
needed.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the Federal Reserve
to rubber-stamp smaller mergers by these sized
redliners. This has been killing the Community
Reinvestment Act and we timely request public
hearings. The comment period should be
extended; evidentiary hearings should be held;
and on the current record, the application
should not be approved.
October
24, 2022
Credit Suisse Sued in SDNY, Pays NJ Predatory Lending Settlement But More Coming
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, Oct 18 – Credit Suisse,
now on trial in the U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York for rigging
foreign exchange prices in a case covered
by Inner City Press, has separately settled with
the New Jersey Attorney General for its role in
the US predatory lending scandal.
"Credit Suisse said Monday that the settlement
allows the bank to resolve its only remaining
mortgage-backed securities matter involving
claims by a regulator" - but there is opposition
from beyond the too often defanged regulators.
This is on top of money laundering supporting
dictators from Zimbabwe to Kazakhstan, and
assisting in the destruction of a Ukrainian
agricultural firm.
Now it wants to set its asset management business in the US. It should and will face opposition, from Fair Finance Watch and others. Watch this site.
***
October
17, 2022
BMO Harris BNP Faced Fed Qs After Admitting Mislabeling Info Now More Confidential Answers
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FED
COURT / S Bronx, Oct 15 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will actually be
enforced under the Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. Consider:
Inner City Press immediately reported that BMO
Harris' application to buy Bank of the West and
its more than 500 branches from BNP would be a
litmus test.
Fair
Finance Watch noted, from Day 1, that in 2020
BMO Harris denied many more mortgage
applications from African Americans than it
approved: 509 denied versus only 223 loans made
to African Americans, nationwide. BMO's numbers
for whites were the reverse: 9270 loans made,
versus less then six thousand denials. As noted,
there are also climate and secrecy issues. Fair
Finance Watch and other raised branch closings.
October
10, 2022
NYCB Proposal With Flagstar Stalled and Now Talk of Fair Lending Action A Nail in Coffin?
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, Oct 6 – Back in April 2021, Fair
Finance Watch and Inner City Press predicted
that the proposed merger of New York Community
Bank and Flagstar would flounder, on disparate
lending and regulatory evasions.
Fair Finance Watch found that in 2019 Flagstar
made 60,982 mortgage loans to whites, with
13,963 denial to whites - while making only 3799
loans to African Americans with fully 1777
denials to African American. This was
significantly worse than other lenders.
New York Community Bank's record as an enabler
of and profiteer off slumlords led Inner City
Press file a Community Reinvestment Act
challenge to its then-proposed merger with
Astoria Bank, which fell
apart.
Now
a year a half later, the proposed merger is
still not done and the extended deadline is
approaching, amid talk of, as we predicted, fair
lending action. Both companies' stock prices are
down. CRA and fair lending sometimes do have an
impact. Watch this site.
Watch this site.
October
3, 2022
Lakeland Bank Redlined in NJ and NY Now Set to Cash Out to Provident, Disclosure Required
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SOUTH
BRONX, Oct 1 – It is said the fair lending is
being taken more seriously. Or is it being gamed
more?
Take
the example of Lakeland Bank. In New York State
in 2021, it made 27 mortgage loans to whites,
and NONE to African Americans, Fair Finance
Watch has found.
In New Jersey, it made 19 loans to African
Americans - but 1224 to whites. It is
redlining. That week the Justice
Department announced a $13.2 million fair
lending settlement with Lakeland.
But it was a game - in the same week, Landland
announced it would apply to be bought by
Provident Bank with $1.3 billion - that's
billion - and its CEO Thomas Shara Jr. would
stay on as executive vice chairman. Call it
impunity.
September
26, 2022
It
is said that
this US
Administration
is committed
to the CRA and
public
participation
- but it
controls the
FDIC, which
last week
said:
"Matthew
Lee, Esq.
Executive
Director Fair
Finance Watch
Dear Mr. Lee:
This letter is
to inform you
that the FDIC
has decided
not to grant
your request
for a hearing
and extension
of the public
comment period
regarding the
application
filed by Ford
Credit Bank
(Proposed),
Salt Lake
City, Utah to
establish an
industrial
bank on July
22, 2022. We
feel that
the
material you
have forwarded
to this office
will allow the
FDIC to
perform a
thorough
review and in-
depth analysis
to address
your
concerns."
We'll see.
September
19, 2022
CommunityBank of Texas on Money Laundering as Protested Used Paid Letters Fed OKs
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Sept 14 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. The same is
the case about money laundering
As the fourth CRA challenge of 2022, Fair
Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA
filed comments with the Federal Reserve against
CommunityBank of Texas, fresh off a money
laundering / Bank Secrecy Act settlement, with a
disparate record, see below.
In
June the banks bragged without irony about a new
name, Stellar Bank (why not "Redlining Bank" or
"Laundering Bank"?) - and claimed they'd close
by the end of June.
"The
parent companies of CommunityBank of Texas and
Allegiance Bank have announced that the
resulting company of their merger will be named
Stellar Bank. The rebrand will take effect
once the merger completes, expected by the end
of June."
Well, Fair Finance Watch's protest was still pending at the end of August 2022. CBTX is still blowing hot air instead of improving its record: "CBTX CEO Robert Franklin said the banks’ executives “don’t know of any reason why this deal wouldn’t get approved.” “Our understanding is that we are in line. We just don’t know where we are in line, and there’s some 20 to 25 deals pending right now before the Fed." Really?
"From
Fair Finance Watch / Inner City Press' protest:
"This is a timely first comment on, the
Applications of CBTX, Inc., Beaumont, Texas; to
merge with Allegiance Bancshares, Inc., and
thereby indirectly acquire Allegiance Bank, both
of Houston, Texas. As an initial matter, this is
a request that the FRS immediately send by email
to Inner City Press all non-exempt portions of
the applications / notices for which the
Applicants have requested confidential
treatment. Fair Finance Watch has been tracking
both banks, and has found their lending patterns
troubling. In Texas in 2020, CBTX's
CommunityBank made 65 mortgage loans to whites
with 54 denials. Meanwhile to African Americans
it made only THREE loans, while denying fully
ten applications. A referring should be made to
the DOJ for fair lending
violations. In Texas in
2020, Alliance Bank made 257 mortgage loans to
whites with 38 denials. Meanwhile to African
Americans it made only SIX loans, while denying
fully seven applications. Again, a referring
should be made to the DOJ for fair lending
violations. Public evidentiary
hearings are needed - especially because, and
specifically on, CommunityBank's violations of
the Bank Secrecy Act: "WASHINGTON—The Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today
announced a $1 million civil money penalty
against CommunityBank of Texas, N.A., Beaumont,
Texas, for violations of the OCC’s Bank Secrecy
Act regulations. The OCC found that
CommunityBank of Texas failed to adopt and
implement a Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money
Laundering system of internal controls to assure
ongoing compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and
its implementing regulations. Such deficiencies
resulted in CommunityBank’s failure to timely
file complete suspicious activity reports for
approximately $100 million of suspicious
activity. The OCC’s civil money penalty is
separate from, but coordinated with, the
settlement between CommunityBank and the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN),
which is also being announced
today." FFW and Inner
City Press have been deeply concerned about the
rush by the Federal Reserve's to rubber-stamp
mergers by redliners, money launderers and
predatory lenders. This has been killing the
Community Reinvestment Act and we timely request
public hearings. The comment period should be
extended; evidentiary hearings should be held;
and on the current record, the application
should not be approved."
In
response? CBTX put in a one-line letter of
support from a hospital, and another bragging
about other support from "corporate sponsors
such as Valero, ExxonMobil, Entergy and many
others." That was from Nutrition & Services
for Seniors. Who else? And how does this rebut
money laundering and redlining?
September
12, 2022
In
mid August,
Fair Finance
Watch with
Inner City
Press on the
FOIA
challenged
Brookline
Bank. And now
the Federal
Reserve has
asked the
bank:
"Indicate
whether any
applicable
state
community
reinvestment
laws must be
considered by
the Board,
under section
3(d)(3) of the
BHC Act, and
if so, discuss
the records of
compliance of
Brookline;
Brookline
Bank,
Brookline,
Massachusetts;
and Bank Rhode
Island,
Providence,
Rhode Island,
with such
laws."
We'll see.
September
5, 2022
CommunityBank of Texas on Money Laundering as Protested Used Paid Letters but Still Waiting
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, August 30 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. The same is
the case about money laundering
As the fourth CRA challenge of 2022, Fair
Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA
filed comments with the Federal Reserve against
CommunityBank of Texas, fresh off a money
laundering / Bank Secrecy Act settlement, with a
disparate record, see below.
In
June the banks bragged without irony about a new
name, Stellar Bank (why not "Redlining Bank" or
"Laundering Bank"?) - and claimed they'd close
by the end of June.
"The
parent companies of CommunityBank of Texas and
Allegiance Bank have announced that the
resulting company of their merger will be named
Stellar Bank. The rebrand will take effect
once the merger completes, expected by the end
of June."
Well, Fair Finance Watch's protest is still lending at the end of August 2022. CBTX is still blowing hot air instead of improving its record: "CBTX CEO Robert Franklin said the banks’ executives “don’t know of any reason why this deal wouldn’t get approved.” “Our understanding is that we are in line. We just don’t know where we are in line, and there’s some 20 to 25 deals pending right now before the Fed." Really?
"From Fair Finance Watch / Inner City Press' protest: "This is a timely first comment on, the Applications of CBTX, Inc., Beaumont, Texas; to merge with Allegiance Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire Allegiance Bank, both of Houston, Texas. As an initial matter, this is a request that the FRS immediately send by email to Inner City Press all non-exempt portions of the applications / notices for which the Applicants have requested confidential treatment. Fair Finance Watch has been tracking both banks, and has found their lending patterns troubling. In Texas in 2020, CBTX's CommunityBank made 65 mortgage loans to whites with 54 denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made only THREE loans, while denying fully ten applications. A referring should be made to the DOJ for fair lending violations. In Texas in 2020, Alliance Bank made 257 mortgage loans to whites with 38 denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made only SIX loans, while denying fully seven applications. Again, a referring should be made to the DOJ for fair lending violations. Public evidentiary hearings are needed - especially because, and specifically on, CommunityBank's violations of the Bank Secrecy Act: "WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced a $1 million civil money penalty against CommunityBank of Texas, N.A., Beaumont, Texas, for violations of the OCC’s Bank Secrecy Act regulations. The OCC found that CommunityBank of Texas failed to adopt and implement a Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering system of internal controls to assure ongoing compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. Such deficiencies resulted in CommunityBank’s failure to timely file complete suspicious activity reports for approximately $100 million of suspicious activity. The OCC’s civil money penalty is separate from, but coordinated with, the settlement between CommunityBank and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is also being announced today."August
29, 2022
Ford Credit Bank Proposal Challenged by Fair Finance Watch Citing Evasion of New CRA
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA Trial
Book - NY
Mag
S
Bronx / SDNY, August 24 – While the
Administration says it is modernizing the
Community Reinvestment Act, Ford is rushing to
use the old rule to evade CRA, ostensibly in the
name of electric vehicles.
On
August 23-4 Fair Finance Watch, with Inner City
Press on the FOIA, filed comments opposing it
with the FDIC and Utah regulator:
Re:
Timely opposition to the application by the
proposed Ford Credit Bank
Dear
Kathy Moe Regional Director, Janet Kincaid
Deputy Director, others at FDIC & Utah DFI:
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FDIC's public
comment period on the Applications by the
proposed Ford Credit Bank. This proposal, if
approved, would make a mockery of the Community
Reinvestment Act, particularly as it is being
modernized by the new regulation on which the
comment period closed on August 5.
The
FDIC should hold public hearings, and on the
current record deny the application.
Contrary to the current and even more to the
impending CRA regulation claims that despite its
high volume of auto lending -- with its own
compliance problems -- it should be viewed as a
limited purpose institution. Fair Finance
Watch opposes this. Consider, for
example, the size of Ford Credit's retail
lending, here:
"Ford Credit delivered record quarterly earnings
before taxes of $1.6 billion."
Compare:
87 Fed. Reg. 33928, VIII. Retail Lending Test
Product Categories and Major Product
Lines Public hearings are needed,
and a re-opened comment period after the new CRA
regulation is finalized.
Consider
also, beyond previous issues at Ford's lending
operations of discrimination against African
Americans and Latinos, these recent TCPA cases:
Coleman v. Ford Motor Credit Company LLC
(8:21-cv-00647) District Court, M.D. Florida;
and Diaz v. Ford Motor Credit Company, LLC
(3:20-cv-06027) District Court, N.D.
California The FDIC is
administering a loophole that even many in the
industry, because consumer and CRA advocates,
oppose.
For the record, this is a timely comment on: "
Ford Credit Bank (Proposed) 15 West South Temple
SALT LAKE CITY, UT Deposit
Insurance (New Bank)
07/22/2022
08/24/2022 San
Francisco The comment
period should be extended; evidentiary hearings
should be held; and on the current record, the
application should not be approved.
Very Truly Yours,
Matthew Lee, Esq. Executive
Director Inner City Press/Fair Finance
Watch
cc:
Utah Dept of Financial Institutions
August
22, 2022
Here
was Fair
Finance Watch
/ Inner City
Press prepared
testimony on
Toronto
Dominion /
First Horizon
- it was added
to the fly,
watch this
site:
Good
morning. I'm
Matthew Lee
and on behalf
of Fair
Finance Watch
and Inner City
Press, this
three minute
statement
concerns the
proposal by
Toronto
Dominion to
acquire First
Horizon.
I
first want to
thank the Fed
and the OCC
for having
this public
meeting. I
think this
should come to
be expected on
mergers of
this size and
even mid-size
mergers. I'd
also like to
encourage both
agencies to
have comment
periods on
Requests for
Information to
consider your
merger review
process as the
FDIC did; the
99 percent or
higher
approval rate
calls the
credibility of
review into
question. 23
is kind of a
bottom-line.
It's good that
you're
listening to
people. At the
same time, if
the conclusion
is a fait
accompli,
it's a
problem.
Proof
that banks
don't take
these reviews
seriously?
Toronto
Dominion, even
with this
pending, and
calls by
Senators and
Congressmembers
to block their
proposed
acquisitions,
made another
one: of Cowen,
to "bulk up,"
as the
business media
put it.
If there are
serious enough
issues on
Toronto
Dominion to
trigger rare
complaints
from
Congressmembers
and this
still-to-rare
regulatory
public
meeting, how
can TD - Cowen
sail through
without
similar
review? Just
as there is a
recognition
that the
Community
Reinvestment
Act must be
modernized, it
is time to
modernize the
implementation
of the Bank
Holding
Company Act
and Bank
Merger Act so
that billion
dollar
proposals like
TD-Cohen are
subject to
meaningful
public
review.
To
the business
media, TD
spokesperson
Lisa Hodgins
has emailed
bragging that
"community
leaders from
regions served
by the two
banks having
sent more than
300 letters in
support of the
merger to
regulators."
To some, this
echoes the
practices of
Joseph Otting
at One West.
And what about
the practices,
including
those
highlighted by
four members
of Congress
requesting
that this
merger be
rejected?
Now,
as to the
Community
Reinvestment
Act aspects
proposed
acquisition by
Toronto
Dominion of
First Horizon.
Before getting
to the HMDA
data, note for
the record
that the
Consumer
Financial
Protection
Bureau had an
active
investigation
of TD Auto
Finance -
until it was
mysterious
quashed.
Here are a few
consumer
complaints:
F.U. TD Auto
Finance How
do you put a
lien on a car
that was never
financed and
was bought and
paid for?
Then when a
person calls
you all and
spends 6
hours
trying to get
it taken care
of and you
can't
understand the
level
frustration I
have for
and
to check your
TD Auto
Finance
loan/balance/remaining
term, you must
have a
personal TD
bank account
also (to
register).
Nobody does awful,
archaic
banking
like Canada
The
agencies must
get to the
bottom of
this, and the
matters timely
raised by the
members of
Congress.
Nationwide
in 2020, TD
Bank denied
almost as many
applications
from African
Americans
(833) as it
made in
mortgage loans
to African
Americans
(853).
Significantly,
TD Bank grew
worse and more
disparate in
2021: 1142
denials to
African
Americans,
versus only
886
originations.
It was far
more generous
with white
borrowers: in
2020, 23,469
loans made,
with only 9009
denials. In
2021, 20,515
originations
with only 8362
denials.
In New York
State in 2020,
TD Bank was
even worse. It
denied more
mortgage
applications
from African
Americans
(255) that it
made loans to
African
Americans in
NYC (198). In
2021 in New
York State, TD
Bank denied
294
applications
from African
Americans
while making
only 231
loans. Again,
TD Bank was
far more
generous with
white
borrowers in
New York
State: in
2020, 3,558
loans made,
with only 1714
denials; in
2021, 3372
loans made and
only 1430
denials.
These
disparities
should not
just result in
a Fed footnote
that the data
cited by Fair
Finance Watch
is accurate
but HMDA data
is not
probative. The
recently
confirmed
Governors,
particularly
the most
recent
confirmee
Michael Barr,
should go on
the record on
this before
the Board
rules.
These
issues must be
addressed; on
the current
record, this
application -
and TD / Cohen
- should not
be approved
August
15, 2022
Community Reinvestment Act Reg Comments In As Fed Bowman Hopes Bank Showed Burden
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, August 9 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will actually be
enforced under thus Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. Mergers
continue to be rubber stamped. But the agencies
requested comments by August 5, and Fair Finance
Watch and Inner City Press and others in NCRC
have met the deadline, see below.
August
8, 2022
On Community Reinvestment Act Reg Timely Comments In But Mergers Get Rubber Stamped
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, August 5 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will actually be
enforced under thus Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. Mergers
continue to be rubber stamped. But the agencies
requested comments by August 5, and Fair Finance
Watch and Inner City Press and others in NCRC
have met the deadline:
" On
behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch,
this is a timely comment on the Community
Reinvestment Act. While below
we address points from the joint proposal, since
CRA is only enforcement on merger and expansion
applications, the credibility and transparency
of the agencies' enforcement of CRA on merger
must be improved.to more fulsomely include
review of fair lending laws, as well as CRA and
negative impacts of recent mergers, from branch
closings to raised prices to, yes, layoffs.
The agencies currently do not sufficient
consider "the probable effect of the transaction
in meeting the convenience and needs of the
community to be served." When the effect of a
transaction includes further denuding lower
income communities of branches, that is NOT
meeting the convenience or needs of these
communities.
The regulators are far too narrow. One recent
example: Fair Finance Watch raised to the FRB
and OCC that merger partner MUFG still does
business in Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.
This is clearly risky (as well as immoral) and
yet the Fed and OCC have not even asked MUFG or
its proposed partner about it.
Also,
employees are clearly "stakeholders" - yet the
Federal Reserve had a footnote implying that no
level of job loss is relevant to it in reviewing
a merger. The CFPB should be consulted, as
should legal data bases of discrimination cases.
It must be made easier for the impacted public
to comment, and to get copies of the regulators
questions to the banks, and the banks
answers. The HHI understates the
anticompetitive effects of recent mergers, with
small banks being considered competitors to the
Top Ten. More public comments, and more public
hearings, are needed.
August
1, 2022
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
/ SOUTH BRONX, July 27 – Seemingly oblivious to
US regulators stated desire to tighten up their
merger review rules, specifically on fair
lending, Toronto Dominion on February 28
announced a $13.4 billion proposal to buy First
Horizon.
Fair
Finance Watch has been concerned by TD Bank's
lending disparities for some time. Nationwide in
2020, TD Bank denied almost as many applications
from African Americans (833) as it made in
mortgage loans to African Americans (853). It
was far more generous with white borrowers:
23,469 loans made, with only 9009 denials.
Fair
Finance Watch immediately online noted that in
New York State in 2020, TD Bank was even worse.
It denied more mortgage applications from
African Americans (255) that it made loans to
African Americans in NYC (198). Again, TD Bank
was far more generous with white borrowers in
NYS: 3,558 loans made, with only 1714
denials.
Fair
Finance Watch said: but just as the Federal
Reserve begrudgingly is holding a public hearing
on US Bancorp - MUFG / Union Bank, on March 8,
there is even more reason to hold multiple
hearings on a large and disparate Canadian bank
buying Horizon.
Then:
"The Federal Reserve Board (Board) and the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
today announced a joint public meeting on the
proposal by The Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, to acquire First Horizon
Corporation, Memphis, Tennessee. The purpose of
the public meeting is to collect information
from a wide range of stakeholders as the
agencies evaluate the proposed applications. By
law, the agencies are required to evaluate: the
convenience and needs of the communities to be
served by the combined organization; the insured
depository institutions’ performance under the
Community Reinvestment Act; competition in the
relevant markets; the effects of the proposal on
the stability of the U.S. banking or financial
system; the financial and managerial resources
and future prospects of the companies and banks
involved in the proposal; and the effectiveness
of the companies and banks in combatting money
laundering activities. The public meeting will
be held virtually on August 18, 2022, at 9:00
a.m. EDT. Members of the public seeking to
present oral comments must register by 12:00
p.m. EDT on July 28, 2022 through the online
registration web page, which will be updated
with registration details by June 8, 2022."
But
as of July 27, the Fed's link is to an OCC
website which does not provide information about
registering for the public meeting, only
commenting. Fair Finance Watch timely used the
box to register, and asked for confirmation. So
far, this:
July
25, 2022
After Federal Reserve Talked 1-Way on CRA No Live Qs FRBNY Provide Off Record Reply
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, July 19 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will actually be
enforced under the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. But no live
questions were taken by the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York when it talked, one-way, about the
CRA this month.
"This
virtual event is intended for banks, consumer
and community organizations, CRA stakeholders,
and the general public. Selected questions
submitted upon registration will be addressed
during the event. There will not be live
questions."
Inner City Press asked them, "Why was it decided
by the FRBNY that "there will be no live
questions"? Who decided it?"
On July 12, after the event, a "Corporate
Communication Associate" at the FRBNY who
demanded to not be named emailed back an answer
labeled "off the record." Is this any way for a
public institution to respond? Except, the
Federal Reserve Banks are NOT public
institution. Then why do they have a role in
setting policy (like CRA) and approving bank
mergers? We'll have more on this. And this:
The
CFPB, Inner City Press has learned, has a policy
of automatically closing complaints that name
more than one institution, claiming that they
can (or will) only forward the complaint to a
single institution. This makes little sense on,
for example, a wire transfer. But the CFPB Press
office has yet to explain, so a FOIA request has
been submitted. Watch this site.
Back
in December Inner City Press reported that BMO
Harris' application to buy Bank of the West and
its more than 500 branches from BNP would be a
litmus test.
Fair
Finance Watch noted, from Day 1, that in 2020
BMO Harris denied many more mortgage
applications from African Americans than it
approved: 509 denied versus only 223 loans made
to African Americans, nationwide. BMO's numbers
for whites were the reverse: 9270 loans made,
versus less then six thousand denials.
On
May 17 the Federal Reserve and OCC announced
that they will at least hold a public meeting:
The public meeting will be held virtually on
July 14, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. EDT. Members of the
public seeking to present oral comments must
register by 12:00 p.m. EDT on June 23, 2022,
through the online registration webpage."
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch visited
the page on June 20, Juneteenth (Observed), in
order to register - and found the Fed's "we want
to know your views" - in 200 characters. Is that
enough? Fair Finance Watch entered: "Concerns:
BMO Harris HMDA disparities (nationside in 2020
only 223 mortgages to African Americans, vs.
9270 to whites), its destruction of evidence in
a MN bankruptcy case; BNP's activities in
Russia."
Next came a series of Federal Reserve emails that went into spam, then a threat that if one didn't appear on screen for the Fed in one of four one-hour windows (three remaining) you couldn't testify. You had to ask to get the WebEx link. Inner City Press signed up - then came, at the same time, an FBI press conference about crypto fraud OneCoin, on which the Fed told Inner City Press under FOIA it has not a single document. Really?
The
penultimate slot conflicts with a press
conference by the incoming president of the UN
Security Council for July, Brazil. And July 5?
The irony was, Inner City Press did this same
sign up for the US Bancorp - MUFG public
meeting. Why have to do it again?
July
18, 2022
As BMO Harris Seeks Bank of the West Bulls Exec Shills & Fair Finance Watch Cites Ukraine
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, July 14 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will actually be
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. Back in
December Inner City Press reported that BMO
Harris' application to buy Bank of the West and
its more than 500 branches from BNP would be a
litmus test.
Fair
Finance Watch noted, from Day 1, that in 2020
BMO Harris denied many more mortgage
applications from African Americans than it
approved: 509 denied versus only 223 loans made
to African Americans, nationwide. BMO's numbers
for whites were the reverse: 9270 loans made,
versus less then six thousand denials.
On
May 17 the Federal Reserve and OCC announced
that they will at least hold a public meeting:
The public meeting would be held virtually on
July 14, 2022.
And
on that day, Fair Finance Watch testified, then
Inner City Press live
tweeted, below:
Good
afternoon. I'm Matthew Lee and on behalf of Fair
Finance Watch and Inner City Press, this three
minute statement concerns the proposal by Bank
of Montral Harris to acquire BNP Paribas' Bank
of the West. [Ad libbed about the need for more
hearings on mid-sized mergers, and for Fed and
OCC merger process review as FDIC has;
named-checked Michael Barr and his duties.]
On
the Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending.
Fair Finance Watch conducted an analysis of the
2021 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data of BMO
Harris Bank and finds the disparities
troubling. In 2021 nationwide, BMO Harris
Bank made only 289 mortgages to African
Americans, versus 10,709 to whites. BMO Harris
Bank's denial rate disparty was even more
troubling: 5,889 denials to whites, half of its
number of loans to whites. For African
Americans, 647 denials, roughly three times it
number of loans of to African Americans. A five
to one disparity?
These
disparities should not just result in a Fed
footnote that the data cited by Fair Finance
Watch is accurate but HMDA data is not
probative. The recently confirmed Governors,
particularly yesterday's confirmee Michael Barr,
should go on the record on this before the Board
rules.
As
you will hear from other witnesses...
there are branch closing issues that should be
addressed.
There
is another issue which Inner City Press hereby
timely raises to the Federal Reserve Board: the
questionable and shifting position of BNP
Paribas on Russia and its war on Ukraine. This
year BNP told its employees to watch out from
criticizing Russia's invasion, even on social
media. See, e.g., this:
"Watch what you say about Russian invasion, BNP
Paribas warns bankers - Bank tells staff to
clarify that any social media posts represent
their own, personal views."
As
a managerial and corruption issue, BMO Harris
was exposed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kathleen
Sanberg, who ruled that BMO “intentionally
destroyed and failed to preserve” evidence of
emails and other communications between the
Petters company and its bank. She sanctioned BMO
by saying the trustee could tell the jury about
the destroyed evidence and also introduce
documents over the bank’s objection. See, Kelley
v. BMO Harris Bank N.A., 19-cv-01756, U.S.
District Court, District of Minnesota (St.
Paul). These issues must be
addressed; on the current record, the
application should not be approved.
Then,
the threadette:
Just
testified to the Fed and OCC about Bank of
Montreal - BNP Paribas merger, urging both
regulators to do better. Beyond lending
disparities, raised BMP's ham-handed gagging of
its employees about the war in Ukraine, and a
troubling BMO case 19-cv-01756
Corporate
circus: Over-the-top testimony in favor of
merger of Bank of Montreal & BNP Paribas'
Bank of the West is Reinsdorf of the NBA's
Chicago Bulls. Mortgage lending disparities,
shameful positions on Ukraine and destruction of
evidence ignored. Bull, indeed.
Collusion
circus: so many of those supporting the merger
begin identically, calling regulators Alison
Tho, Colette Fried, Ben Olson, Jason Almonte
& Donna Murphy "Commissioner" that it's
clear they were coordinated. The banks are
having / forcing borrowers to sing
July
11, 2022
To Community Reinvestment Act Challenge to United Community Bank - Progress, A Dodge
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, July 8 – Will the Community
Reinvestment Act actually be enforced against
banks with disparate lending records?
Fair
Finance Watch, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA, is raising the issue to regulators, on
June 22 to the Federal Reserve and FDIC on
United Community Bank
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS:
This is a request for a full copy of, and a
timely first comment on, the Applications of
United Community Banks, Inc., to merge with
Progress Financial Corporation, and subsidiary,
Progress Bank and Trust, both of Huntsville,
Alabama. As an initial matter, this is a
request that the FRS immediately send by email
to Inner City Press all non-exempt portions of
the applications / notices for which the
Applicants have requested confidential
treatment. Fair Finance Watch has been
tracking United Community Bank and finds it
lending patterns, including in the newly
released 2021 HMDA data not taken into account
in CRA exams, troubling.
In South Carolina in 2021, United Community
Banks made 1482 mortgage loans to whites with
310 denials. Meanwhile to African Americans in
the state it made only THIRTY NINE loans, while
denying fully sixteen applications. A referral
should be made to the DOJ for fair lending
violations. Nationwide, United
Community Banks is scarcely better. In 2021
overall it made 9252 mortgage loans to whites
with 1852 denials. Meanwhile to African
Americans nationwide it made only 362 loans,
while denying fully 131 applications. A referral
should be made to the DOJ for a pattern and
practice of fair lending
violations. Public evidentiary
hearings are needed, at least like the public
meeting the Fed has belatedly set on two
Canadian banks' acquisition proposals in the
US.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the Federal Reserve
to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners. This has
been killing the Community Reinvestment Act and
we timely request public hearings. The
comment period should be extended; evidentiary
hearings should be held; and on the current
record, the application should not be approved
On
June 23, the Fed wrote to the applicant's
lawyers: June 23, 2022 Lee Kiser Nelson
Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP 2 W.
Washington Street, Suite 400 Greenville,
South Carolina 29601
Lee.kiser@nelsonmullins.com Dear Mr. Kiser: This
refers to the application by United Community
Banks, Inc., Blairsville, Georgia, to
merge with Progress Financial Corporation,
and thereby acquire Progress Bank and Trust
(Bank), both of Huntsville, Alabama,
pursuant to section 3(a)(5) of the Bank Holding
Company Act. Enclosed is a copy of a
letter received from Matthew Lee, Esq.,
Executive Director Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch, commenting on the
application. A response to the comments
should be received by this Reserve Bank within
eight business days from the date of this
letter. In order to expedite processing of your
application, please send copies of your
response to the Reserve Bank, the Board of
Governors, the protestant, and to the
supervisory agencies that initially received
copies of the application.
And when United Community Banks responded,
calling it Project Artemis, they argued "Mr.
Matthew R. Lee of Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch submitted a comment in
opposition to the merger of United and Progress
on June 22, 2022. This letter provides
United’s response to the concerns raised by Mr.
Lee. The comment submitted by Mr. Lee
requests that the Application not be approved in
light of concerns related to the Bank’s
2021 mortgage lending record, and requests that
the comment period be extended and
evidentiary hearings be held regarding the
Application. I. Mortgage Lending
Record Mr. Lee cites 2021 Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act (“HMDA”) data, particularly
the volume of mortgage loans made by the
Bank to African-American borrowers.
Specifically, Mr. Lee asserts that the Bank
denied mortgage loan applications of
African-American borrowers more frequently
than those of white borrowers in South Carolina
and “nationwide.” United respectfully confirms
for the reader that the Bank has a
Southeastern—not nationwide—mortgage
lending footprint consisting of locations
in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina,
Florida, and Tennessee. 2 Mr. Lee’s
comment letter attempts to evaluate United’s
lending performance nationwide. Nationwide
aggregates can provide a distorted picture
of a bank’s lending practices and have limited
value because lenders’ geographic
footprints include differing proportions of
racial or ethnic minorities. Accordingly, we
understand that regulators do not rely on
aggregated nationwide data as a basis on which
to assess a bank’s far lending performance in
multiple geographies. United
appreciates the opportunity to respond to the
comments made on the Application and
believes that all substantive issues raised by
Mr. Lee have been addressed." Well, no.
July
4, 2022
Community Reinvestment Act Challenge to United Community Bank - Progress, Test Case
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, June 24 – Will the Community
Reinvestment Act actually be enforced against
banks with disparate lending records?
Fair
Finance Watch, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA, is raising the issue to regulators, on
June 22 to the Federal Reserve and FDIC on
United Community Bank
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS:
This is a request for a full copy of, and a
timely first comment on, the Applications of
United Community Banks, Inc., to merge with
Progress Financial Corporation, and subsidiary,
Progress Bank and Trust, both of Huntsville,
Alabama. As an initial matter, this is a
request that the FRS immediately send by email
to Inner City Press all non-exempt portions of
the applications / notices for which the
Applicants have requested confidential
treatment. Fair Finance Watch has been
tracking United Community Bank and finds it
lending patterns, including in the newly
released 2021 HMDA data not taken into account
in CRA exams, troubling.
In South Carolina in 2021, United Community
Banks made 1482 mortgage loans to whites with
310 denials. Meanwhile to African Americans in
the state it made only THIRTY NINE loans, while
denying fully sixteen applications. A referral
should be made to the DOJ for fair lending
violations. Nationwide, United
Community Banks is scarcely better. In 2021
overall it made 9252 mortgage loans to whites
with 1852 denials. Meanwhile to African
Americans nationwide it made only 362 loans,
while denying fully 131 applications. A referral
should be made to the DOJ for a pattern and
practice of fair lending
violations. Public evidentiary
hearings are needed, at least like the public
meeting the Fed has belatedly set on two
Canadian banks' acquisition proposals in the
US.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the Federal Reserve
to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners. This has
been killing the Community Reinvestment Act and
we timely request public hearings. The
comment period should be extended; evidentiary
hearings should be held; and on the current
record, the application should not be approved
On
June 23, the Fed wrote to the applicant's
lawyers: June 23, 2022 Lee Kiser Nelson
Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP 2 W.
Washington Street, Suite 400 Greenville,
South Carolina 29601
Lee.kiser@nelsonmullins.com Dear Mr. Kiser: This
refers to the application by United Community
Banks, Inc., Blairsville, Georgia, to
merge with Progress Financial Corporation,
and thereby acquire Progress Bank and Trust
(Bank), both of Huntsville, Alabama,
pursuant to section 3(a)(5) of the Bank Holding
Company Act. Enclosed is a copy of a
letter received from Matthew Lee, Esq.,
Executive Director Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch, commenting on the
application. A response to the comments
should be received by this Reserve Bank within
eight business days from the date of this
letter. In order to expedite processing of your
application, please send copies of your
response to the Reserve Bank, the Board of
Governors, the protestant, and to the
supervisory agencies that initially received
copies of the application.
June
27, 2022
Community
Reinvestment
Act Challenge
to United
Community Bank
- Progress,
Test Case
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, June 24 – Will the Community
Reinvestment Act actually be enforced against
banks with disparate lending records?
Fair
Finance Watch, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA, is raising the issue to regulators, on
June 22 to the Federal Reserve and FDIC on
United Community Bank
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS:
This is a request for a full copy of, and a
timely first comment on, the Applications of
United Community Banks, Inc., to merge with
Progress Financial Corporation, and subsidiary,
Progress Bank and Trust, both of Huntsville,
Alabama. As an initial matter, this is a
request that the FRS immediately send by email
to Inner City Press all non-exempt portions of
the applications / notices for which the
Applicants have requested confidential
treatment. Fair Finance Watch has been
tracking United Community Bank and finds it
lending patterns, including in the newly
released 2021 HMDA data not taken into account
in CRA exams, troubling.
In South Carolina in 2021, United Community
Banks made 1482 mortgage loans to whites with
310 denials. Meanwhile to African Americans in
the state it made only THIRTY NINE loans, while
denying fully sixteen applications. A referral
should be made to the DOJ for fair lending
violations. Nationwide, United
Community Banks is scarcely better. In 2021
overall it made 9252 mortgage loans to whites
with 1852 denials. Meanwhile to African
Americans nationwide it made only 362 loans,
while denying fully 131 applications. A referral
should be made to the DOJ for a pattern and
practice of fair lending
violations. Public evidentiary
hearings are needed, at least like the public
meeting the Fed has belatedly set on two
Canadian banks' acquisition proposals in the
US.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the Federal Reserve
to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners. This has
been killing the Community Reinvestment Act and
we timely request public hearings. The
comment period should be extended; evidentiary
hearings should be held; and on the current
record, the application should not be approved
On
June 23, the Fed wrote to the applicant's
lawyers: June 23, 2022 Lee Kiser Nelson
Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP 2 W.
Washington Street, Suite 400 Greenville,
South Carolina 29601
Lee.kiser@nelsonmullins.com Dear Mr. Kiser: This
refers to the application by United Community
Banks, Inc., Blairsville, Georgia, to
merge with Progress Financial Corporation,
and thereby acquire Progress Bank and Trust
(Bank), both of Huntsville, Alabama,
pursuant to section 3(a)(5) of the Bank Holding
Company Act. Enclosed is a copy of a
letter received from Matthew Lee, Esq.,
Executive Director Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch, commenting on the
application. A response to the comments
should be received by this Reserve Bank within
eight business days from the date of this
letter. In order to expedite processing of your
application, please send copies of your
response to the Reserve Bank, the Board of
Governors, the protestant, and to the
supervisory agencies that initially received
copies of the application.
June
20, 2022
Bank of America Is Sued for Not Fulfilling CRA Pledge in Hawai'i As Fed Rubberstamps Mergers
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, April 11 – With the
mega-merger horse largely out of the barn in the
US, Citibank too big to question for its
business in Russia even as JPMorgan Chase admits
gambling a billion dollars they while closing
branches in NYC, the smallest of regulators had
started a review. But where is the
Community Reinvestment Act in mergers? And where
is the follow up on and enforcement of CRA
commitments?
Bank of America has been sued for not following
through: "Nā Po‘e Kōkua, a Hawaii nonprofit
corporation, on behalf of native Hawaiians filed
a Complaint for Damages, Injunctive, and
Equitable Relief, Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), filed pursuant
to 18 U.S.C.§1962(c), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1964 (a)(c),
and 18 U.S.C.§§1341,1343; The Ku Klux Klan Act,
42 U.S.C. § 1983; and for the Establishment of a
Hawaii Constructive Trust RE: $150 Million
FHA-247 Loan Commitment against Bank of America
Corporation for decades of discriminatory
practices and its open and notorious denial of a
$150 Million FHA-247 originated loan commitment
made to federal banking regulators in 1994 for
the benefit of native Hawaiians, which was due
to be completed in 1998, and remains
unfulfilled.
"Sandra
Perez, former Bank of America, N.A. Community
Investment Officer, Affidavit4. On May 4, 2022,
Nā Po‘e Kōkua obtained an Affidavit from Sandra
Perez, former Vice President, Community
Investment Officer at Bank of America, N.A. ,
who worked at BANA during the years 1994-2000.
5. Ms. Perez was part of the dedicated executive
team assigned to handle 1 Bank of America, N.A.
(“BANA”) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary
of Bank of America Corporation (“BAC”), which
through its predecessor entity, BankAmerica
Corporation, operated retail banks in Hawaii
from 1992–1997, and is therefore implicated in
the loan commitment allegations although not
specifically named as a party defendant hereto.
3 Case 1:22-cv-00238 Document 1 Filed 05/31/22
Page 3 of 106 PageID #: 3 BANA’s response to Nā
Po‘e Kōkua’s inquiry in 1997 about the status of
the unfulfilled $150 Million FHA-247 mortgage
loan commitment. [Exhibit 1, ¶ 18] 6. As stated
in the Perez Affidavit: “By 1997, BANA decided
to leave its retail presence in Hawaii. However,
BANA had not fulfilled the Commitment made to
the Federal Regulators.” [Exhibit 1, ¶ 15] 7.
Ms. Perez reviewed the 2020 federal case filings
in Bank of America, et al., v. County of Maui,
Case No.: 1:20-cv-00310-JMS-WRP2020 (DHI), and
stated that “BANA’s argument was laced with the
truth but polluted with lies”, noting its
“calculated use of terminology” in replacing
Commitment with its words of choice being “goal,
initiative, pledge, or aspiration” used to
describe its $150 million dollar FHA-247
mortgage loan commitment made to native
Hawaiians. Perez concluded that BANA’s lawsuit
against Maui County “at its core presents a
false narrative.” [Exhibit 1, ¶¶ 2, 3] 8. “The
genesis of the $150 Million Commitment was not
because BANA was feeling philanthropic, it was
because BANA was being accused of discrimination
and violations of federal law”, Perez said in
her Affidavit." We'll have more on this.
June
13, 2022
Former FDIC Boss and Bank Shill McWilliams Cashes Out to Cravath in DC, Bad Banks Line Up
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, June 8 – How much of a swamp
is Washington DC, when it comes to banks
dominating their putative regulators? Newest
exhibit is this: "Jelena McWilliams, the former
chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is
joining Cravath, Swaine & Moore as a
partner, anchoring the firm’s new Washington,
D.C., office, the law firm announced Monday.
Also joining the D.C. office as partners are two
former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
staffers: Elad Roisman, a former commissioner
and acting chairman of the regulator, and
Jennifer Leete, a former associate director in
the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, the law firm
said. The move marks McWilliams’ return to the
private sector after spending 3½ years at the
helm of the FDIC. A holdover from the Trump
administration, McWilliams stepped down from the
regulator in February following a dust-up with
two FDIC board members."
So
who now will Cravath represent, before the
regulatory agencies? We'll have more on this.
New
York and Massachusetts are portrayed as diverse
and progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example today's proposed merger between
Brookline Bank in Massachusetts and PCSB Bank in
New York, with branches in Mount Vernon,
Eastchester and elsewhere.
Bronx-based
Inner City Press has long exposed redlining.
Along with Fair Finance Watch it finds that in
2020, the most recent year for which Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data is publicly
available, PCSB Bank in New York State made 79
loans to whites - and only seven to African
America. The dollar volume difference is even
worse, a twenty to one disparity.
So
what is the lending record in Massachusetts of
Brookline Bank, the proposed acquirer of PCSB?
Well,
Brookline Bank in 2020 made 456 loans to whites
and only FOUR to African Americans. Meanwhile it
denied fully 11 applications from African
Americans, and only 93 from whites.
June
6, 2022
Banks continue
to insist that
discrimination
cases against
them are
irrelevant
under the CRA.
Will the
Administration
and Federal
Reserve
continue to
let them get
away with
this? A litmus
test is
Veritex
Community Bank
in Texas. Fair
Finance Watch
along with
lending
disparities,
raised a
discrimination
case. But
Veritex's
Senior EVP
Angela Harper,
as forwarded
(drafted?) by
Skadden Arps,
insisted to
the FDIC it's
irrelevant.
Will that be
accepted?
May 30, 2022
Brookline Bank Bid To Bring Its Disparities To NY By Buying PCSB Bank Is a Litmus Test
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, May 25 – New York and
Massachusetts are portrayed as diverse and
progressive places. But their banks, not so
much.
Consider
for example today's proposed merger between
Brookline Bank in Massachusetts and PCSB Bank in
New York, with branches in Mount Vernon,
Eastchester and elsewhere.
Bronx-based
Inner City Press has long exposed redlining.
Along with Fair Finance Watch it finds that in
2020, the most recent year for which Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data is publicly
available, PCSB Bank in New York State made 79
loans to whites - and only seven to African
America. The dollar volume difference is even
worse, a twenty to one disparity.
So
what is the lending record in Massachusetts of
Brookline Bank, the proposed acquirer of PCSB?
Well,
Brookline Bank in 2020 made 456 loans to whites
and only FOUR to African Americans. Meanwhile it
denied fully 11 applications from African
Americans, and only 93 from whites.
May
23, 2022
As Toronto Dominion Bid To Buy First Horizon Disparities Raised by Press now Aug 18 Meeting
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
/ SOUTH BRONX, May 21 – Seemingly oblivious to
US regulators stated desire to tighten up their
merger review rules, specifically on fair
lending, Toronto Dominion on February 28
announced a $13.4 billion proposal to buy First
Horizon. It will be opposed.
Fair
Finance Watch has been concerned by TD Bank's
lending disparities for some time. Nationwide in
2020, TD Bank denied almost as many applications
from African Americans (833) as it made in
mortgage loans to African Americans (853). It
was far more generous with white borrowers:
23,469 loans made, with only 9009 denials.
Fair
Finance Watch immediately online noted that in
New York State in 2020, TD Bank was even worse.
It denied more mortgage applications from
African Americans (255) that it made loans to
African Americans in NYC (198). Again, TD Bank
was far more generous with white borrowers in
NYS: 3,558 loans made, with only 1714
denials. Analysis will be
conducted of the target, First Horizon.
Fair
Finance Watch said: but just as the Federal
Reserve begrudgingly is holding a public hearing
on US Bancorp - MUFG / Union Bank, on March 8,
there is even more reason to hold multiple
hearings on a large and disparate Canadian bank
buying Horizon.
Now:
"The Federal Reserve Board (Board) and the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
today announced a joint public meeting on the
proposal by The Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, to acquire First Horizon
Corporation, Memphis, Tennessee. The purpose of
the public meeting is to collect information
from a wide range of stakeholders as the
agencies evaluate the proposed applications. By
law, the agencies are required to evaluate: the
convenience and needs of the communities to be
served by the combined organization; the insured
depository institutions’ performance under the
Community Reinvestment Act; competition in the
relevant markets; the effects of the proposal on
the stability of the U.S. banking or financial
system; the financial and managerial resources
and future prospects of the companies and banks
involved in the proposal; and the effectiveness
of the companies and banks in combatting money
laundering activities. The public meeting will
be held virtually on August 18, 2022, at 9:00
a.m. EDT. Members of the public seeking to
present oral comments must register by 12:00
p.m. EDT on July 28, 2022 through the online
registration web page, which will be updated
with registration details by June 8, 2022.
Further information and requirements to present,
as well as registration information to view the
public meeting, are available in the attachment
from the agencies. Also today, to give
interested parties additional time to comment,
the agencies announced that they are extending
the public comment period for the applications
to the OCC and Board that are associated with
the proposal. Comments on the applications will
now be accepted through August 23, 2022."
May
16, 2022
FDIC On Notice Of Need Crackdown On Bank Mergers As OCC Talks But No RFI Fed Silent
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, May 14 – With the
mega-merger horse largely out of the barn in the
US, Citibank too big to question for its
business in Russia even as JPMorgan Chase admits
gambling a billion dollars they while closing
branches in NYC, the smallest of regulators had
started a review. But where is the
Community Reinvestment Act in mergers?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with
jurisdiction mostly over small banks not members
of the Federal Reserve System with the exception
of the ironically named Truist, has a public
comment period on mergers.
With the FDIC's request for information comment
period set until May 31, here,
Fair Finance Watch on April 11 submitted a first
comment, now online here
and below.
May
9, 2022
The Peoples Bank Dismissive on Lending Disparities & to Avenatti Inner City Press Raises
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, May 7 – Based in
Biloxi, Mississippi The Peoples Bank made loans
to now convicted Michael Avenatti, while
disproportionately NOT lending to African
Americans in their community. Fair Finance
Watch, with Inner City Press on the FOIA,
challenged its application to the FDIC to
acquire trust assets of Trustmark National Bank
under the Community Reinvestment Act. See
below.
Now The Peoples Bank's CEO, who made the loans
to Avenatti, has responded. On fair lending, the
responsive is dismissive to Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act. And on the Avenatti loans, it
says the issue is not worthy of a response.
Really? Response, which we were unable to copy
and paste from, on Patreon here.
From
the protest: The applicant The Peoples
Bank in 2020 in Mississippi based on its
disparate marketing made 108 mortgage loans to
whites -- while making only TEN loans to African
Americans. This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and others lenders, in
Mississippi, in particularly in The Peoples
Bank's CRA assessment areas - this is
outrageous.
Fair
Finance Watch is also timely contesting whether,
given its documented record of negligence, The
Peoples Bank is qualified to take on more trust
business. The Peoples Bank made three dubious
loans to now incarcerated Michael Avenatti --
Inner City Press has covered the cases -- as set
for in
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/press-release/file/1147466/download
This criminal case - and how it reflects on The
Peoples Bank's due diligence and managerial
recources - concerns at least three loans:
one for $850,500, one for $2,750,000, and one
for $500,000. "The Peoples Bank President
Chevis Swetman has not commented on the charges
against Avenatti, saying only that he is still
going through the criminal complaint." How do it
reflect on The Peoples
Bank?
May
2, 2022
First Internet Bank Hit By 1st CRA Protest of 2022 Requested Withdrawal now Rubberstamped
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, April 30 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question - although
it it being answered in the negative,
rubber-stamp approval by rubber-stamp approval.
As the first CRA challenge of 2022, Fair Finance
Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA filed
comments with the Federal Reserve against First
Internet Bank, below.
On January 19, First Internet Bank wrote to say
that anything for which it requested
confidential treatment MUST be withheld. For
First Internet Bank, Larry Tomlin of
SmithAmundsen of Indianapolis tells Inner City
Press and the regulators and DOJ that Fair
Finance Watch should withdraw its comments.
Really? Inner City Press immediately filed a new
and expanded FOIA request.
On
February 22, First Internet - the bank that said
Inner City Press' comment against it should be
withdrawn - had to respond to this question: "5.
According to First Internet Bank of Indiana's
CRA Performance Evaluation, dated April 6, 2021,
the bank received ratings of "Needs to Improve"
and "Substantial Noncompliance" in each year
(2018, 2019, and 2020) on Tests 6 ("Small
Business Lending to Borrowers with Revenues of
$1 million or less") and 9 ("Community
Development Lending"). Provide information on
how the bank has improved performance on these
two metrics since 2020. Additionally, provide
information on how the bank plans to improve
these metrics following the merger with First
Century Bank."
Its
response? "The Bank continues to focus on and
improve its CRA performance across the board."
No, disparate.
April
25, 2022
Now filed: "a
timely comment
on, the
Applications
The Peoples
Bank, Biloxi,
MS to acquire
business from
Trustmark in a
proposal
subject to the
CRA which
appears on the
FDIC website
under
"Applications
In Process
Subject to the
CRA Report"
with an
initial
comment period
running
through May 8.
This comment
is
timely.
The applicant
The Peoples
Bank in 2020
in Mississippi
based on its
disparate
marketing made
108 mortgage
loans to
whites --
while making
only TEN loans
to African
Americans.
This is far
out of keeping
with the
demographics,
and others
lenders, in
Mississippi,
in
particularly
in The Peoples
Bank's CRA
assessment
areas - this
is
outrageous.
Fair
Finance Watch
is also timely
contesting
whether, given
its documented
record of
negligence,
The Peoples
Bank is
qualified to
take on more
trust
business. The
Peoples Bank
made three
dubious loans
to now
incarcerated
Michael
Avenatti --
Inner City
Press has
covered the
cases -- as
set for here
This criminal
case - and how
it reflects on
The Peoples
Bank's due
diligence and
managerial
recources -
concerns at
least three
loans:
one for
$850,500, one
for
$2,750,000,
and one for
$500,000.
"The Peoples
Bank President
Chevis Swetman
has not
commented on
the charges
against
Avenatti,
saying only
that he is
still going
through the
criminal
complaint."
How do it
reflect on The
Peoples Bank?
Inner City Press is requesting an extension of the public comment period, public / virtual evidentiary hearings and that, on the current record, the applications not be approved FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply concerned about the rush by the FDIC's to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners, money launderers and predatory lenders. This has been killing the Community Reinvestment Act and we timely request public hearings. The comment period should be extended; evidentiary hearings should be held; and on the current record, the application should not be approved."
April 18, 2022
FDIC Is Told Of Need Crackdown On US Bank Mergers by Fair Finance Watch Now Fed, OCC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, April 11 – With the
mega-merger horse largely out of the barn in the
US, Citibank too big to question for its
business in Russia even as JPMorgan Chase admits
gambling a billion dollars they while closing
branches in NYC, the smallest of regulators had
started a review. But where is the
Community Reinvestment Act in mergers?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with
jurisdiction mostly over small banks not members
of the Federal Reserve System with the exception
of the ironically named Truist, has a public
comment period on mergers.
With the FDIC's request for information comment
period set until May 31, here,
Fair Finance Watch on April 11 submitted a first
comment:
April
11, 2022
Via Email
FDIC Attn: James P. Sheesley, Assistant
Executive Secretary Comments—RIN 3064–ZA31,
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20429 Re:
Comments to the FDIC on improving merger reviews
(RIN 3064–ZA31)
Dear
Secretary
Sheesley: On
behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch,
this is a first timely comment on the FDIC's
Request for Information about merger
review.
All
three Federal bank regulatory agencies need to
improve their merger review to more fulsomely
include review of performance under the
Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending
laws, as well as other negative impacts of
recent mergers, from branch closings to raised
prices to, yes, layoffs. Some responses:
Question 1. Does the existing regulatory
framework properly consider all aspects of the
Bank Merger Act as currently codified in Section
18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act?
No - the FDIC (and Federal Reserve and OCC) does
not sufficient consider "the probable effect of
the transaction in meeting the convenience and
needs of the community to be served." When the
effect of a transaction includes further
denuding lower income communities of branches,
that is NOT meeting the convenience or needs of
these communities.
Question
2. What, if any, additional requirements or
criteria should be included in the existing
regulatory framework to address the financial
stability risk factor... Q
3.
The regulators are far too narrow. One recent
example: Fair Finance Watch raised to the FRB
and OCC that merger partner MUFG still does
business in Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.
This is clearly risky (as well as immoral) and
yet the Fed and OCC have not even asked MUFG or
its proposed partner about it.
Question
4. To what extent should the convenience and
needs factor be considered...
COMMENT:
It would be absurd to simply defer to CRA
ratings, when the regulators rate over 95 of
banks Satisfactory or Outstanding. Also,
employees are clearly "stakeholders" as the
question puts it - yet the Federal Reserve had a
footnote implying that no level of job loss is
relevant to it in reviewing a merger. The CFPB
should be consulted, as should legal data bases
of discrimination cases. It must be made easier
for the impacted public to comment, and to get
copies of the regulators questions to the banks,
and the banks answers.
Question
5. In addition to the HHI...
The HHI understates the anticompetitive effects
of recent mergers, with small banks being
considered competitors to the Top Ten. More
public comments, and more public hearings, are
needed.
Question
6. How and to what extent should the following
factors be considered in determining whether a
particular merger transaction creates a monopoly
or is otherwise anticompetitive? Please address
the following factors....
The
examples the FDIC gives here imply that it
thinks that current antitrust review is too
strenuous - but the opposite is the truth.
Unless the Antitrust Memo of the administration
is meaningless, antitrust review must become
more robust.
Question
7. Does the existing regulatory framework create
an implicit presumption of approval? If so, what
actions should the FDIC take to address this
implicit presumption?
The
FDIC rubber stamps nearly all mergers. The
bottom line is, some transactions should be
denied. For example, when Investors Bank with
its weak fair lending record got a conditional
approval from the FDIC, it should have been a
denial. The Federal Reserve absurdly allows
Reserve Banks, which have no power to deny, to
approve applications even by banks with rare
Needs to Improve CRA ratings (Berkshire
Bank).
Question
8. Does the existing regulatory framework
require an appropriate burden of proof from the
merger applicant that the criteria of the Bank
Merger Act have been met? If not, what
modifications to the framework would be
appropriate with respect to the burden of
proof?
COMMENT:
The applicants should have to carry their burden
and THEN a public comment period open, with
sur-reply to the banks' response.
Question
9. The Bank Merger Act provides an exception to
its requirements...
These
emergency powers have been abused, routinely on
work-outs, and especially for example on the Fed
allowing Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley (now a
monopolist) into banking without any public
comment period.
Question
10. To what extent would responses to Questions
1–9 differ for the consideration of merger
transactions involving a small insured
depository institution?
These banks are key to some communities. There should be more review, and more public participation. There should be (automatic) public hearings. You will be hearing more from Fair Finance Watch, and other organizations including those of which it is a (proud) member [i.e., NCRC] Matthew R. Lee, Esq., Executive Director Fair Finance Watch / Inner City Press South Bronx, NY 10458 USA
Inner
City Press notes that former Federal Reserve
government has chimed in for / on Brookings
- mentioning Truist and Morgan Stanley, but not
even once the CRA. Fair Finance Watch says by
contrast, CRA must be at the center, it is
communities loses to the mergers.
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown has written to the
Fed's Jay Powell and to national bank overseer
Michael Hsu, the Comptroller of the Currency who
himself came from the Fed, to ask them to get
involved.
They
have much more to answer for.
The FDIC in the face of a Community Reinvestment
Act challenge to Investors Bank by Fair Finance
Watch imposed conditions on the bank.
But the Fed, with Investors being gobbled up by
Citizens Bank, refused to review Investors
compliance with even those tame conditions.
Inner City Press' FOIA requests languish for
months at the Fed.
The
OCC, despite the issue being raised to Hsu, has
yet to implement even back transparency measures
in its merger reviews, such as sending copies of
its questions, and the banks' answers, to public
commenters.
So
things are worse, it seems, than Senator Brown
and his colleagues know.
April
11, 2022
Call To Crackdown On US Bank Mergers Amid Fed Contempt for CRA Condition, Opaque OCC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN NY
Mag
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, April 8 – With the
mega-merger horse largely out of the barn in the
US, Citibank too big to question for its
business in Russia even as JPMorgan Chase admits
gambling a billion dollars there while closing
branches in New York. the smallest of regulators
had started a review.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with
jurisdiction mostly over small banks not members
of the Federal Reserve System with the exception
of the ironically named Truist, has a public
comment period on mergers.
Now Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown has written to
the Fed's Jay Powell and to national bank
overseer Michael Hsu, the Comptroller of the
Currency who himself came from the Fed, to ask
them to get involved.
They
have much more to answer for.
The FDIC in the face of a Community Reinvestment
Act challenge to Investors Bank by Fair Finance
Watch imposed conditions on the bank.
But the Fed, with Investors being gobbled up by
Citizens Bank, refused to review Investors
compliance with even those tame conditions.
Inner City Press' FOIA requests languish for
months at the Fed.
The
OCC, despite the issue being raised to Hsu, has
yet to implement even back transparency measures
in its merger reviews, such as sending copies of
its questions, and the banks' answers, to public
commenters.
So
things are worse, it seems, than Senator Brown
and his colleagues know.
April
4, 2022
Fed and Citizens Bank Thumbed Noses At CRA On Investors Bank, Request for Reconsideration
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, March 27 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced under the current Administration and
its regulators is an open question still -
though the answer is more and more No. The
proposed acquisition of Investors Bank by
Citizens Bank was a litmus test, one that both
Citizens and the Fed have failed.
Investors Bank is one of the most disparate
banks in New York State, where in 2020 it made
only three mortgage loans to African Americans,
while denying fully seven applications from
African Americans. By contrast, it made 164
loans to whites while denying only 76
applications from whites.
Inner City Press raised the 2019 disparities to
the FDIC - and on July 30 was contacted by the
FDIC that it imposed rare conditions on
Investors. Letter here.
This was raised on Citizens' applications: "be
aware that based on Fair Finance Watch's
comments to the FDIC about Investors, it
recently imposed a condition on Investors.
Investors has yet to meaningfully implement the
required improvements; this application should
not be approved, much less at this
time. The FDIC wrote:
"Matthew
Lee, Esquire Executive Director Inner City
Press/Fair Finance Watch Dear Mr. Lee: We
are writing to inform you that the FDIC approved
Investors Bank’s application to acquire eight
branches from Berkshire Bank. As part of the
application review process, we investigated the
issues you raised in your e-mail dated January
19, 2019... The Bank will develop and Board
approve an Action Plan within 60 days of
the effective date of this Order to ensure
that its home mortgage lending adequately
addresses the credit needs of all segments of
its market areas. The Action Plan should
include, at a minimum, the following: a. The
Bank will regularly monitor application and
origination activity of home mortgage
loans in majority-minority census tracts and
from Blacks throughout the Bank’s
assessment areas. b. The Bank will ensure
marketing and outreach efforts are inclusive of
all communities, including minority
communities within all the Bank’s assessment
areas. The marketing and outreach efforts
should focus on home mortgage product
awareness. Marketing activities should use
materials and media that reflect the racial and
ethnic composition of the targeted
communities. The Bank should also have
specific advertising and outreach goals,
and the results of these efforts should be
documented, monitored, and evaluated for
effectiveness. 5. Upon Board approval of
this Order, the Bank will provide a copy of the
signed Order to the FDIC's New York
Regional Office within 30 days. 6. Upon
Board approval of such Action Plan, the Bank
will provide a copy of the Plan to the
FDIC’s New York Regional Office. 7. The Bank
will provide the FDIC’s New York Regional Office
with quarterly updates detailing its
progress in meeting the goals listed in the
Action Plan."
But in response to this, Citizens only said
dismissively that the record of the acquiree
doesn't matter. So they could buy OneCoin? It is
major law firm making this argument. It is an
embarrassment. And the Federal Reserve's
question letter of October 22 does not address
it, and Citizens' law firm late provided its
"answer" and two responses to the Fed.
Nevertheless
on March 22 the Federal Reserve Board, with
Sarah Bloom Raskin blocked from joining and two
others yet to arrived, rubber stamped Citizens'
application. It stated that "The commenter also
alleged that, as a result of disparate
marketing, Investors Bank made
disproportionately fewer home loans in the
states of New Jersey and New York to African
American individuals as compared to white
individuals based on 2020 HMDA data. In
addition, the commenter noted that the FDIC had
imposed a condition in connection with a
previous branch acquisition that Investors Bank
develop an action plan to ensure that its home
mortgage lending adequately addresses the credit
needs of all segments of its market areas. The
commenter asserted that Investors Bank has yet
to meaningfully implement the required
improvements and that the proposal should not be
approved at this time."
The
Fed gave its March 22 approval despite Investors
having done very little or nothing. This as Fair
Finance Watch has raised another moribund
condition, by Oakwood Bank in Dallas, to
the FDIC. What do these conditions mean? Inner
City Press filed a timely request for
reconsideration: "This is a timely request for
reconsideration of the Board's approval of the
Applications by Citizens Financial Group's
application to acquire Investors Bancorp noting
but not addressing Investor's weakness which
gave rise to FDIC condition.
This is a new low for the FRB. This was a
condition imposed by one of the two other
Federal bank regulators. If the Board won't even
inquire into and take a written position on a
merger partner's performance under a written
condition imposed by another regulators, these
conditions are meaningless.
Fair Finance Watch timely put into record before
the Board: The FDIC wrote: "Matthew Lee,
Esquire Executive Director Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch Dear Mr. Lee: We are writing
to inform you that the FDIC approved Investors
Bank’s application to acquire eight branches
from Berkshire Bank. As part of the application
review process, we investigated the issues you
raised in your e-mail dated January 19,
2019... The Bank will develop and Board
approve an Action Plan within 60 days of
the effective date of this Order to ensure
that its home mortgage lending adequately
addresses the credit needs of all segments of
its market areas. The Action Plan should
include, at a minimum, the following: a. The
Bank will regularly monitor application and
origination activity of home mortgage
loans in majority-minority census tracts and
from Blacks throughout the Bank’s
assessment areas. b. The Bank will ensure
marketing and outreach efforts are inclusive of
all communities, including minority
communities within all the Bank’s assessment
areas. The marketing and outreach efforts
should focus on home mortgage product
awareness. Marketing activities should use
materials and media that reflect the racial and
ethnic composition of the targeted
communities. The Bank should also have
specific advertising and outreach goals,
and the results of these efforts should be
documented, monitored, and evaluated for
effectiveness. 5. Upon Board approval of
this Order, the Bank will provide a copy of the
signed Order to the FDIC's New York
Regional Office within 30 days. 6. Upon
Board approval of such Action Plan, the Bank
will provide a copy of the Plan to the
FDIC’s New York Regional Office. 7. The Bank
will provide the FDIC’s New York Regional Office
with quarterly updates detailing its
progress in meeting the goals listed in the
Action Plan." The
Board in its approval merely recited this,
without addressing it: "the commenter noted that
the FDIC had imposed a condition in connection
with a previous branch acquisition that
Investors Bank develop an action plan to ensure
that its home mortgage lending adequately
addresses the credit needs of all segments of
its market areas. The commenter asserted that
Investors Bank has yet to meaningfully implement
the required improvements and that the proposal
should not be approved at this
time." Has Investors
meaningfully implemented these requirements? The
Fed with all its resources does not address it.
The Order makes a mockery of the regulators' way
to approve an otherwise unapprovable merger like
Investors. The Order should be
reconsidered, by each current government and
those incoming, before this proposal is
consummated - the Order should be stayed for
that purpose." Watch this site.
Citizens
in 2020 in New York State based on its disparate
marketing made 7183 mortgage loans to whites,
with 3116 denials to whites -- while making only
323 loans to African Americans, with more than
that in denials: 336.
March
28, 2022
Predatory Lending Lawsuit Against Bank of America Removed From The Bronx to SDNY
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, March 25 – Juan Sanchez
and George Royer sued Bank of America, Bayview
Loan Servicing and MERS for predatory mortgage
practices. The lawsuit was filed in state court
in The Bronx but Bank of America removed it to
Federal
court.
On March 25, U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge LewJohn G.
Koeltl held a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
Plaintiffs
counsel said the case should be in The Bronx,
before a Bronx jury. Judge Koeltl said he
understood the impulse, but that if there is
diversity, the case would stay Federal.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, March 23 – A CRA protest to
Amalgamated Bank, which shuttered its South
Bronx branch on Burnside Avenue with no
mitigation, has been followed the Amalgamated
proposal to acquire a Chicago-based bank falling
apart. Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press,
which filed the CRA protest, say Good Riddance.
Now,
a threat of litigation, in an SEC 8K: "Reference
is made to the Current Report on Form 8-K of
Amalgamated Financial Corp. (the "Company")
filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") on September 22,
2021, reporting that the Company had entered
into a definitive agreement to acquire
Amalgamated Investments Company ("AIC"), the
holding company for Amalgamated Bank of Chicago
(the "Merger Agreement"). On February 25, 2022,
the Company issued a press release (furnished as
Exhibit 99.1 to the Company's Current Report on
Form 8-K furnished under Item 7.01 thereof)
stating, among other things, that the Company
had withdrawn its application for regulatory
approval to acquire AIC due to an inability to
obtain such approval and, as a result, the
Company was is no longer proceeding with the
transaction. On March 15, 2022, the
Company received a letter from AIC in which AIC
declared the Merger Agreement terminated.
Although the Company believes that there are no
termination penalties in connection with the
termination of the Merger Agreement, the Company
has been advised by AIC's counsel that AIC may
seek compensatory damages for an alleged breach
of the Merger Agreement by the Company. The
Company denies that it breached the Merger
Agreement and would intend to vigorously defend
any such claims by AIC." No honor among thieves.
The
protest: October 23, 2021 Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation Attn: Frank Hughes,
Regional Director and Robert P. Cordeiro, Scott
D. Strockoz 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200 New
York, NY 10118-0110 Re: Timely First Comment on
Application by Amalgamated Bank (NY) to buy
Amalgamated Bank in Chicago
Dear
Regional Director Hughes and others at the
FDIC: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
FDIC's public comment period on the Applications
by Amalgamated Bank (NY) to buy Amalgamated Bank
in Chicago.
As the FDIC surely knows, Amalgamated Bank New
York outrageously closed branches including at
94 Burnside Avenue in the South Bronx when its
customers needed it most.
This caused Fair Finance Watch to look more
closely. And Amalgamated is not what it pretend
to be. In 2020 in New York Amalgamated made only
41 home loans to African Americans, while
denying more (67) - compared to its 962 loans to
whites, with FEWER denials to whites
(577). That the Burnside
Avenue closing has a negative impact is
recognized even by state regulators: 'October 7,
2020 (TR-CRB) AMALGAMATED BANK 275 Seventh
Avenue (Fourteenth Floor, New York, NY
10001 In accordance with Section 28-c of
the Banking Law, the Superintendent of Financial
Services has found that the closing of branch
office at 94 East Burnside Avenue, Borough of
Bronx, City of New York 10453, will result in a
significant reduction of financial services in
the community affected.' The comment period
should be extended; evidentiary hearings should
be held; and on the current record, the
application should not be approved."
March
21, 2022
As Redliner Community Bank NA Wants Elmira Inner City Press Protested Now Extends April 8
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Feb 12 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the now year-old Administration
and its regulators remains an open question.
On February 12 Fair Finance Watch with Inner
City Press on the FOIA filed comments with the
Office of the Comproller of the Currency against
Community Bank N.A.'s application to acquire
Elmira Savings Bank:
The applicant Community Bank National
Association in 2020 in New York State based on
its disparate marketing made 4329 mortgage loans
to whites, with 871 denials to whites -- while
making only TWENTY SEVEN loans to African
Americans, with five denials. This is far out of
keeping with the demographics, and others
lenders, in NYS - this is
outrageous. Beyond its lending
disparities, Community Bank N.A. is a branch
closer, see e.g., "Community Bank closing four
locations,"
https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/local/community-bank-closing-four-locations/,
listing CBNA's closure of branches in Hornell at
7279 Seneca Rd., Bath Plaza branch located at
201 Bath and Hammondsport Railroad, the
Canaseraga branch located at 37 Main St., and
the Wellsville branch at 4196 Bolivar
Road. There is no public benefit to
this proposal. FFW and
Inner City Press have been deeply concerned
about the rush by the OCC's penchant to
rubberstamp mergers by redliners, particularly
during the pandemic. We timely request public
hearings."
This
came after this exchange:
"Erik
Zwick: What was the driver of the decision to
move the closing of Elmira to 2Q?
Mark
Tryniski: I don't know if it's so much a
decision on our part, it's just on expectations
around where we see the trend of the regulatory
approval process going. So we decided to push it
off two months further out just based on the
progress and the dialogue with the regulators. I
mean, there's nothing of note or concern.
I think it's just right now with the
administration and the pending appointments of
some of the agency leadership and the - I'll
call it, the interest of all of the regulatory
agencies on every single transaction, even those
who have a, let's call it, tangential
involvement, it's a lot more [indiscernible]
slow everyone out there, that's just the trend
right now. So we just decided to push it out a
couple of months to be sure.
Erik
Zwick: Got it. That makes sense."
No, it only makes sense to insiders.
March
14, 2022
MUFG US Bank Hearing Has Branch Closing and Lending Disparities and MUFG in Russia
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT – Amid US Treasury Department and Federal
Reserve partial reactions to the war on Ukraine,
and near total inaction on fair lending and the
closure of branches in low income US
communities, the agencies scheduled a public
meeting on the US Bank - Mitsubishi UFG
Financial Group proposed merger on March
8.
As often happens in such meeting, a variety of
bank grantees Zoomed in to support the merger.
Other grassroots activists opposed it, or
proposed Community Benefits Agreements
increasing lending by thirty or fifty
percent.
Fair
Finance Watch, with Inner City Press as always
on the FOIA, raised fair lending issues and
something new - the war on Ukraine, and MUFG's
continued business in Russia:
"U.S.
Bank in 2020 in New York State made only 26
mortgage loans to African Americans, while
denying more, fully 66 applications from African
Americans. By contrast, it made 842 loans to
whites while denying less, only 567 applications
from whites. Fair Finance Watch has identified
similar disparities in Florida, Michigan and
elsewhere.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's bank in Oregon
in 2020 made only ONE mortgage loan to and
African Americans, while denying more, two
applications from African Americans. By
contrast, it made 196 loans to whites while
denying fewer, only 55 applications from
whites.
These disparities should not just result in a
Fed footnote that the data cited by Fair Finance
Watch is accurate but HMDA data is not
probative. The incoming Governors should go on
the record on this before the Board
rules.
There
are branch closing issues that should be
addressed.
There is another issue which Inner City Press
hereby timely raises to the Federal Reserve
Board: the continued business with and in Russia
by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which we
confirmed on the bank's website just before this
testimony. Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group's website says, "MUFG's presence
in Russia started in Moscow in 1992, through a
Representative Office. Our presence expanded
significantly through the establishment of a
Russian subsidiary, ZAO Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
UFJ (Eurasia), by the sole shareholder, The Bank
of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., on 29 May 2006.
On 14 October 2015, the name of ZAO Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Eurasia) was changed to AO
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Eurasia). The Bank
of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. was renamed to MUFG
Bank Ltd., effective April 01, 2018. In line
with such change the name of AO Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Eurasia) was changed to AO
MUFG Bank (Eurasia) on 03 April
2018. AO MUFG Bank (Eurasia)
has a presence in Moscow and
Vladivostok."
This
is troubling, and must be addressed under the
Bank Holding Company Act's managerial and
financial if not moral factors. Other large
banks under Federal Reserve supervision still
bragging about their presence and business in
Russia including Citigroup and HSBC. The Federal
Reserve must act on this immediately -- Inner
City Press is requesting this be raised to the
new / nominated Governors at the earliest time,
along with recent rubber stamping by Federal
Reserve Banks, which brag of not being
government agencies, of bank mergers including
involving banks with Needs to Improve CRA
ratings, like Berkshire Bank. So too should the
record of Toronto Dominion, among others. But
the MUFG - Russia / Ukraine issue is most
pressing, on this application.
This
was not addressed (yet?) by MUFG's Kevin Cronin
and Julius Robinson nor USB's CDEO Andrew Cecere
nor Reba Dominski.
The
regulators present included Ben Olson Fed
Presiding Officer; Donna M. Murphy OCC Presiding
Officer; Fed's Vaishali Sack, Susan Motyka,
Dafina Stewart, Chris Wangen FRB of Minneapolis;
OCC's Barry Wides, Andrew Moss, Ron Pasch and
Jason Almonte.
March
7, 2022
Amalgamated Bank Deal Canceled Amid CRA Challenge For Closing South Bronx Branch
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, March 5 – A CRA protest to
Amalgamated Bank, which shuttered its South
Bronx branch on Burnside Avenue with no
mitigation, has been followed the Amalgamated
proposal to acquire a Chicago-based bank falling
apart. Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press,
which filed the CRA protest, say Good Riddance.
The
protest: October 23, 2021 Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation Attn: Frank Hughes,
Regional Director and Robert P. Cordeiro, Scott
D. Strockoz 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200 New
York, NY 10118-0110 Re: Timely First Comment on
Application by Amalgamated Bank (NY) to buy
Amalgamated Bank in Chicago
Dear
Regional Director Hughes and others at the
FDIC: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
FDIC's public comment period on the Applications
by Amalgamated Bank (NY) to buy Amalgamated Bank
in Chicago.
As the FDIC surely knows, Amalgamated Bank New
York outrageously closed branches including at
94 Burnside Avenue in the South Bronx when its
customers needed it most.
This caused Fair Finance Watch to look more
closely. And Amalgamated is not what it pretend
to be. In 2020 in New York Amalgamated made only
41 home loans to African Americans, while
denying more (67) - compared to its 962 loans to
whites, with FEWER denials to whites
(577). That the Burnside
Avenue closing has a negative impact is
recognized even by state regulators: 'October 7,
2020 (TR-CRB) AMALGAMATED BANK 275 Seventh
Avenue (Fourteenth Floor, New York, NY
10001 In accordance with Section 28-c of
the Banking Law, the Superintendent of Financial
Services has found that the closing of branch
office at 94 East Burnside Avenue, Borough of
Bronx, City of New York 10453, will result in a
significant reduction of financial services in
the community affected.' The comment period
should be extended; evidentiary hearings should
be held; and on the current record, the
application should not be approved."
February
28, 2022
First Internet Bank Hit By 1st CRA Protest of 2022 Requested Withdrawal But Noncompliant
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Feb 22 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question.
As the first CRA challenge of 2022, Fair Finance
Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA filed
comments with the Federal Reserve against First
Internet Bank, below.
On January 19, First Internet Bank wrote to say
that anything for which it requested
confidential treatment MUST be withheld. For
First Internet Bank, Larry Tomlin of
SmithAmundsen of Indianapolis tells Inner City
Press and the regulators and DOJ that Fair
Finance Watch should withdraw its comments.
Really? Inner City Press immediately filed a new
and expanded FOIA request.
On
February 22, First Internet - the bank that said
Inner City Press' comment against it should be
withdrawn - had to respond to this question: "5.
According to First Internet Bank of Indiana's
CRA Performance Evaluation, dated April 6, 2021,
the bank received ratings of "Needs to Improve"
and "Substantial Noncompliance" in each year
(2018, 2019, and 2020) on Tests 6 ("Small
Business Lending to Borrowers with Revenues of
$1 million or less") and 9 ("Community
Development Lending"). Provide information on
how the bank has improved performance on these
two metrics since 2020. Additionally, provide
information on how the bank plans to improve
these metrics following the merger with First
Century Bank."
February
21, 2022
CommunityBank of Texas on Money Laundering As Protested Used Paid Letters Now Hit to FDIC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Feb 17 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. The same is
the case about money laundering
As the fourth CRA challenge of 2022, Fair
Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA
filed comments with the Federal Reserve against
CommunityBank of Texas, fresh off a money
laundering / Bank Secrecy Act settlement, with a
disparate record: "This is a timely first
comment on, the Applications of CBTX, Inc.,
Beaumont, Texas; to merge with Allegiance
Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
Allegiance Bank, both of Houston, Texas. As an
initial matter, this is a request that the FRS
immediately send by email to Inner City Press
all non-exempt portions of the applications /
notices for which the Applicants have requested
confidential treatment. Fair Finance Watch has
been tracking both banks, and has found their
lending patterns troubling. In Texas
in 2020, CBTX's CommunityBank made 65 mortgage
loans to whites with 54 denials. Meanwhile to
African Americans it made only THREE loans,
while denying fully ten applications. A
referring should be made to the DOJ for fair
lending violations. In
Texas in 2020, Alliance Bank made 257 mortgage
loans to whites with 38 denials. Meanwhile to
African Americans it made only SIX loans, while
denying fully seven applications. Again, a
referring should be made to the DOJ for fair
lending violations. Public
evidentiary hearings are needed - especially
because, and specifically on, CommunityBank's
violations of the Bank Secrecy Act:
"WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency (OCC) today announced a $1 million
civil money penalty against CommunityBank of
Texas, N.A., Beaumont, Texas, for violations of
the OCC’s Bank Secrecy Act regulations.
The OCC found that CommunityBank of Texas failed
to adopt and implement a Bank Secrecy
Act/Anti-Money Laundering system of internal
controls to assure ongoing compliance with the
Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing
regulations. Such deficiencies resulted in
CommunityBank’s failure to timely file complete
suspicious activity reports for approximately
$100 million of suspicious activity. The
OCC’s civil money penalty is separate from, but
coordinated with, the settlement between
CommunityBank and the Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is also
being announced today."
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the Federal
Reserve's to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners,
money launderers and predatory lenders. This has
been killing the Community Reinvestment Act and
we timely request public hearings. The comment
period should be extended; evidentiary hearings
should be held; and on the current record, the
application should not be approved."
In
response? CBTX put in a one-line letter of
support from a hospital, and another bragging
about other support from "corporate sponsors
such as Valero, ExxonMobil, Entergy and many
others." That was from Nutrition & Services
for Seniors. Who else? And how does this rebut
money laundering and redlining?
February
14, 2022
As Redliner Community Bank NA Spins Elmira Delay Inner City Press Files Its Disparate Data
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Feb 12 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the now year-old Administration
and its regulators remains an open question.
On February 12 Fair Finance Watch with Inner
City Press on the FOIA filed comments with the
Office of the Comproller of the Currency against
Community Bank N.A.'s application to acquire
Elmira Savings Bank:
The applicant Community Bank National
Association in 2020 in New York State based on
its disparate marketing made 4329 mortgage loans
to whites, with 871 denials to whites -- while
making only TWENTY SEVEN loans to African
Americans, with five denials. This is far out of
keeping with the demographics, and others
lenders, in NYS - this is
outrageous. Beyond its lending
disparities, Community Bank N.A. is a branch
closer, see e.g., "Community Bank closing four
locations,"
https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/local/community-bank-closing-four-locations/,
listing CBNA's closure of branches in Hornell at
7279 Seneca Rd., Bath Plaza branch located at
201 Bath and Hammondsport Railroad, the
Canaseraga branch located at 37 Main St., and
the Wellsville branch at 4196 Bolivar
Road. There is no public benefit to
this proposal. FFW and
Inner City Press have been deeply concerned
about the rush by the OCC's penchant to
rubberstamp mergers by redliners, particularly
during the pandemic. We timely request public
hearings."
This
comes after this exchange:
"Erik
Zwick: What was the driver of the decision to
move the closing of Elmira to 2Q?
Mark
Tryniski: I don't know if it's so much a
decision on our part, it's just on expectations
around where we see the trend of the regulatory
approval process going. So we decided to push it
off two months further out just based on the
progress and the dialogue with the regulators. I
mean, there's nothing of note or concern.
I think it's just right now with the
administration and the pending appointments of
some of the agency leadership and the - I'll
call it, the interest of all of the regulatory
agencies on every single transaction, even those
who have a, let's call it, tangential
involvement, it's a lot more [indiscernible]
slow everyone out there, that's just the trend
right now. So we just decided to push it out a
couple of months to be sure.
Erik
Zwick: Got it. That makes sense."
No, it only makes sense to insiders.
February
7, 2022
While CRA Still In Limbo State Street Slowed By Antitrust on Brown Brothers, Now Fed Qs
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Jan 2 – Whether or not the U.S.
Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced underl this Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. But perhaps
antitrust is already tightening up.
Back in September 2021 State Street announced it
was buying the custody business of Brown
Brothers Harriman for $3.5 billion and that the
deal would close by the end of 2021. Then on
January 19, 2022 they had to admit it is taking
longer than that. Beyond concentration in the
financial industry, these custody deals can
impact on predatory mortgage loans and other
impacts on low income communities, wider topics
of NCRC. Watch this site.
As the first CRA challenge of 2022, Fair Finance
Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA has
filed comments with the Federal Reserve against
First Internet Bank: "This is a request for a
full copy of, and a timely first comment on, the
Applications of First Internet Bancorp to
acquire First Century Bancorp and First Century
Bank, N.A., Commerce, Georgia.
Fair
Finance Watch has been tracking First Internet
Bank, and has found its lending patterns
troubling. First Internet Bank in 2020
based on its disparate marketing made 2114
mortgage loans to whites, with only 178 denials
to whites -- while making only 66 loans to
African Americans, and denying 21 applications
from African Americans. FIB essential denies
African Americans three times more frequently
than whites - worse that the rest of the
industry - and makes a far smaller percentage of
its loans to African Americans than other banks,
particularly those based in Indiana (or
Georgia).
This
application should be denied, and a referral
made to the Justice Department, as the Fed did
far too late on Cadence Bank, whose lesser
disparities Inner City Press similarly raised to
the Fed. Public evidentiary
hearings are needed - including on First
Internet Bank's "tax product lending."
And
on this, timely entered into the record:
"07/31/2019 Gave them all my personal info
for a mortgage loan and received no call back
tried to contact them to no avail. Scared it was
a scam to get my info. They were recommended by
credit karma. They have my fathers info also.
They guaranteed they would get this done.
Complaint Type: Problems with Product/Service
Status: Answered 03/13/2019 I have
attempted to contact someone at this office
countless times via phone call, email and chat,
I have been unsuccessful in finding out the
reason this bank has decided to lock my account
and HOLD MY FUNDs WITHOUT INFORMING ME...
January
31, 2022
CommunityBank of Texas After Money Laundering Case Hit by Protest by Fair Finance Watch
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Jan 26 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. The same is
the case about money laundering
Now as the fourth CRA challenge of 2022, Fair Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA has filed comments with the Federal Reserve against CommunityBank of Texas, fresh off a money laundering / Bank Secrecy Act settlement, with a disparate record: "This is a timely first comment on, the Applications of CBTX, Inc., Beaumont, Texas; to merge with Allegiance Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire Allegiance Bank, both of Houston, Texas. As an initial matter, this is a request that the FRS immediately send by email to Inner City Press all non-exempt portions of the applications / notices for which the Applicants have requested confidential treatment. Fair Finance Watch has been tracking both banks, and has found their lending patterns troubling. In Texas in 2020, CBTX's CommunityBank made 65 mortgage loans to whites with 54 denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made only THREE loans, while denying fully ten applications. A referring should be made to the DOJ for fair lending violations. In Texas in 2020, Alliance Bank made 257 mortgage loans to whites with 38 denials. Meanwhile to African Americans it made only SIX loans, while denying fully seven applications. Again, a referring should be made to the DOJ for fair lending violations. Public evidentiary hearings are needed - especially because, and specifically on, CommunityBank's violations of the Bank Secrecy Act: "WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced a $1 million civil money penalty against CommunityBank of Texas, N.A., Beaumont, Texas, for violations of the OCC’s Bank Secrecy Act regulations. The OCC found that CommunityBank of Texas failed to adopt and implement a Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering system of internal controls to assure ongoing compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. Such deficiencies resulted in CommunityBank’s failure to timely file complete suspicious activity reports for approximately $100 million of suspicious activity. The OCC’s civil money penalty is separate from, but coordinated with, the settlement between CommunityBank and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is also being announced today." FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply concerned about the rush by the Federal Reserve's to rubber-stamp mergers by redliners, money launderers and predatory lenders. This has been killing the Community Reinvestment Act and we timely request public hearings. The comment period should be extended; evidentiary hearings should be held; and on the current record, the application should not be approved."
January 24, 2022
Fair
Finance Watch
with Inner
City Press on
the FOIA this
week filed a
CRA challenge
to
the
Applications
of Alerus
Financial
Corporation to
merge with MPB
BHC, Inc., and
thereby
indirectly
acquire Metro
Phoenix Bank,
and related
applications.
Fair
Finance Watch
has been
tracking
Alerus Bank
NA, and has
found its
lending
patterns
troubling.
Alerus Bank NA
in 2020 based
on its
disparate
marketing made
5,041 mortgage
loans to
whites, with
only 79
denials to
whites --
while making
only 105 loans
to African
Americans, and
denying six
applications
from African
Americans.
This is
outrageous.
This
application
should be
denied, and a
referral made
to the Justice
Department, as
the Fed did
far too late
on Cadence
Bank, whose
lesser
disparities
Inner City
Press
similarly
raised to the
Fed.
Public
evidentiary
hearings are
needed -
including on
this timely
entered into
the record: a
former
employee of
KPC
Healthcare,
filed a class
action
complaint on
June 1, 2020,
alleging that,
among other
things, (i) in
approving the
Transaction,
Alerus
Financial,
N.A. (Alerus),
the Trustee of
the KPC ESOP,
caused the KPC
ESOP to pay
more than fair
market value
for KPC
Healthcare’s
stock... See,
Class Action
Complaint,
Gamino v. KPC
Healthcare
Holdings,
Inc., No.
5:20-cv-01126-SB-SHK
(C.D. Cal.
June 1, 2020),
ECF No. 1.
January
17, 2022
Fair Finance
Watch with
Inner City
Press on the
FOIA this week
filed a CRA
challenge to
the
Applications
of Home Bank
N.A. to
acquire Texan
Bank:
"Dear
Director for
Southern
District
Licencing and
others at the
OCC:
This is a
request for a
full copy of,
and a timely
first comment
on, the
Applications
of Home Bank
N.A. to
acquire Texan
Bank.
Fair
Finance Watch
has been
tracking Home
Bank, N.A. and
is concerned
by its
disparate
lending. This
proposal would
impose it on
new
communities in
Houston,
Texas. Home
Bank NA in
Louisiana in
2020 based on
its disparate
marketing made
616 mortgage
loans to
whites, with
48 denials to
whites --
while making
only 53 loans
to African
Americans, and
denying fully
11
applications
from African
Americans.
This is far
out of keeping
with the
demographics,
and other
lenders, in
Louisiana -
this is
outrageous.
This
application
should be
denied, and a
referral made
to the Justice
Department, as
the Federal
Reserve did
far too late
on Cadence
Bank, whose
lesser
disparities
Inner City
Press
similarly
raised to the
Fed.
It
is significant
that this
application is
stuck at the
end of the
Weekly
Bulletin:
"ADDENDUM
SECTION: This
Application
was omitted
from a prior
Weekly
Bulletin."
This militates
for the
requested
extension of
the public
comment
period, and an
inquiry /
explanation.
The comment
period should
be extended;
evidentiary
hearings
should be
held; and on
the current
record, the
application
should not be
approved.
January 10,
2022
Fair
Finance Watch
with Inner
City Press on
the FOIA has
filed a 2d CRA
challenge of
2022, to the
Fed (so far)
on the
Applications
of TBB
Investments
LLC and TBB
Intermediate
LLC to become
bank holding
companies by
acquiring
Berkshire
Bancorp, Inc
and related
applications.
Berkshire
Bank in 2020
in New York
State based on
its disparate
marketing made
335 mortgage
loans to
whites, with
only 129
denials to
whites --
while making
only TWO loans
to African
Americans, and
denying three
applications
from African
Americans.
This is
outrageous.
This
application
should be
denied, and a
referral made
to the Justice
Department...
See also the
conditions
imposed by the
FDIC after
Fair Finance
Watch comments
to the FDIC on
the sale of
Berkshire
branches.
Public
evidentiary
hearings are
needed -
including on
this timely
entered into
the record:
Reclusive
landlord Moses
Marx resigns
as Berkshire
chairman, see
here.
January
3, 2022
First Internet Bank Georgia Bid Hit By 1st CRA Protest of 2022 by Fair Finance Watch
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Jan 2 – Whether or not the U.S.
Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question.
Now as the first CRA challenge of 2022, Fair
Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA
has filed comments with the Federal Reserve
against First Internet Bank: "This is a request
for a full copy of, and a timely first comment
on, the Applications of First Internet Bancorp
to acquire First Century Bancorp and First
Century Bank, N.A., Commerce, Georgia.
Fair
Finance Watch has been tracking First Internet
Bank, and has found its lending patterns
troubling. First Internet Bank in 2020
based on its disparate marketing made 2114
mortgage loans to whites, with only 178 denials
to whites -- while making only 66 loans to
African Americans, and denying 21 applications
from African Americans. FIB essential denies
African Americans three times more frequently
than whites - worse that the rest of the
industry - and makes a far smaller percentage of
its loans to African Americans than other banks,
particularly those based in Indiana (or
Georgia).
This
application should be denied, and a referral
made to the Justice Department, as the Fed did
far too late on Cadence Bank, whose lesser
disparities Inner City Press similarly raised to
the Fed. Public evidentiary
hearings are needed - including on First
Internet Bank's "tax product lending."
And
on this, timely entered into the record:
"07/31/2019 Gave them all my personal info
for a mortgage loan and received no call back
tried to contact them to no avail. Scared it was
a scam to get my info. They were recommended by
credit karma. They have my fathers info also.
They guaranteed they would get this done.
Complaint Type: Problems with Product/Service
Status: Answered 03/13/2019 I have
attempted to contact someone at this office
countless times via phone call, email and chat,
I have been unsuccessful in finding out the
reason this bank has decided to lock my account
and HOLD MY FUNDs WITHOUT INFORMING ME...
December
27, 2021
As BMO Harris Applies For Bank of the West Litmus Test on Fairness for Rudderless Regulators
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Dec 21 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. BMO Harris'
application to buy Bank of the West and its more
than 500 branches from BNP will be a litmus
test.
Fair
Finance Watch notes, from Day 1, that in 2020
BMO Harris denied many more mortgage
applications from African Americans than it
approved: 509 denied versus only 223 loans made
to African Americans, nationwide. BMO's numbers
for whites were the reverse: 9270 loans made,
versus less then six thousand denials. So what
will the (new?) regulators do?
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Dec 21 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. BMO Harris'
application to buy Bank of the West and its more
than 500 branches from BNP will be a litmus
test.
Fair
Finance Watch notes, from Day 1, that in 2020
BMO Harris denied many more mortgage
applications from African Americans than it
approved: 509 denied versus only 223 loans made
to African Americans, nationwide. BMO's numbers
for whites were the reverse: 9270 loans made,
versus less then six thousand denials. So what
will the (new?) regulators do?
December
20, 2021
After Saule Omarova Quits OCC Race Fed Qs on South State Atlantic Capital CRA Protest
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Dec 17 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators remains an open question. [Today the
Fed asked more questions of South State - see
below]
First
came the news that the Biden Administration had
nominated Saule Omarova to head the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency. While described
as "anti big bank" - good - Inner City Press and
others asked, What are her views on CRA, and how
would she approach, and deny some, mergers? This
got lost in the comrade talk. Now her nomination
is over, with Omarova pulling the plug after
opposition by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) Mark
Warner (D-Va.) Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), John
Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
So who's next?
Meanwhile
the proposed acquisition by South State of
Atlantic Capital Bank in Georgia remains a
litmus test. South State is so disparate that in
South Carolina in 2020 for mortgage loans to
African Americans it had more denials (147) than
loans made (133) - while making six loans to
whites for every denial to a white applicant.
On
August 17, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City
Press on the FOIA) filed a comment with the
Federal Reserve Board, below.
On
September 4, Fair Finance Watch commented to the
Office of the Comptroller Currency, which some
say has changed for the better. We'll see - now
on September 7, South State has written to Fair
Finance Watch, cc-ing the OCC and Fed: "Dear Mr.
Lee... In the matter regarding the concerns of
the Bank’s disparate marketing, the Bank is
committed to providing equal access to credit
throughout our footprint. The Bank takes a
multi-layered approach to ensure that marketing
of credit products reach all communities within
the Bank’s Assessment Area and each application
is underwritten without consideration of a
prohibited basis. The Bank has undergone reviews
by independent audit firms with reports dated
June 30, 2020 and June 30, 2019 where marketing
efforts have been reviewed. The reviews did not
yield any fair lending concerns."
Then
something is very wrong with those audits.
The
Fed briefly extended the comment period - but
then on December 17 asked this of South State
and its outside counsel: "This correspondence
relates to the application filed by South State
Corporation, Winter Haven, Florida (“South
State”), parent of South State Bank, National
Association (“South State Bank”), to merge with
Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc. (“Atlantic
Capital”), and thereby acquire its subsidiary,
Atlantic Capital Bank, National Association
(“Atlantic Capital Bank”), both of Atlanta,
Georgia, pursuant to sections 3(a)(3) and
3(a)(5) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956,
as amended. Please respond in full to the
following additional information items,
including those listed in the confidential
annex, and provide supporting documentation as
appropriate. 1) In a response to a public
comment dated September 17, 2021, South State
indicated that South State Bank “annually
engages an independent audit firm and conducts
quarterly internal comparative file reviews of
approved/declined loans to identify if there is
inequitable pricing or underwriting of loans
based on the prohibited basis found under the
Equal Credit Opportunity Act and/or the Fair
Housing Act.” a. Clarify whether the independent
annual audit is separate from the quarterly
internal comparative file review and discuss the
types of information reviewed by both processes.
Also discuss the role, if any, that South State
or South State Bank staff have in the
independent annual audit. b. Provide the most
recent independent audit report. 2) At the time
of its most recent Community Reinvestment Act
(“CRA”) evaluation, Atlantic Capital Bank
operated a network of branches in Georgia and
Tennessee. Describe the process by which
Atlantic Capital Bank reduced its branch network
to its current two branches, including any steps
that were taken to ensure continued compliance
with the CRA." But that's after the close of the
("extended") comment period...
As
to the Fed, which denies FOIA requests after
five months, here,
on August 25, this strange response: "Dear Mr.
Lee, This is to
acknowledge receipt of your email to the Office
of the Secretary for the Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System (Board) dated August
17, 2021, regarding the proposal of South State
Corporation to merge with Atlantic Capital
Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
Atlantic Capital Bank, NA. To date, South
State Corporation has not filed an application
with the Federal Reserve System.
Currently, the public comment period for the
proposal will end on September 20, 2021.
If an application is filed within the next three
months from the date your comment was sent, your
correspondence will be made part of the record,
and the Board will evaluate your comment.
We will also send a copy of the public portions
of the application as soon as possible after the
application is received.
Sincerely, Jennifer
Snow Senior Examiner Supervision,
Regulation, and Credit Federal Reserve
Bank of Atlanta
Integrity. Excellence. Respect."
How
can there be a comment period with expiration
date, if there is no application? Inner City
Press asked, and on August 26 is told:
"Our
procedures provide that advance notice in the
Federal Register may be requested in advance of
a filing. The comment period end date applies to
the Federal Register notice, which was filed in
advance of the application being filed."
December
6, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With Conditions, CRA Protests To Amgalamated, Bronx Branch Closer
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Dec 5 – Whether or not the U.S.
Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And not only the
proposed acquisition of Investors Bank by
Citizens Bank NA but also Amalgamated -
Amalgamated will be litmus tests.
On
December 4, after filing with the FDIC, Inner
City Press filed with the Federal Reserve:
"Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
FRBs's public comment period on the Applications
by Amalgamated Financial Corp., New York, New
York; to merge with Amalgamated Investments
Company, and thereby indirectly acquire
Amalgamated Bank of Chicago, both of Chicago,
Illinois
As
the FRBNY should know, Amalgamated Bank New York
outrageously closed branches including at 94
Burnside Avenue in the South Bronx when its
customers needed it most. This
caused Fair Finance Watch to look more closely.
And Amalgamated is not what it pretends to be.
In 2020 in New York Amalgamated made only 41
home loans to African Americans, while denying
more (67) - compared to its 962 loans to whites,
with FEWER denials to whites
(577). That the Burnside
Avenue closing has a negative impact is
recognized even by state regulators:
"October
7, 2020 (TR-CRB) AMALGAMATED BANK 275 Seventh
Avenue (Fourteenth Floor, New York, NY
10001 In accordance with Section 28-c of
the Banking Law, the Superintendent of Financial
Services has found that the closing of branch
office at 94 East Burnside Avenue, Borough of
Bronx, City of New York 10453, will result in a
significant reduction of financial services in
the community affected."
The
comment period should be extended; evidentiary
hearings should be held; and on the current
record, the application should not be
approved.
It is also unclear to ICP why this application,
by a New York institution to buy one in Chicago,
is listed in the Federal Register to the FRB of
Philadelphia:
"A.
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (William
Spaniel, Senior Vice President) 100 North 6th
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19105-1521.
Comments can also be sent electronically to
Comments.applications [at] phil.frb.org : 1.
Amalgamated Financial Corp., New York, New York;
to merge with Amalgamated Investments Company,
and thereby indirectly acquire Amalgamated Bank
of Chicago, both of Chicago, Illinois. "
It
is imperative that a review of South Bronx
branch closure(s) by the local FR Bank, and not
a random one in another district."
Meanwhile,
Investors Bank is one of the most disparate
banks in New York State, where in 2020 it made
only three mortgage loans to African Americans,
while denying fully seven applications from
African Americans. By contrast, it made 164
loans to whites while denying only 76
applications from whites.
November
29, 2021
In DC 5 Dems Oppose Saule Omarova as OCC Amid CRA Protest to South State Atlantic Capital
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Nov 24 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question.
Then
came the news that the Biden Administration
nominated Saule Omarova to head the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency. While described
as "anti big bank" - good - what are her views
on CRA, and how would she approach, and deny
some, mergers? This got lost in the comrade
talk. Now her nomination is said dead, killed by
calls by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) Mark Warner
(D-Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to Sen.
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) — the panel's chairman —
of their opposition. They joined Sens.
John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Mark Kelly
(D-Ariz.). So who's next?
Meanwhile
the proposed acquisition by South State of
Atlantic Capital Bank in Georgia remains a
litmus test. South State is so disparate that in
South Carolina in 2020 for mortgage loans to
African Americans it had more denials (147) than
loans made (133) - while making six loans to
whites for every denial to a white applicant.
November
22, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With Conditions, CRA Protest To Home BancShares Texas Entry
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Nov 20 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And not only the
proposed acquisition of Investors Bank by
Citizens Bank NA but also Home BancShares /
Centennial Bank - Happy Bancshares will be
litmus tests.
On
November 20 Inner City Press filed with the
Federal Reserve:
"This
is a request for a full copy of, and a timely
first comment on, the Applications of South
State Corporation to merge with Home BancShares,
Inc. to merge with Happy Bancshares, Inc., and
thus indirectly acquire Happy State Bank. Fair
Finance Watch has been tracking Home BancShares'
Centennial Bank, including but not only because
it has a branch in New York.
The
applicant's Centennial in 2020 in Alabama based
on its disparate marketing made 46 mortgage
loans to whites, with 19 denials to whites --
while making only NO loans to African Americans.
This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and other lenders, in Alabama -
this is outrageous. This application should be
denied, and a referral made to the Justice
Department, as the Fed did far too late on
Cadence Bank, whose lesser disparities Inner
City Press similarly raised to the Fed.
This
is a pattern. Centennial Bank in 2020 in
Arkansas based on its disparate marketing made
1943 mortgage loans to whites, with 282 denials
to whites -- while making only 113 loans to
African Americans, with 37 denials. This is out
of keeping with the demographics, and other
lenders, in Arkansas, in the state Home
BancShares' Centennial Bank presumably performs
best. South State Bank NA in 2020 in
New York based on its disparate marketing made a
mortgage loan to a white application, and none
to African Americans.
Centenntial
Bank in 2020 in Florida based on its disparate
marketing made 1591 mortgage loans to whites,
with 256 denials to whites -- while making only
52 loans to African Americans, with 16 denials.
This is out of keeping with the demographics,
and other lenders, in Florida. What could Home
BancShares' Centennial be expected to do in
Texas?
November
15, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions, CRA Protest To BankPlus - First Bank and Trust
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Nov 13 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And now for the
FDIC, BankPlus' application to acquire First
Bank and Trust will be a litmus test.
On
November 12, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City
Press filed with the FDIC:
"This
is a first timely comment opposing, requesting
hearings and an extension of the comment period
on the applications by BankPlus to acquire First
Bank and Trust As an initial matter, this
is a request that the FDIC immediately send by
email to Inner City Press all non-exempt
portions of the applications / notices for which
the Applicants have requested confidential
treatment.
Fair
Finance Watch has been tracking BankPlus:
The
applicant BankPlus 2020 in Mississippi based on
its disparate marketing made 1918 mortgage loans
to whites, with 198 denials to whites -- while
making only 211 loans to African Americans, with
80 denials. This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and other lenders, in Mississippi
- this is outrageous. This is a pattern.
BankPlus
in 2020 in Alabama based on its disparate
marketing made 71 mortgage loans to whites, with
four denials to whites -- while making NO loans
to African Americans.
Perhaps most relevant, BankPlus is disparate in
the state it is trying to make this acquisition
to impose and expand its practices. South State
Bank NA in 2020 in Louisiana based on its
disparate marketing made 24 mortgage loans to
whites, with eight denials to whites -- while
making as in Alabama N) loans to African
Americans. FFW and Inner City
Press have been deeply concerned about the rush
by the FDIC to rubber-stamp mergers by
redliners. This has been killing the Community
Reinvestment Act and we timely request public
hearings."
November
8, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions, CRA Protests To Community Bank NA - Elmira
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Nov 6 – Whether or not the U.S.
Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And now for the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
Community Bank NA's application to acquire
Elmira Savings Bank will be a litmus test.
On
October 6, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City
Press filed with the OCC
"This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on Community Bank NA's
applications to acquire Elmira Savings
Bank. Fair Finance Watch
and Inner City Press have long been concerned by
disparities in CBNY's lending. Recently, similar
disparities at Investors Bank, raised by Inner
City Press, triggered conditions on Investors,
by the FDIC. See here
So
what's up with the OCC, on CBNA's
disparities?
The
applicant Community Bank National Association in
2020 in New York State based on its disparate
marketing made 4329 mortgage loans to whites,
with 871 denials to whites -- while making only
TWENTY SEVEN loans to African Americans, with
five denials.
That
is, for CBNA in NYS, 4329 loans to whites versus
only 27 to African Americans.
November
1, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions, Stock Yards Protest Yields Fed CRA Questions
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Oct 28 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And not only the
proposed acquisition of Investors Bank by
Citizens Bank NA but also Stock Yards -
Commonwealth will be litmus tests. FRB's Oct 27,
2021 letter here.
On
October 2, after filing with the FDIC, Inner
City Press filed with the Federal Reserve:
"This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FRB's public
comment period on the Applications by Stock
Yards Bancorp to acquire Commonwealth
Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
Commonwealth Bank and Trust Company, both of
Louisville,
Kentucky
The
applicant Stock Yard Bank is getting
worse. In Kentucky in 2020 it made 1431
home loans to whites and only 39 to African
Americans (while denying 18application from
African Americans, and only 188 from whites -
down from 250 in 2019).
Commonwealth Bank & Trust in Kentucky in
2020 made more loans that its putative acquirer,
but was also disparate: it made 3358 home loans
to whites and 156 to African Americans (while
denying 63 application from African Americans,
and 459 from whites). There is no public
benefit to this
proposal.
FFW
and Inner City Press have been deeply concerned
about the rush by the FRB's penchant to
rubberstamp mergers by redliners, particularly
during the pandemic - including starting comment
periods even before applications are filed
and/or publicly available. We have just filed a
FOIA request."
Now
in late October, Inner City Press is publishing
these questions to Stock Yard asked by the
Federal Reserve on October 27, full letter here:
"October 27, 2021 Mr. Nathan Berger Frost Brown
Todd, LLC 400 West Market Street, 32nd Floor
Louisville, Kentucky 40202-3363 Dear Mr. Berger:
This
letter refers to application submitted by Stock
Yards Bancorp, Inc. (“Stock Yards” or
“Applicant”), the parent of state nonmember
bank, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company
(“Stock Yards Bank”), to acquire
Commonwealth Bancshares, Inc. (“Commonwealth”),
a bank holding company, and its state
nonmember bank subsidiary, Commonwealth Bank
& Trust Company (“Commonwealth Bank”), all
of Louisville, Kentucky, pursuant to section 3
of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as
amended. Please provide a complete, detailed
response to each of the following items.
Supporting documentation, as appropriate, should
be provided. 1. Please confirm whether the
merger will result in new products or services
at the resulting bank that are not
currently offered by Stock Yard Bank or
Commonwealth Bank. If so, please provide:
a. A description of the new products and
services that Stock Yards Bank expects to
offer following the merger. b. A
description of how Stock Yards Bank plans to
adjust its consumer compliance program to
support these new products and services. c. A
description of how Stock Yards Bank plans to
adjust its Community Reinvestment Act
program to support these new products and
services.
2.
Describe any changes to the consumer compliance
program at Stock Yards Bank as a result of
the merger, including staffing. Discuss the
skills and experience of the Stock Yards
Bank consumer compliance management team and
provide an organizational chart reflecting
the consumer compliance function at the pro
forma organization.
3.
Applicant’s response to Question 19(d) indicates
that the merger will result in an
expansion of Stock Yards Bank’s assessment areas
and products and services. Discuss whether
the Applicant expects that staff responsible for
managing the CRA program will change
following the merger. Mr. Nathan Berger October
27, 2021 Page 2 4. Applicant’s response to
Question 20(c) of the Y-3 application shows that
the Applicant plans on closing or
consolidating six branches following the merger.
a. Indicate whether each branch listed in the
response to Question 20(c) is in a
majority-minority census tract. b. Discuss how
Stock Yards Bank plans to mitigate the impact of
any branches to be closed in LMI and/or
majority-minority communities. 5
.
Please provide a list of organizations and
community groups, if any, with which Stock
Yards Bank engaged since 2019 to help reach
African American borrowers in Kentucky. In your
response, please provide detailed information
about the partnerships that Stock Yards
Bank engaged in with these organizations and
community groups since 2019.
6.
Please provide information about Stock Yards
Bank’s efforts to reach African American
borrowers in Kentucky, including specialized
products and marketing campaigns, since
2019.
October
25, 2021
As Garland Talks Trustmark Citizens Bank Thumbs Nose At CRA On Investors Bank Test
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Oct 22 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And not the
proposed acquisition of Investors Bank by
Citizens Bank will be a litmus test, one that
both Citizens and the regulators are failing.
DOJ
claims to be enforcing, with Merrick B. Garland
on October 2 intoning, "settlement with
Trustmark National Bank. The agreement resolves
allegations that Trustmark engaged in lending
discrimination by redlining predominantly Black
and Hispanic neighborhoods in Memphis,
Tennessee. We commend Trustmark for its
cooperation in swiftly resolving this matter.
Through this settlement, Trustmark has shown an
interest in remedying past practices and in
promoting equal access to credit." But what
about larger banks like Citizens and Investors
Bank it wants, through a white shoe law firm?
Investors Bank is one of the most disparate
banks in New York State, where in 2020 it made
only three mortgage loans to African Americans,
while denying fully seven applications from
African Americans. By contrast, it made 164
loans to whites while denying only 76
applications from whites.
Inner City Press raised the 2019 disparities to
the FDIC - and on July 30 was contacted by the
FDIC that it imposed rare conditions on
Investors. Letter here.
This was raised on Citizens' applications: "be
aware that based on Fair Finance Watch's
comments to the FDIC about Investors, it
recently imposed a condition on Investors.
Investors has yet to meaningfully implement the
required improvements; this application should
not be approved, much less at this
time. The FDIC wrote:
"Matthew
Lee, Esquire Executive Director Inner City
Press/Fair Finance Watch Dear Mr. Lee: We
are writing to inform you that the FDIC approved
Investors Bank’s application to acquire eight
branches from Berkshire Bank. As part of the
application review process, we investigated the
issues you raised in your e-mail dated January
19, 2019... The Bank will develop and Board
approve an Action Plan within 60 days of
the effective date of this Order to ensure
that its home mortgage lending adequately
addresses the credit needs of all segments of
its market areas. The Action Plan should
include, at a minimum, the following: a. The
Bank will regularly monitor application and
origination activity of home mortgage
loans in majority-minority census tracts and
from Blacks throughout the Bank’s
assessment areas. b. The Bank will ensure
marketing and outreach efforts are inclusive of
all communities, including minority
communities within all the Bank’s assessment
areas. The marketing and outreach efforts
should focus on home mortgage product
awareness. Marketing activities should use
materials and media that reflect the racial and
ethnic composition of the targeted
communities. The Bank should also have
specific advertising and outreach goals,
and the results of these efforts should be
documented, monitored, and evaluated for
effectiveness. 5. Upon Board approval of
this Order, the Bank will provide a copy of the
signed Order to the FDIC's New York
Regional Office within 30 days. 6. Upon
Board approval of such Action Plan, the Bank
will provide a copy of the Plan to the
FDIC’s New York Regional Office. 7. The Bank
will provide the FDIC’s New York Regional Office
with quarterly updates detailing its
progress in meeting the goals listed in the
Action Plan."
But in response to this, Citizens only said
dismissively that the record of the acquiree
doesn't matter. So they could buy OneCoin? It is
major law firm making this argument. It is an
embarrassment. And the Federal Reserve's
question letter of October 22 (on Patreon here)
does not address it, and Citizens' law firm late
provide its "answer" and two responses to the
Fed.
This
application should be denied.
Citizens
in 2020 in New York State based on its disparate
marketing made 7183 mortgage loans to whites,
with 3116 denials to whites -- while making only
323 loans to African Americans, with more than
that in denials: 336.
October
18, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions, CRA Scams By Stock Yards - Commonwealth
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Oct 16 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And not only the
proposed acquisition of Investors Bank by
Citizens Bank NA but also Stock Yards - Commonwealth will
be litmus tests.
On
October 2, after filing with the FDIC, Inner
City Press filed with the Federal Reserve:
"This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FRB's public
comment period on the Applications by Stock
Yards Bancorp to acquire Commonwealth
Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
Commonwealth Bank and Trust Company, both of
Louisville,
Kentucky
The
applicant Stock Yard Bank is getting
worse. In Kentucky in 2020 it made 1431
home loans to whites and only 39 to African
Americans (while denying 18application from
African Americans, and only 188 from whites -
down from 250 in 2019).
Commonwealth Bank & Trust in Kentucky in
2020 made more loans that its putative acquirer,
but was also disparate: it made 3358 home loans
to whites and 156 to African Americans (while
denying 63 application from African Americans,
and 459 from whites)."
Yet
despite this disparate record, Stock Yards
Bank's response of October 12, by its EVP and
CFO T. Clay Stinnett, does not engage with his
bank's actual lack of lending to African
Americans, instead dismissing HMDA data and
talking about "media outreach." Meanwhile
despite an October 2 request, only on October 15
did the Fed provide the "public portion" of the
application, and even then with portions
inappropriately withheld at Stock Yards'
request. This is a litmus test that is being
failed.
Meanwhile,
Investors Bank is one of the most disparate
banks in New York State, where in 2020 it made
only three mortgage loans to African Americans,
while denying fully seven applications from
African Americans. By contrast, it made 164
loans to whites while denying only 76
applications from whites.
October
11, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions, Delta of FIFA Scandal Change in Bank Control
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Oct 9 – Whether or not the U.S.
Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And not only the
proposed acquisition of Investors Bank by
Citizens Bank NA but also an application to
change control of the FIFA scandal plagued Delta
Bank of New York and Grand Cayman will be litmus
tests.
Fair
Finance Watch and Inner City Press have
filed with the Federal Reserve:
"This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FRB's public
comment period on the Applications for a
controlling stake in scandal-plagued Delta
National Bank & Trust to be taken by a
series of Brazil-based investors with their own
issues. Fair Finance Watch and
Inner City Press have closely followed the FIFA
corruption cases in which Delta prominently and
shamefully figures. See, e.g., "One
institution, Delta National Bank and Trust
company, a small boutique bank that caters to
wealthy Latin American clients and has offices
in Miami, allegedly played an outsized role in
the scandal. Authorities contend that Traffic
International, a sports media company based in
Brazil, shuffled at least $60 million in bribes
and kickbacks to FIFA officials as part of an
effort to win broadcast rights to FIFA
tournaments and secure sponsorship deals.
Though Traffic also held an account with Citi in
Miami, experts say its transfers through Delta
should have raised flags, especially given the
bank's history of misconduct. In 2003, Delta
paid nearly $1 million after it was cited for
failing to flag as much as $10 million in
transactions tied to Colombian drug traffickers.
Brazilian authorities have also launched
investigations in the past into other Delta
clients. Related: SwissLeaks: How Banking
Giant HSBC Helped 100,000 Rich Clients Dodge
Taxes When banks encounter questionable
transactions, they are supposed to file
suspicious activity reports. In the eyes of
regulators, past scrutiny of a bank's practices
should lead to stricter money-laundering
measures and more reporting, but it appears that
was not the case at Delta. As authorities
determine whether charges will eventually be
filed against any of the banks named in the
indictment, they will likely consider the
timespan over which the alleged misconduct
occurred. The US says it dates back, in some
cases, as long as 25
years." See
generally, United States v. Webb
(1:15-cr-00252) District Court, E.D. New York.
The
Fed has acknowledged receipt; the application
says: "The Notificants are: Lucia de Campos
Faria Junia de Campos Faria Ziegelmeyer Flávia
Faria Vasconcellos Eliana de Campos Faria The FC
Family Trust Claudia de Faria Carvalho. as
primary beneficiary of the FC Family Trust The
White Dahlia Company Inc.. as trustee of the FC
Family Trust Interagency Biographical and
Financial Reports (the "IBFRs") relating to the
Notificants who are natural persons are
submitted herewith as Confidential Exhibits
II.A. I .a-e. Additional information regarding
FC Family Trust and White Dahlia is provided in
Confidential Exhibit II.A. i.e. Confidential
Exhibit II.A.2 provides additional information
regarding Mr. Faria's estate and the
Notificants' holdings."
So
it's all confidential? Inner City Press has
filed a FOIA request.
Meanwhile,
Investors Bank is one of the most disparate
banks in New York State, where in 2020 it made
only three mortgage loans to African Americans,
while denying fully seven applications from
African Americans. By contrast, it made 164
loans to whites while denying only 76
applications from whites.
October
4, 2021
Melrose Credit Union CEO Kaufman Gets 46 Months For Bribes Including From CBS Radio
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Video, Alamy
photos
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Sept 29 – The CEO of Melrose Credit
Union Alan Kaufman was arrested at 6 am on July
11, 2019 and presented on bribery charges before
U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Magistrate
Judge Henry B.
Pitman at 4
pm. Wearing a
red polo shirt, he
pleaded not
guilty.
Inner City
Press was
there and reported
it.
He
agreed to a
bail package
of a $500,00
bond to be
signed by his wife
and his son,
flying in on July 23
and, among
other things,
drug testing
and treatment
if
needed. His
co-defendant Tony
Georgiton must
post a $1
million bond
and turn in
not only his
US but also
his Greek
passport. The
next hearing was
not until
September 4
before SDNY
District Judge
Lewis A. Kaplan.
Inner City
Press wrote:
It's good to
be a banker.
On
January 11,
2021,
Georgiton had
his
sentencing,
and Inner City
Press live
tweeted it, below.
On
March 31,
Kaufman was
convicted
after a jury
trial "for
participating
in a scheme in
which KAUFMAN,
who was then
the Chief
Executive
Officer of
Melrose Credit
Union
(“Melrose
CU”), accepted
rent-free
housing and
financing for
the purchase
of his
personal
residence from
Tony Georgiton
as a reward
for the
approval of
millions of
dollars in
loans to
Georgiton’s
companies at
favorable
terms.
KAUFMAN was
also convicted
for accepting
lavish
vacations,
including to
Paris and
Hawaii, from a
media company
and other
vendors, as a
reward
for Melrose CU
purchasing
increased
advertising
from those
companies.
The jury
convicted
KAUFMAN today
following a
two-week trial
before U.S.
District Judge
Lewis A.
Kaplan.
September
27, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions, CRA Protest Filed To Fed App by Citizens Bank
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Sept 25 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators, particularly the Federal Reserve
which already in essence runs the OCC and has
its chair position in competition, is an open
question. And the proposed acquisition of
Investors Bank by Citizens Financial will be
litmus test.
Investors
Bank is one of the most disparate banks in New
York State, where in 2020 it made only three
mortgage loans to African Americans, while
denying fully seven applications from African
Americans. By contrast, it made 164 loans to
whites while denying only 76 applications from
whites.
Inner City Press raised the 2019 disparities to
the FDIC - and on July 30 was contacted by the
FDIC that it imposed rare conditions on
Investors. Letter here.
This has now been raised on Citizens'
application, to the Federal Reserve, cc-ing
Citizens:
"Re:
Timely First Comment Opposing Citizens Financial
Group's application to acquire Investors
Bancorp, Inc. and thereby indirectly acquire
Investors Bank
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS:
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FRB's public
comment period on the Applications by Citizens
Financial Group's application to acquire
Investors Bancorp, Inc. and thereby indirectly
acquire Investors Bank
Before getting to the data, be aware that based
on Fair Finance Watch's comments to the FDIC
about Investors, it recently imposed a condition
on Investors. Investors has yet to meaningfully
implement the required improvements; this
application should not be approved, much less at
this time. The FDIC wrote:
"Matthew
Lee, Esquire Executive Director Inner City
Press/Fair Finance Watch Dear Mr. Lee: We
are writing to inform you that the FDIC approved
Investors Bank’s application to acquire eight
branches from Berkshire Bank. As part of the
application review process, we investigated the
issues you raised in your e-mail dated January
19, 2019... The Bank will develop and Board
approve an Action Plan within 60 days of
the effective date of this Order to ensure
that its home mortgage lending adequately
addresses the credit needs of all segments of
its market areas. The Action Plan should
include, at a minimum, the following: a. The
Bank will regularly monitor application and
origination activity of home mortgage
loans in majority-minority census tracts and
from Blacks throughout the Bank’s
assessment areas. b. The Bank will ensure
marketing and outreach efforts are inclusive of
all communities, including minority
communities within all the Bank’s assessment
areas. The marketing and outreach efforts
should focus on home mortgage product
awareness. Marketing activities should use
materials and media that reflect the racial and
ethnic composition of the targeted
communities. The Bank should also have
specific advertising and outreach goals,
and the results of these efforts should be
documented, monitored, and evaluated for
effectiveness. 5. Upon Board approval of
this Order, the Bank will provide a copy of the
signed Order to the FDIC's New York
Regional Office within 30 days. 6. Upon
Board approval of such Action Plan, the Bank
will provide a copy of the Plan to the
FDIC’s New York Regional Office. 7. The Bank
will provide the FDIC’s New York Regional Office
with quarterly updates detailing its
progress in meeting the goals listed in the
Action Plan."
Citizens
cannot, as of now, be allowed to acquire this
hot mess. As noted: The applicant
Citizens in 2020 in New York State based on its
disparate marketing made 7183 mortgage loans to
whites, with 3116 denials to whites -- while
making only 323 loans to African Americans, with
more than that in denials: 336.
Here's some of Investors' 2020 HMDA data:
Investors Bank in 2020 in New York State based
on its disparate marketing made 164 mortgage
loans to whites, with 76 denials to whites --
while making only THREE loans to African
Americans, with SEVEN denials. This is far out
of keeping with the demographics, and other
lenders, in NYS - this is outrageous.
This
is a pattern. Investors Bank in 2020 in New
Jersey based on its disparate marketing made
1580 mortgage loans to whites, with 281 denials
to whites -- while making only 64 loans to
African Americans, with 28 denials. This is far
out of keeping with the demographics, and other
lenders, in New Jersey. The comment period
should be extended; evidentiary hearings should
be held; and on the current record, the
application should not be approved."
Watch
this site.
***
September
20, 2021
Our
sweet Kentucky
home - but for
the redlining:
"This is a
timely first
comment
opposing and
requesting an
extension of
the FDIC's
public comment
period on the
Applications
by Stock Yards
Bank to
acquire
Commonwealth
Bank &
Trust.
The applicant
Stock Yard
Bank in
Kentucky in
2022 made 1431
home loans to
whites and
only 39 to
African
Americans
(while denying
18application
from African
Americans, and
only 188 from
whites - down
from 250 in
2019).
Commonwealth
Bank &
Trust in
Kentucky in
2020 made more
loans that its
putative
acquirer, but
was also
disparate: it
made 3358 home
loans to
whites and 156
to African
Americans
(while denying
63 application
from African
Americans, and
459 from
whites). There
is no public
benefit to
this
proposal.
FFW and Inner
City Press
have been
deeply
concerned
about the rush
by the FDIC's
penchant to
rubberstamp
mergers by
redliners,
particularly
during the
pandemic. We
timely request
public
hearings."
September
13, 2021
After Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions, CRA Protest Filed To Deal With Citizens Bank
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Sept 11 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And the proposed
acquisition of Investors Bank by Citizens Bank
NA will be litmus test.
Investors
Bank is one of the most disparate banks in New
York State, where in 2020 it made only three
mortgage loans to African Americans, while
denying fully seven applications from African
Americans. By contrast, it made 164 loans to
whites while denying only 76 applications from
whites.
Inner City Press raised the 2019 disparities to
the FDIC - and on July 30 was contacted by the
FDIC that it imposed rare conditions on
Investors. Letter here.
This has now been raised on Citizens'
application, to the OCC:
"Re:
Timely First Comment Opposing Citizens to
acquire Investors Bank
Dear
Ms. Cummings and others in the OCC, including at
"Large Banks":
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the Applications by Citizens
to acquire Investors Bank.
Before getting to the data, be aware that based
on Fair Finance Watch's comments to the FDIC
about Investors, it recently imposed a condition
on Investors. Investors has yet to meaningfully
implement the required improvements; this
application should not be approved, much less at
this time. The FDIC wrote:
"Matthew
Lee, Esquire Executive Director Inner City
Press/Fair Finance Watch Dear Mr. Lee: We
are writing to inform you that the FDIC approved
Investors Bank’s application to acquire eight
branches from Berkshire Bank. As part of the
application review process, we investigated the
issues you raised in your e-mail dated January
19, 2019... The Bank will develop and Board
approve an Action Plan within 60 days of
the effective date of this Order to ensure
that its home mortgage lending adequately
addresses the credit needs of all segments of
its market areas. The Action Plan should
include, at a minimum, the following: a. The
Bank will regularly monitor application and
origination activity of home mortgage
loans in majority-minority census tracts and
from Blacks throughout the Bank’s
assessment areas. b. The Bank will ensure
marketing and outreach efforts are inclusive of
all communities, including minority
communities within all the Bank’s assessment
areas. The marketing and outreach efforts
should focus on home mortgage product
awareness. Marketing activities should use
materials and media that reflect the racial and
ethnic composition of the targeted
communities. The Bank should also have
specific advertising and outreach goals,
and the results of these efforts should be
documented, monitored, and evaluated for
effectiveness. 5. Upon Board approval of
this Order, the Bank will provide a copy of the
signed Order to the FDIC's New York
Regional Office within 30 days. 6. Upon
Board approval of such Action Plan, the Bank
will provide a copy of the Plan to the
FDIC’s New York Regional Office. 7. The Bank
will provide the FDIC’s New York Regional Office
with quarterly updates detailing its
progress in meeting the goals listed in the
Action Plan."
Citizens
cannot, as of now, be allowed to acquire this
hot mess. As noted: The applicant
Citizens in 2020 in New York State based on its
disparate marketing made 7183 mortgage loans to
whites, with 3116 denials to whites -- while
making only 323 loans to African Americans, with
more than that in denials: 336.
Here's some of Investors' 2020 HMDA data:
Investors Bank in 2020 in New York State based
on its disparate marketing made 164 mortgage
loans to whites, with 76 denials to whites --
while making only THREE loans to African
Americans, with SEVEN denials. This is far out
of keeping with the demographics, and other
lenders, in NYS - this is outrageous.
This
is a pattern. Investors Bank in 2020 in New
Jersey based on its disparate marketing made
1580 mortgage loans to whites, with 281 denials
to whites -- while making only 64 loans to
African Americans, with 28 denials. This is far
out of keeping with the demographics, and other
lenders, in New Jersey. The comment period
should be extended; evidentiary hearings should
be held; and on the current record, the
application should not be approved."
September
6, 2021
OCC Protest of South State-Atlantic Capital Under CRA, How Will Hsu Differ from Before?
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Sept 4 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question.
Now
the proposed acquisition by South State of
Atlantic Capital Bank in Georgia will be a
litmus test. South State is so disparate that in
South Carolina in 2020 for mortgage loans to
African Americans it had more denials (147) than
loans made (133) - while making six loans to
whites for every denial to a white applicant.
On
August 17, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City
Press on the FOIA) filed a comment with the
Federal Reserve Board, below.
Now
on September 4, Fair Finance Watch has commented
to the Office of the Comptroller Currency, which
some say has changed for the better. We'll see.
As
to the Fed, which denies FOIA requests after
five months, here,
on August 25, this strange response: "Dear Mr.
Lee, This is to
acknowledge receipt of your email to the Office
of the Secretary for the Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System (Board) dated August
17, 2021, regarding the proposal of South State
Corporation to merge with Atlantic Capital
Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
Atlantic Capital Bank, NA. To date, South
State Corporation has not filed an application
with the Federal Reserve System.
Currently, the public comment period for the
proposal will end on September 20, 2021.
If an application is filed within the next three
months from the date your comment was sent, your
correspondence will be made part of the record,
and the Board will evaluate your comment.
We will also send a copy of the public portions
of the application as soon as possible after the
application is received.
Sincerely, Jennifer
Snow Senior Examiner Supervision,
Regulation, and Credit Federal Reserve
Bank of Atlanta
Integrity. Excellence. Respect."
How
can there be a comment period with expiration
date, if there is no application? Inner City
Press asked, and on August 26 is told:
"Our
procedures provide that advance notice in the
Federal Register may be requested in advance of
a filing. The comment period end date applies to
the Federal Register notice, which was filed in
advance of the application being filed."
August
30, 2021
AOC Cites Need for Public Alternative To Credit Reports As Inner City Press Asks of CRA
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon UN
censors
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
NEW
YORK, SDNY & EDNY, August 27 – The
difference between retail and wholesale politics
was again on display Friday night, in a town
hall to The Bronx and Queens, when Inner City
Press asked if the Biden Administration is
yet doing enough about bank redlining. (Video to
come).
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a Zoom town
hall, after which she took press questions.
Inner City Press asked, ""Does Rep.
Ocasio-Cortez think the administration's bank
regulators have moved fast enough to increase
scrutiny of redlining, predatory lending and
other abuses?"
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez
said, in short, No.
Acknowledging that it only
scraped the surface, she said
credit reporting agencies and
banks have a conflict of
interest: they profit from
keeping consumers' credit
scores down. She said there
should be a public alternative
- and invited Inner City Press
(and presumably Fair Finance
Watch) to specify work that
needs to be done. That would
be, bank-friendly merger
reviews which have weakened
the Community Reinvestment
Act. We'll have more on that -
and on the UN's continuing ban
on Inner City Press.
August
23, 2021
CRA Protest to South State - Atlantic Capital Shows Disparities In Georgia, Florida & SC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, August 17 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question.
Now
the proposed acquisition by South State
Corporation of Atlantic Capital Bank in Georgia
will be a litmus test. South State is so
disparate that in South Carolina in 2020 for
mortgage loans to African Americans it had more
denials (147) than loans made (133) - while
making six loans to whites for every denial to a
white applicant.
On
August 17, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City
Press on the FOIA) filed this with the Federal
Reserve Board:
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a timely
first comment opposing the Applications of South
State Corporation to merge with Atlantic Capital
Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
Atlantic Capital Bank, NA .
Fair
Finance Watch has been tracking South State Bank
NA: The applicant's South State Bank NA in
2020 in Florida based on its disparate marketing
made 5721 mortgage loans to whites, with 1019
denials to whites -- while making only 143 loans
to African Americans, with 48 denials. This is
far out of keeping with the demographics, and
other lenders, in Florida - this is
outrageous.
This
is a pattern. South State Bank NA in 2020 in
South Carolina based on its disparate marketing
made 3048 mortgage loans to whites, with 537
denials to whites -- while making only 133 loans
to African Americans, with fully 147 denials.
This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and other lenders, in South
Carolina. The denials to African Americans
are... outrageous.
Perhaps
most relevant, South State is disparate in the
state it is trying to make this acquisition to
impose and expand its practices. South State
Bank NA in 2020 in Georgia based on its
disparate marketing made 4068 mortgage loans to
whites, with 451 denials to whites -- while
making only 494 loans to African Americans, with
120 denials. This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and other lenders, in Georgia -
this is outrageous.
The
comment period should be extended; evidentiary
hearings should be held; and on the current
record, the application should not be approved.
August
16, 2021
Valley National - Westchester Bank Is Protested to NYS DFS Lacewell On Lending Disparities
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, August 14 – Whether or
not the U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be
again enforced until the new Administration and
its regulators is an open question. And the
proposed acquisition by disparate lending Valley
National Bank of The Westchester Bank in New
York will be a litmus test, for the NYS
Department of Financial Services, from which
Cuomo ally Linda Lacewell is leaving by August
24.
On
August 14, Fair Finance Watch (with Inner City
Press on the FOIA) filed the below with the NYS
DFS:
August
9, 2021
As Cadence Bank Belatedly Faces Fair Lending DOJ Charge, Inner City Press Told Fed in 2018
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / BRONX, August 2 -- How out of control is
the merger rubber stamping of the U.S. Federal
Reserve and other regulators, even as they are
ostensibly working to improve?
Today it's reported that Cadence Bank is looking
to settle with DOJ on lending discrimination.
But Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch protested
Cadence to the Federal Reserve in 2018 - and the
Fed approved the merger.
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch wrote: "timely
first comment on, the Applications of Cadence
Bancorporation, Houston, Texas; to acquire State
Bank Financial Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia,
and thereby indirectly acquire State Bank and
Trust Company, Macon, Georgia As an initial
matter, this is a request that the FRS
immediately send by email to Inner City Press
all non-exempt portions of the applications /
notices for which the Applicants have requested
confidential treatment.
Fair
Finance Watch has been tracking Cadence Bank: In
2017 in the Dallas, Texas MSA for convention
home purchase loans, Cadence made 99 such loans
to whites - and NONE, not a single origination,
to African Americans. In 2017 in the Houston
Texas MSA for convention home purchase loans,
Cadence made 236 such loans to whites - and only
15 to African Americans, and only 23 to Latinos.
This is not in keeping with the aggregate, which
made 37,128 such loans to whites, 3151 to
African Americans and 8215 to
Latinos.
August
2, 2021
Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions, Faces CRA Protest On Deal With Citizens Bank
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, July 30 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And the proposed
acquisition of Investors Bank by Citizens Bank
NA will be litmus test.
Investors
Bank is one of the most disparate banks in New
York State, where in 2020 it made only three
mortgage loans to African Americans, while
denying fully seven applications from African
Americans. By contrast, it made 164 loans to
whites while denying only 76 applications from
whites.
Inner City Press raised the 2019 disparities to
the FDIC - and on July 30 was contacted by the
FDIC that it imposed rare conditions on
Investors. Letter here.
This will be raised on Citizens' application -
disparities cannot be rewarded, seriatim. The
FDIC wrote: "Matthew Lee,
Esquire Executive Director Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch Dear Mr. Lee: We are writing
to inform you that the FDIC approved Investors
Bank’s application to acquire eight branches
from Berkshire Bank. As part of the application
review process, we investigated the issues you
raised in your e-mail dated January 19, 2019...
The Bank will develop and Board approve an
Action Plan within 60 days of the
effective date of this Order to ensure that its
home mortgage lending adequately addresses
the credit needs of all segments of its market
areas. The Action Plan should include, at
a minimum, the following: a. The Bank will
regularly monitor application and origination
activity of home mortgage loans in
majority-minority census tracts and from Blacks
throughout the Bank’s assessment
areas. b. The Bank will ensure marketing
and outreach efforts are inclusive of all
communities, including minority
communities within all the Bank’s assessment
areas. The marketing and outreach efforts
should focus on home mortgage product
awareness. Marketing activities should use
materials and media that reflect the racial and
ethnic composition of the targeted
communities. The Bank should also have
specific advertising and outreach goals,
and the results of these efforts should be
documented, monitored, and evaluated for
effectiveness. 5. Upon Board approval of
this Order, the Bank will provide a copy of the
signed Order to the FDIC's New York
Regional Office within 30 days. 6. Upon
Board approval of such Action Plan, the Bank
will provide a copy of the Plan to the
FDIC’s New York Regional Office. 7. The Bank
will provide the FDIC’s New York Regional Office
with quarterly updates detailing its
progress in meeting the goals listed in the
Action Plan."
Citizens cannot, as of now, be allowed to
acquire this hot mess.
Citizens
Bank proposes to buy 80 more branches, from
HSBC. So on July 7, from Fair Finance Watch and
Inner City Press on the FOIA, this:
Dear
Deputy Comptrollers incl Kiefer, Ms. Cummings
and others in the OCC:
This is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the Applications by Citizens
Bank NA to acquire branches from HSBC, and close
some of them.
The applicant Citizens in 2020 in New York State
based on its disparate marketing made 7183
mortgage loans to whites, with 3116 denials to
whites -- while making only 323 loans to African
Americans, with more than that in denials: 336.
This is outrageous.
Citizens Bank should be precluded from acquiring
these branches. Additionally, it has not
disclosed which branches it would close.
So which of these would Citizens
close?
See
e.g., for the record on this application, this:
"The branch acquisition also fills in an
important gap in the $187-billion-asset bank's
geographic footprint: New York City. While the
bank does have 111 branches in New York, most of
them are upstate and not around the city, so
this certainly fills in a missing piece. Also, I
expect the bank will find opportunities to
consolidate or close branches, which will
eventually result in cost savings down the
line."
There is no public benefit to this
proposal.
July
26, 2021
Fed On Community Reinvestment Act While Prepares Rubber Stamp for M&T, Old National
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, July 20 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And the proposed
merger of two redlining banks, M&T and
People's United, will be a litmus test, see
below.
On
July 20, the Federal Reserve announced that "it
is committed to working together with the Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to
jointly strengthen and modernize regulations
implementing the Community Reinvestment Act
(CRA). "We are delighted to work together to
develop a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
building on the Board's September 2020 Advance
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which was
intended to provide a framework for a joint
rulemaking that ensures the CRA remains a strong
and effective tool to address inequities in
access to credit and meet the needs of low- and
moderate-income communities and garners broad
support," said Federal Reserve Governor Lael
Brainard."
July
12, 2021
Citizens - HSBC Protest on NY Loans & Branch Closings, OCC Role in Calk Manafort Case
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, July 7 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And the proposed
acquisition of HSBC branches by Citizens Bank
NA, and closing of many of them, will be litmus
test.
Citizens
Bank proposes to buy 80 more branches, from
HSBC. So on July 7, from Fair Finance Watch and
Inner City Press on the FOIA, this:
Dear
Deputy Comptrollers incl Kiefer, Ms. Cummings
and others in the OCC:
This is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the Applications by Citizens
Bank NA to acquire branches from HSBC, and close
some of them.
The applicant Citizens in 2020 in New York State
based on its disparate marketing made 7183
mortgage loans to whites, with 3116 denials to
whites -- while making only 323 loans to African
Americans, with more than that in denials: 336.
This is outrageous.
Citizens Bank should be precluded from acquiring
these branches. Additionally, it has not
disclosed which branches it would close.
So which of these would Citizens
close?
See
e.g., for the record on this application, this:
"The branch acquisition also fills in an
important gap in the $187-billion-asset bank's
geographic footprint: New York City. While the
bank does have 111 branches in New York, most of
them are upstate and not around the city, so
this certainly fills in a missing piece. Also, I
expect the bank will find opportunities to
consolidate or close branches, which will
eventually result in cost savings down the
line."
There is no public benefit to this
proposal.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the OCC's penchant
to rubberstamp mergers by redliners,
particularly during the pandemic. We also note
the OCC's role in The Federal Savings Bank's use
to try to get a job for its CEO with the
previous administration, being exposed today in
SDNY court.
The
branches in danger:
24522
Doral
Branch
4090 NW 97TH
AVE.
MIAMI
FL
33178 Miami-Dade 127750A 24522 Arch St.
Branch 1027 ARCH
STREET
PHILADELPHIA PA
19107 Philadelphia 127753A 24522 Boston
Road
Branch
3478 BOSTON
ROAD
BRONX
NY 10469 Bronx 127764A
24522 Fordham Branch ONE EAST
FORDHAM
ROAD
BRONX
NY 10468 Bronx 127765A
24522 Crosby
Branch 1756
CROSBY
AVENUE
BRONX
NY 10461 Bronx 127766A
24522 Riverdale Branch 569 WEST
235TH
STREET
BRONX
NY 10463 Bronx 127767A
24522 Parkchester
Branch
1499 WEST
AVENUE
BRONX
NY 10462 Bronx 127769A
24522 3rd Ave. and 92nd
Branch
9201 THIRD
AVENUE
BROOKLYN
NY 11209 Kings 127874A
24522
Williamsburgh
252 BEDFORD
AVENUE
BROOKLYN
NY 11211 Kings 127876A
24522 86th St. & 23rd Ave
Branch 2301
86TH
STREET
BROOKLYN
NY 11214 Kings 127878A
24522 9th Street Branch 325 E. 9TH
STREET
BROOKLYN
NY 11215 Kings 127879A
24522 Avenue U Branch 1702 AVENUE
U
BROOKLYN
NY 11229 Kings 127884A
24522 Georgetown
Branch
2145 RALPH
AVE.
BROOKLYN
NY 11234 Kings 127886A
24522 Flatbush & Nostrand
Branch 1545 FLATBUSH
AVE.
BROOKLYN
NY 11210 Kings 127889A
24522 Starret City
Branch
1330 PENNSYLVANIA
AVE.
BROOKLYN
NY 11239 Kings 127891A
24522 Franklin Square Branch 682
DOGWOOD
AVE.
FRANKLIN SQUARE
NY 11010
Nassau
127944A 24522 Levittown Branch 3130
HEMPSTEAD
TURNPIKE
LEVITTOWN
NY 11756
Nassau
127953A 24522 Miami Beach
Branch 301
ARTHUR GODFREY
RD.
MIAMI BEACH
FL 33140
Miami-Dade 127746A 24522 Syosset
Branch 603 JERICHO
TURNPIKE
SYOSSET NY 11791
Nassau
127958A 24522 Tribeca
Branch 110 WEST
BROADWAY
NEW
YORK
NY 10013 New
York 127961A 24522 Lenox
Hill Branch 1340 THIRD
AVE.
NEW
YORK
NY 10075 New
York 127968A 24522 Union
Square
15 UNION SQUARE
WEST
NEW
YORK
NY 10003 New
York 127970A 24522 95th
Street & Amsterdam Avenue
Branch 721
Amsterdam
Avenue
New York NY
10025 New York 127974A
24522 Canal Street
Branch
235 CANAL
STREET
NEW
YORK
NY 10013 New
York 127975A 24522 8th
Ave. & 14th Branch 80 8TH
AVENUE
NEW
YORK
NY 10011 New
York 127978A 24522 57th
Street Branch 252 West 57th
Street
New
York
NY 10019 New
York 127986A 24522 57th
Street & Lexington
Avenue
131 East 57th
Street
New York NY
10022 New York 127988A
24522 86th St. & 3rd
Branch 186 E. 86TH
ST.
NEW
YORK
NY 10028 New
York 127990A 24522
Staten Island
Branch
280 Marsh
Avenue
Staten
Island
NY 10314
Richmond 128076A 24522
Commack Branch 5880 JERICHO
TURNPIKE
COMMACK
NY 11725
Suffolk
128094A 24522 Huntington Village
Branch
355 W. MAIN
STREET
HUNTINGTON
NY 11743
Suffolk
128096A 24522 E. Setauket Branch 300 MAIN
STREET SUITE
1
EAST SETAUKET NY 11733
Suffolk
128097A 24522 Lake Ronkonkoma
Branch
395 PORTION
RD.
LAKE RONKONKOMA NY 11779
Suffolk
128107A 24522 Melville
Branch 534 BROAD HOLLOW
ROAD
MELVILLE NY 11747
Suffolk
128112A 24522 Bohemia
Branch 4040 VETERANS MEMORIAL
HWY.
BOHEMIA NY 11716
Suffolk
128114A 24522 Hampton Bays
Branch 248 MONTAUK HWY.
WEST
HAMPTON
BAYS
NY 11946
Suffolk
128115A 24522 Rye City
Branch 67 PURCHASE
STREET
RYE
NY 10580 Westchester
128141A 24522 Bronxville Branch 74
PONDFIELD
ROAD
BRONXVILLE
NY 10708 Westchester
128143A 24522 New Rochelle
Branch 260 NORTH
AVE.
NEW
ROCHELLE
NY 10801 Westchester
128145A 24522 E. Yonkers Branch 778
YONKERS
AVE.
YONKERS
NY 10704 Westchester
128151A 24522 S. Yonkers Branch 449 S.
BROADWAY
YONKERS
NY 10705 Westchester
128152A 24522 North Avenue
Branch 1300 NORTH
AVENUE
NEW
ROCHELLE
NY 10804 Westchester
128155A 24522 Chelsea
Office 800
6TH
AV
NEW
YORK
NY
10001 New York 128638A
24522
Brickell
1441 Brickell Avenue, Suite
100
MIAMI
FL 33131
Miami-Dade 128786A 24522 Washington D.C.
Branch 1401 I Street,
N.W.
Washington DC
20005 District of
Columbia
129216A 24522 Las Olas
Branch 350 EAST LAS OLAS
BOUEVARD
FORT LAUDERDALE
FL 33301
Broward
130913A 24522 Rockville Centre Branch 330
SUNRISE
HIGHWAY
ROCKVILLE CENTRE NY
11570
Nassau
132604A 24522 Fort Lee
Office 2151
LEMOINE
AVENUE
FORT LEE
NJ 07024
Bergen
132663A 24522 Gramercy Branch 302
3RD
AVENUE
NEW
YORK
NY 10010 New
York 134403A 24522 City
Center 1 CITY
PLACE
WHITE PLAINS
NY
10601 Westchester 134608A 24522
Newport-Pavonia Branch 89 RIVER
DRIVE
JERSEY
CITY
NJ 07310
Hudson
136407A 24522 Rockville Branch
200C EAST MIDDLE
LANE
ROCKVILLE
MD 20850
Montgomery
138446A 24522 Reston
Office
11842 SPECTRUM
CENTER
RESTON
VA 20190
Fairfax
138568A 24522 Bowling Green
Branch 26
BROADWAY
NEW
YORK
NY 10004 New
York 127998A 24522 East
Village Office 143 SECOND
AVENUE
NEW
YORK
NY 10003 New
York 128001A 24522
Hillside Branch
147-02 HILLSIDE
AVE.
JAMAICA
NY 11435
Queens
128051A 24522 Pomonok Branch
156-02 AGUILAR
AVE.
FLUSHING
NY 11367
Queens
128052A 24522
Woodside 5120 NORTHERN
BLVD.
WOODSIDE
NY 11377
Queens
128053A 24522 Elmhurst East
Branch 8703 QUEENS
BLVD.
ELMHURST
NY 11373
Queens
128056A 24522 Glen Oaks Branch 257-15
UNION
TPK
GLEN
OAKS
NY 11004
Queens
128060A 24522 Arlington
Office 4075 WILSON
BOULEVARD
ARLINGTON
VA 22203
Arlington 139486A
24522 Frederick Douglass Boulevard Branch 2063
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
BOULEVARD
NEW
YORK
NY
10026
New York 142566A 24522
Bethesda Office 7637 OLD
GEORGETOWN
ROAD
BETHESDA
MD 20814
Montgomery
143620A 24522 Edison
Branch 1819
STATE ROUTE
27
EDISON
NJ
08817 Middlesex 144070A
24522 River Road 10113 RIVER
ROAD
POTOMAC
MD
20854
Montgomery
147063A 24522 Bayside
Branch 3415 FRANCIS
LEWIS
BLVD.
FLUSHING NY 11358
Queens
128062A 24522 3rd Avenue & 40th Street
617 3rd
Avenue
New
York
NY 10158 New
York 127983A 24522
Montague Street 174
Montague
Street
Brooklyn
NY 11201 Kings 127871A
24522 Coral
Gables
2222 Ponce De Leon Boulevard, Suite
100
Coral
Gables
FL 33134
Dade 127749A 24522 7th Avenue Branch
518 Fashion
Avenue
New
York
NY 10018 New
York 127964A 24522
Alexandria 1700 Diagonal
Road
Alexandria
VA
22314 Alexandria City
138631A 24522 Valley
Stream
750 West Sunrise Highway, Space# 4110 (Green
Acres
Commons)
Valley
Stream
NY 11582
Nassau
127954A 24522 Forest HIlls
Branch
107-19 Continental
Ave
Forest Hills NY
11375
Queens
128068A 24522 Great neck 57
Middle Neck
Road
Great Neck
NY
10023
Nassau
127955A 24522 Carle Place 857
East Gate
Blvd
Garden City
NY
11530
Nassau
127940A 24522 Silver
Springs
8252 Georgia
Avenue
Silver
Springs
MD 20910
Montgomery
209900A 24522 Avenue of the
Americas 1133 Avenue of the
Americas
New York NY
10036 New York 127993A
24522 Northern
Boulevard
144-01 Northern
Boulevard
Flushing
NY 11354
Queens
128061A 24522 Long Island
City 24-15 Queens Plaza
North
Long Island City
NY 11101
Queens
210933A 24522 101
Delancey
101 Delancey
Street
New
York
NY 10002 New
York
210927A
July
5, 2021
Old National - 1st Midwest Is Protested on Indiana & MN Loans, CRA, Fed Abstained PNC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, June 28 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And the proposed
merger of two redlining banks, M&T and
People's United, will be a litmus test, see
below.
And
now another one: Old National's proposal to buy
First Midwest. On June 28, Fair Finance Watch
and Inner City Press on the FOIA) filed this
with the Fed:
Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a timely first comment opposing
and requesting an extension of the FRB's public
comment period on the Applications by Old
National Bancorp, Evansville, Indiana; to merge
with First Midwest Bancorp, Inc., and thereby
indirectly acquire First Midwest
Bank.
The
applicant Old Nationa in Indiana in 2019 based
on its disparate marketing made 3312 mortgage
loans to whites, with 1060 denials to whites --
while making only SIXTY TWO loans to African
Americans, with more than that in denials: 65.
This is outrageous. This is
unacceptable.
Worse,
in 2020 in Indiana Old National made MORE loans
to whites than in 2019 (3976) and essentially
the same to African Americans (65).
In
2020 in Minnesota, based on its disparate
marketing, Old National made 1387 loans to
whites, and only fifty to African
American. This is totally
unacceptable.
So
is this: "First Midwest CEO likely to see pay
jump following Old ... First Midwest's merger
with the Evansville, Ind.-based parent of Old
National Bank will have the unusual distinction
of employing two bank CEOs and two bank...."-
Crain's Chicago Business There
is no public benefit to this
proposal. FFW and Inner
City Press have been deeply concerned about the
rush by the FRS' penchant to rubberstamp mergers
by redliners, particularly during the pandemic.
We note the Fed's recent website statement that
a comment period has been extended to allow
participation amid the Coronavirus crisis. This
should be done, by the Fed's logic, on this and
other applications. Inner City Press has already
filed a FOIA request with the Board for records,
today, with the application still not on the
Board's website, which has no comment period
running past June 17 - the responsive records
must be provided before the comment period can
close.
June
28, 2021
While US Regulators Mull Bank Merger Challenges, Proposed Bill Would Require More
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, June 21 – While the Federal
Reserve has tried to exclude from its scrutiny
of banks questions of labor law violations,
retaliation against whistleblowers and
employment discrimination, a proposed law just
introduced in the US House of Representatives
would change that.
It's called the Greater Supervision In Banking
Act of 2021, and it was introduced by Rep.
Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7). It would require
reporting by global systemically important
bank holding companies of such things as
"any
enforcement actions, including any consent
orders and settlements, against the company
(including any affiliate or subsidiary of the
company), including enforcement
actions
related to labor and health and safety law
violations (in addition to consumer
protection); and
"the
total number of whistleblower and ethics
complaints made by employees through internal
company protocols over the past year, what
issues were involved in the complaints, and what
the resolutions of the complaints were... the
company's actions taken in relation to
climate risk and contribution to climate
change."
June
21, 2021
JPMorgan Chase Is Sued For Retaliation Now Complaints of Sealed Material Blurted In Court
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, June 16 – JPMorgan retaliated
against Donald Turnbull, he says, because it
suspected him of telling DOJ about "a range of
the Bank's institutional failures regarding
manipulative trading
practices."
On June 16, U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge John G. Koeltl held a
proceeding. Inner City Press covered
it.
The
proceeding was public - but a complaint was made
that material for now filed under seal into the
docket was read out in open court. Why so
secret?
The
case is Turnbull v. JPMorgan Chase & Co.,
21-cv-3217 (Koeltl)
And then there are the
requests / demands that Chase return the overdrafts it took
during the COVID crisis...
***
June
14, 2021
Old National - 1st Midwest Will Be Scrutinized After PNC Abstention, As M&T Stonewalls
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, June 7 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And the proposed
merger of two redlining banks, M&T and
People's United, will be a litmus test, see
below.
And
now another one: Old National's proposal to buy
First Midwest. If the Federal Reserve, or at
least Governor (soon to be Fed chair?) Lael
Brainard, had a problem with PNC - BBVA, why now
Old National - First Midwest?
For now we note that in Indiana in 2019 Old
National based on its disparate marketing made
3312 mortgage loans to whites, with 1060 denials
to whites -- while making only SIXTY TWO loans
to African Americans, with more than that in
denials: 65. This is outrageous.
Inner
City Press (and Fair Finance Watch, on the HMDA)
will have more to say about this. Watch this
site.
June
7, 2021
Webster Proposed Sterling Merger Is Challenged to Fed Based on Disparities, Weak PPP Lending
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, June 3– The proposed merger of
Webster Financial Corp. and Sterling Bancorp has
now been challenged, on disparate lending and
regulatory evasions.
Fair Finance Watch has found that in 2019 in its
home state of Connecticut, Webster National Bank
made 3147 mortgage loans to whites, with 1364
denial to whites - while making only 71 loans to
African Americans with fully 99 denials to
African American. This is significantly worse
than other banks in the state; the merger must
be denied.
Now Fair Finance Watch has found even worse
disparities for Webster in New York, and on June
3 filed a formal protest with the Federal
Reserve in DC and Boston:
Webster's
record in New York State is even more disparate.
In 2019 in NYS, Webster Bank based on its
disparate marketing made 356 mortgage loans to
whites, with 178 denial to whites - while making
only EIGHT loans to African Americans with fully
10 denials to African American.
Webster
has also under performed in PPP lending:
"the head of Waterbury-based Webster Bank
admitted his company can improve its performance
in getting money into the hands of loan
applicants. “Certainly we wanted to help
every small business borrower and customer of
Webster that we could,” said CEO John Ciulla,
speaking Tuesday on a conference call. “We got
through approximately 30 percent applications
approved (and) 30 percent funded, plus or minus
a few percentage points on both sides of
that." This and
Webster's dubious "health savings accounts"
which it wants excluded from CRA, must be
reviewed in this proceeding, including in public
hearings As to Sterling, Inner
City Press previously exposed it as having
unreliable CRA data, see, here.
There is no public benefit to
this proposal.
Among the comments on the Community Reinvestment
Act submitted to the Federal Reserve
recently is one from Webster Bank, arguing
that Health Savings Account "deposits should not
be considered when determining whether the
requirement would apply or when delineating such
assessment areas" and should be excluded from
the definition of "retail domestic
deposits."Consequently, HSAs should also be
excluded from Community Development
Financing Metric.
May
31, 2021
Citizens - HSBC Will Be Scrutinized After PNC BBVA Abstention, As M&T People's Stonewall
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, May 26 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And the proposed
merger of two redlining banks, M&T and
People's United, will be a litmus test, see
below.
And
now another one: Citizens Bank's proposal to buy
80 more branches, from HSBC. If the Federal
Reserve, or at least Governor Lael Brainard, had
a problem with PNC - BBVA, why now Citizens -
HSBC? Inner City Press (and Fair Finance Watch,
on the HMDA) will have more to say about this.
Watch this site.
While M&T - People's United still pends in
the Federal Reserve, with a promised expedited
FOIA response still not forthcoming, the Fed in
mid May approved PNC - BBVA, with a rare
abstention by Governor Lael Brainard, albeit on
antitrust and not CRA or fair lending grounds.
But now on May 25, Governor Brainard didn't even
abstain on Huntington - TCF, despite HHI Index
going over 3000 in multiple markets. Limiting
antitrust concern to those with $250 billion is
unwise, and arbitrary. The minimal branch
divestitures are just window dressing. We'll
have more on this.
On March 27, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City
Press on the FOIA filed a challenge with the
Federal Reserve to the banks' application,
below. We await full response to the FOIA.
On
April 12, the Federal Reserve asked M&T 32
questions, including:
"Provide
People’s United’s record and experience with
customer complaints and the types of
actions taken by the company to resolve these
complaints. Explain the complaint handling
process, including identification, evaluation,
monitoring, and resolution. Identify the
number of complaints received during each of the
last two years and how the complaints were
resolved. Discuss the policies and procedures
People’s United has in place to protect
customers and resolve complaints. Please also
provide plans for an integrated complaints
process and any early measures to monitor
consumer complaints following consummation
of the proposed transaction.
May
24, 2021
OCC Is Petitioned To Review Anchorage Paxos Protego & Nicolet - MBank Merger, Test for Hsu
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, May 20 – In the declared wind-down of the
Coronavirus pandemic, at least in the U.S., and
after a fintech and crypto-currency proponent
replaced as Acting Comptroller of the Currency
by Michael Hsu from the Federal Reserve, Nicolet
National Bank with only six loans to African
American versus 2,800 to whites has applied to
the OCC to buy MBank.
Fair Finance, with Inner City Press on the FOIA,
has opposed it, see below. While awaiting to see
what the Hsu OCC will do, he has received a letter
from Senator Sherrod Brown:
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, May 21 – For possible the most
misleading, albeit well-produced, episode of a
news podcast, Inner City Press has a nominee:
the Wall Street Journal's (and Gimlet's) May 17,
2021 episode claiming that in 2020 the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency under Brian
Brooks decided to urge banks to be fairer to
people of color, here.
"5/17/2021
4:00:00 PM No Credit Score, No Problem? Banks
could begin issuing credit cards to people
without credit scores thanks to an effort by a
banking regulator to make lending more racially
equitable. WSJ's AnnaMaria Andriotis tells the
story of how Black Lives Matter protests sparked
the effort and explains how the lending would
work."
Not.
The episode does not even mention the Community
Reinvestment Act, much less that this Brian
Brooks like Joseph Otting before him assaulted
the law, and also issues a since reversed "True
Lender" (or Fake Lender) rule expanding high
cost predatory lending, disproportionately to
people of color.
May
17, 2021
Wisconsin Disparities of Nicolet National Bank Raised Against MBank Merger to Hsu of OCC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, May 15 – In the declared wind-down of the
Coronavirus pandemic, at least in the U.S., and
after a fintech and crypto-currency proponent
replaced as Acting Comptroller of the Currency
by Michael Hsu from the Federal Reserve, Nicolet
National Bank with only six loans to African
American versus 2,800 to whites has applied to
the OCC to buy MBank.
Fair Finance, with Inner City Press on the FOIA,
has opposed it:
"Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency Acting
Comptroller Hsu and Central District
Office Director for District Licensing 425 South
Financial Place, Suite 2700 Chicago, IL
60605
Re:
Timely First Comment on Application by Nicolet
National Bank to acquire mBank - application
must be denied, and referral made, based on
striking disparities
Dear
Acting Comptroller Hsu & others at
OCC:
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the Applications by Nicholet
National Bank to acquire
mBank.
Shockingly, the applicant Nicolet National Bank
in the state of Wisconsin in 2019 made 2,800
HMDA-reported mortgage loans to white - and only
SIX to African Americans.
Beyond
this disparity which requires denial of this
merger application, compare to the industry as a
whole in the state of Wisconsin in 2019: 171,953
loans to whites, 2926 to African
Americans.
The
industry as a whole in Wisconsin in 2019 made
58.7 loans to whites for every loan to an
African American.
May
10, 2021
In Ripple Case SEC Now Requests Records of All Legal Advice on XRP Compliance with Law
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, May 7 – In SEC v. Ripple Labs Inc.
et al., a discovery hearing was held on April 30
before U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York Magistrate Judge Netburn.
Inner City Press live
tweeted it, see below, then put underlying
emails on Patreon here.
On
May 6, Judge Netburn issued an order: "ORDER
granting in part and denying in part [126]
Letter Motion for Discovery. Having reviewed the
parties' submissions, the Court makes the
following clarifications: (1)The SEC must
produce communications with third-parties,
including external agencies and market
participants, subject to a privilege assertion.
(2)The SEC need not produce informal
intra-agency communications, such as emails, and
such communications need not be searched or
logged. (3)Intra-agency memoranda or formal
position papers discussing Bitcoin, Ethereum,
and XRP must be searched for and produced
subject to a privilege assertion. Examples of
such documents include Division reports, final
reports of internal working groups, or formal
position papers submitted to the Commissioners.
Although such documents may ultimately be
privileged, information that would be provided
on a privilege log, such as dates and
participants, may itself be relevant and is
discoverable. (4)Any documents withheld on the
basis of privilege must be identified on a
privilege log. (5)The Court directs the parties
to continue to meet-and-confer on the remaining
issues presented in their letters. Respectfully,
the Clerk of Court is directed to GRANT in PART
the motion at ECF No. 126. (Signed by Magistrate
Judge Sarah Netburn on 5/6/2021)."
On
May 7, the SEC asked Judge Netburn for a
conference to ask for an order compelling Ripple
to "produce documents... discussing any legal
advice Ripple sought or received as to whether
Ripple's offers and sales of XRP were or would
be subject to, and incompliance with, the
federal securities laws." Then many exhibits are
withheld. Watch this site.
From
April 30: Netburn: There is not much case law in
this area. [That's an understatement.]
Judge
Netburn: The SEC's request to a foreign party
could be rejected. But once a foreign regulator
gets involved, it may be more compulsory.
Lawyer:
These are binding agreements, part of
international law. It's not just the SEC calling
up and saying, Could you help us? There is a
treaty. That's not a request. It's back by the
weight and power of the US government.
Defendants don't have the same power.
Lawyer:
There should be a level playing field. Once the
litigation beings, the SEC should play by the
same rules we have do - the Hague Convention,
letters rogatory. The SEC has to abide by this.
Judge:
If you agree you and the SEC could use the Hague
Convention, what's the difference between that
and the SEC's MOU, except that it's a bit easier
for the SEC?
Lawyer:
We only found out because a foreign party told
the company and we raised it to the SEC
Lawyer:
Under the Hague Convention, they'd have to make
the request to you and we'd see it. Here, the
SEC is operating outside the supervision of the
court, in secret.
May
3, 2021
As Crypto Paxos Gets Federal Bank Charter From Still Headless OCC, CRA Litmus Tests
By
Matthew R.
Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, April 26 – In the midst of the
Coronavirus pandemic and after the insurrection,
then-Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks on
January 13 gave another quid pro quo gift, a
bank charter to Anchorage, even as he quit with
a week left in the Administration. Inner City
Press asked, Where might he land and get
rewarded for all this?
Then
in March we learned: Brooks "has joined
blockchain credit startup Spring Labs as its
first independent director, the Marina Del Rey,
California-based fintech bragged." Revolving /
revolting door.
Now in April at the still headless OCC, another
rubber stamp: "The OCC granted a national trust
bank charter to Paxos after [a] thorough review
of the company and its current operations,” the
OCC announced in a press release on April 23.
“In granting this charter, the OCC applied the
same rigorous review and standards applied to
all charter applications." Yeah, rigorous. Where
is the renewed enforcement of the CRA? So far,
the litmus tests are being failed.
Paxos
was founded in 2012 in New York City, but the
company also has offices in Singapore and London
as well. At the end of December 2020, Paxos had
raised roughly $240 million in financing. The
OCC now hands Paxos the authority to exercise
fiduciary powers under 12 USC 92a and 12 CFR
5.26. We'll have more on this.
Meanwhile
Inner City Press' requests under the Freedom of
Information Act into Brooks' conflicts of
interest in the fintech and crypto-currency
world have yet to be fully answered.
Did Brooks take "his" documents with him?
Fair
Finance Watch and others opposed and requested
extensions on Figure, for which OCC has yet to
answer Inner City Press' FOIA request, here
April
26, 2021
Webster Proposed Merger With Sterling Will Be Challenged Based on Disparities, Weak PPP Lending
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, April 20– The proposed merger of
Webster Financial Corp. and Sterling Bancorp
will be challenged, on disparate lending and
regulatory evasions.
Fair Finance Watch has found that in 2019 in its
home state of Connecticut, Webster National Bank
made 3147 mortgage loans to whites, with 1364
denial to whites - while making only 71 loans to
African Americans with fully 99 denials to
African American. This is significantly worse
than other banks in the state; the merger must
be denied.
Among the comments on the Community Reinvestment
Act submitted to the Federal Reserve
recently is one from Webster Bank, arguing
that Health Savings Account "deposits should not
be considered when determining whether the
requirement would apply or when delineating such
assessment areas" and should be excluded from
the definition of "retail domestic
deposits."Consequently, HSAs should also be
excluded from Community Development
Financing Metric.
This
is scam.
Back on May 2, 2020 Fair Finance Watch, and
Inner City Press on FOIA, filed a formal
challenge with Otting's OCC to the application
by Webster Bank to acquire State Farm Bank FSB,
its problematic
health savings accounts, no less.
Webster has also under performed in PPP lending: "the head of Waterbury-based Webster Bank admitted his company can improve its performance in getting money into the hands of loan applicants. “Certainly we wanted to help every small business borrower and customer of Webster that we could,” said CEO John Ciulla, speaking Tuesday on a conference call. “We got through approximately 30 percent applications approved (and) 30 percent funded, plus or minus a few percentage points on both sides of that." On the CRA comments to the Fed, see NCRC's dashboard, here.
Sterling has other issues, which Inner City Press previously documented to the OCC leading to delay. What will the still-delayed new Comptroller of the Currency do? Watch this site.
***
April
19, 2021
In CRA Test BancorpSouth Bid For Cadence Will Be Challenged To Fed BXS Quit to Evade
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, April 17 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced under the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question.
Now, a test. BancorpSouth, which when faced with
race discrimination charges dropped its Federal
Reserve Board holding company to get easier
approvals from the FDIC, says it will buy
Cadence Bancorp and its name.
But Cadence *is* with the Federal Reserve, as
Inner City Press documented here.
So BancorpSouth's regulatory evasion would have
to be reversed - and will be opposed.
BancorpSouth
Bank in Mississippi in 2019 made 3756 home loans
to whites and only 768 to African Americans. Its
denial rate for African Americans was TWICE AS
HIGH as for whites.
BancorpSouth Bank in 2019 made 6 loans to whites
for each denial to whites. It made three loans
to African Americans for every denial to African
Americans.
This
is totally unacceptable.
Cadence
in Texas in 2019 made 3.40 loans to whites for
every denial to whites, versus on 2.0 loans to
African American for every denial to African
American. Fair Finance Watch will be requesting
public hearings.
Previously, Inner City Press protested the
applications of BancorpSouth to merge with
Ouachita Bancshares Corporation and thereby
indirectly acquire Ouachita Independent Bank,
and with Central Community Corporation, and
thereby indirectly acquire First State Bank
Central Texas, Austin, Texas. - based on racial
discrimination in lending.
Then: See, e.g., this.
BancorpSouth's CEO said the company wanted to
“alleviate... regulatory oversight,” and become
the “only state-chartered bank not a part of the
Federal Reserve system.”
April
12, 2021
CRA Litmus Test As M&T People's Challenged On Racial Disparities In Lending in NY CT PA
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, J-I
here – Whether or not the U.S. Community
Reinvestment Act will be again enforced until
the new Administration and its regulators is an
open question. And the proposed merger of two
redlining banks, M&T and People's United,
will be the litmus test.
On March 27, Fair Finance Watch and Inner City
Press on the FOIA filed a challenge with the
Federal Reserve to the banks' application: "This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FRB's public
comment period on the Applications by M&T
Bank Corporation to acquire People's United
Financial.
The applicant M&T in New York State in 2019
made 8,613 home loans to whites and only 629 to
African Americans. M&T in New York
State in 2019 made 3.4 loans to whites for each
denial to whites. It made only 1.4 loans to
African Americans for every denial to African
Americans.
This
is totally
unacceptable.
The applicant M&T in Connecticut in 2019
made 251 home loans to whites and only 27 to
African Americans. M&T in Connecticut
in 2019 made 2 loans to whites for each denial
to whites. It made only 1.28 loans to African
Americans for every denial to African
Americans. This is
unacceptable.
The applicant M&T in Pennsylvania in 2019
made 3565 home loans to whites and only 106 to
African Americans.
M&T
in Pennsylvania in 2019 made 2.52 loans to
whites for each denial to whites. It made only
1.15 loans to African Americans for every denial
to African Americans.
This is totally unacceptable.
Meanwhile, People's says it will close some 140
branches.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the FRS' penchant to
rubberstamp mergers by redliners, particularly
during the pandemic. We note the Fed's recent
website statement that a comment period has been
extended to allow participation amid the
Coronavirus crisis. This should be done, by the
Fed's logic, on this and other applications. We
timely request public hearings.
The
hearings, and your review, should also address
M&T's discrimation, see, e.g., (EEOC v.
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co., d/b/a
M&T Bank., Civil Action No.
1:16-cv-03180-ELH) in U.S. District Court for
the District of Maryland, Northern
Division. See also, this.
April
5, 2021
SoFi Bank Bid To Buy Golden Pacific Protested By Fair Finance Watch As Regulatory Evasion
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, April 3 – In the midst of the Coronavirus
pandemic, and with a fintech and crypto-currency
proponent then installed as Acting Comptroller,
SoFi and its controller SoftBank sought to get a
U.S. bank charter.
On
March 9, 2021 SoFi said it wants to buy Golden
Pacific Bank, to "speed up" its charter and
taking of insured deposits.
March
29, 2021
As Ex-OCC Brooks Cashes Out To Spring Labs His Rules Subject Congressional Review Act
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, March 25 – In the midst of the
Coronavirus pandemic and after the insurrection,
then-Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks on
January 13 gave another quid pro quo gift, a
bank charter to Anchorage, even as he quit with
a week left in the Administration. Inner City
Press asked, Where might he land and get
rewarded for all this?
Now
in March we know: Brooks "has joined blockchain
credit startup Spring Labs as its first
independent director, the Marina Del Rey,
California-based fintech bragged." Revolting
revolving door.
Now,
moves to overturn one of Brooks' last acts:
plans to introduce Congressional Review Act
resolutions to eliminate a Trump-era regulation
that helps lenders charging 179% APR or more
evade state- and voter-approved interest rate
caps. The rushed “fake lender” rule took effect
in December and was issued by the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The rule
protects “rent-a-bank” schemes whereby predatory
lenders (the true lender) launder their loans
through a few rogue banks (the fake lender),
which are exempt from state interest rate caps.
The rule overrides 200 years’ worth of caselaw
allowing courts to see through usury law
evasions to the truth, and replaces it with a
pro-evasion rule that looks only at the fine
print on the loan agreement. Watch this site.
Meanwhile
Inner City Press' requests under the Freedom of
Information Act into Brooks' conflicts of
interest in the fintech and crypto-currency
world have yet to be fully answered. Will
Brooks be taking "his" documents with him?
Brooks went whole hog with Anchorage, the
so-called first crypto bank. It should be
reversed - but will it be? Anchorage was
represented by Dana Syracuse through the
revolving door from the NYS Department of
Financial Services.
Fair
Finance Watch and others opposed and requested
extensions on Figure, for which OCC has yet to
answer Inner City Press' FOIA request, here
March
22, 2021
In CRA Test First National Community Bank Bid for Georgia Heritage First Is Challenged to OCC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, March 20 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open questions.
Two months into the new Administration, Fair
Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA
filed comments with the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency on a proposal in
Georgia, by First National Community Bank to
acquire Heritage First Bank.
"The
applicant First National Community Bank in
Georgia in 2019 made 45 home loans to whites and
only ONE to African
Americans.
"The
target Heritage First Bank in Georgia in 2019
made 44 home loans to whites and also only ONE
to African Americans. This is
totally unacceptable.
FFW and Inner City Press have been deeply
concerned about the rush by the OCC under
previous Comptroller Brooks to rubberstamp
mergers by redliners. This has been killing the
Community Reinvestment Act and we timely request
public hearings.
The
hearings, and your review, should also address
First National Community Bank's prior consent
order: "DUNMORE — First National Community Bank
was released Wednesday from a federal consent
order issued by the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency. The order defined 21
articles the community bank had to address which
included a capital plan to handle property
acquisitions, develop and implement policies and
procedures to ensure compliance with the Bank
Secrecy Act." The comment period should be
extended; evidentiary hearings should be held;
and on the current record, the application
should not be approved."
The
Fed's logic in extending a recent comment period
due to Coronavirus must apply to this and other
applications. These are litmus tests.
March
15, 2021
SoFi Bank Wants To Buy Golden Pacific After Got Charter Rubber Stamped by OCC Brooks
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, March 10 – In the midst of the
Coronavirus pandemic, and with a fintech and
crypto-currency proponent then installed as
Acting Comptroller, SoFi and its controller
SoftBank are seeking to get a U.S. bank charter.
The WSJ and others have reported the bid, but it
is not yet on the OCC's website (which often
lags behind such that public comment periods end
before notice is given).
Meanwhile
Inner City Press' requests under the Freedom of
Information Act into then Acting Comproller
Brian P. Brooks' conflicts of interest in the
fintech and crypto-currency world have yet to be
answers.
And
so on July 13 Fair Finance Watch filed with the
OCC, below. Brooks before his ouster gave
preliminary approval.
Now
on March 9 SoFi says it wants to buy Golden
Pacific Bank, to "speed up" its charter and
taking of insured deposits.
FWW's
protest: "July 13, 2020
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency DC Comptroller Brooks and Mr.
Lybarger, Deputy Comptroller for Licensing
& Northeastern District Office
Re: Timely First Comment on SoFi's
reported application to the OCC to get into
banking
Dear
Mr. Lybarger, Ms. Cummings and others in the
OCC: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
required OCC's public comment period on reported
proposal by SoFi to get a national bank
charter.
This is a major proposal, by a fintech in which
SoftBank has a large stake. Yet, it is not yet
on the OCC's website, where as of July 13 the
most recent Weekly Bulletin cuts on on July 4.
The only charter application listed as open for
comment is Monzo Bank; the New Bank application
link does not work. So, any comment period will
have be be extended. This is a request for the
complete application, all portions that the OCC
after review does not find withholdable under
FOIA.
March
8, 2021
Third Rakuten Application Challenged to FDIC by Inner City Press Reply Is A Form Letter
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, March 6 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced under the new Administration and its
regulators is an open questions.
On the 25th day of the new Administration, Fair
Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA
filed comments with the FDIC on the third
application by Rakuten for Federal deposit
insurance. And then, by regular mail, a form
letter response from Rakuten, cc-ing regulators.
Among
the complaints, most not addressed by the
Rakuten form letter: "Re: Timely first
opposition to (third) application by Rakuten for
FDIC insurance Dear Chairman
McWilliams: Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch is hereby timely
opposing the second re-submission by Rakuten
Card Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Rakuten, Inc.,
of an application for federal deposit insurance
(Rakuten Application) with the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure the
deposits of Rakuten Bank America (Rakuten
Bank).
Not
only do we believe that the revised application
has not meaningfully changed and does little to
address the fundamental question of mixing
banking and non-financial activity as raised by
the initial application, including concerns
involving the use, privacy, and security of
customer information - we also have these
Rakuten-specific concerns which must be
addressed, including at the public hearings we
are hereby timely requesting.
1) "
Rakuten USA, Inc’s Americas President, Yasuhisa
“Yaz” Iida, allegedly grooming, sexually
harassing, and finally, demoting Director of
Corporate Hospitality, Jessica Wyman, who
spurned his advances across two and a half
years." See here
2)
"A former SoftBank Corp. employee has been
arrested on suspicion of illegally disclosing 5G
trade secrets to his new employer, Rakuten
Mobile Inc., as it was preparing to launch its
own mobile network. [Police] arrested
Kuniaki Aiba, 45, on suspicion of leaking secret
information in breach of a law preventing unfair
competition. See, here
3)
Also on anticompetitive behavior by Rakuten:
"antitrust watchdog will launch an investigation
into e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. after
receiving a petition from a group of merchants
over the planned free-shipping policy of the
company's online shopping mall. According
to the petition organized by around 450 Rakuten
marketplace merchants that was signed by 4,000
people, the company is abusing its dominant
position by forcing them to shoulder the costs
of free shipping for all orders." See, here
4)
Rakuten, Inc. has confirmed a judgement has been
issued in a class action lawsuit against its
consolidated subsidiary Buy.com Inc. (currently,
RAKUTEN COMMERCE LLC) (U.S.). 1.Court and date
of judgement (i) Court: United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, here
Procedurally, we requested a copy of Rakuten's
application and received an acknowledgement of
the request - but not yet the application.
"Thank you for your request to receive the
public, non-confidential portion of the selected
deposit insurance application. The FDIC
appreciates your interest and will forward the
requested application to the email address
indicated." The application should have been put
online; the comment period should be
extended. FFW and Inner City
Press have been deeply concerned about the rush
by the FDIC to rubber-stamp mergers by
redliners. This has been killing the Community
Reinvestment Act and we timely request public
hearings, including on these concerns: (i)
significant risks to the Deposit Insurance Fund
(DIF) raised by the affiliation, integration,
and assimilation of banking and non-financial
businesses, and (ii) consumer protection
concerns raised by the collection, use, privacy,
security, and safeguarding of customer
information."
Rakuten's head of banking development Lee Carter
responded with a form letter: "Dear Mr. Lee, I
acknowledge receipt... Thank you for your
comments regarding the proposed CRA Plan...We
welcome relevant and constructive feedback
regarding the CRA plan."
March
1, 2021
CRA Litmus Test Looms on M&T People's Proposal on Money Laundering Plus Redlining
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Feb 22 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open question. And the proposed
merger of two redlining banks, M&T and
People's United, will be the litmus test.
On the 32nd day of the new Administration, the
banks announced a proposed merger. Fair Finance
Watch with Inner City Press exposed M&T as a
redliner as well as money launderer; the first
label applies to People's United as well.
So what willl the regulators in this ostensibly
new world do? CRA protests will be filed, after
FOIA requests. And it will be a, even the,
litmus test. Watch this site.
February
22, 2021
In CRA Test 3d Rakuten Application Challenged to FDIC by Inner City Press on Compliance
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Feb 15 – Whether or not the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced under the new Administration and its
regulators is an open questions.
On the 25th day of the new Administration, Fair
Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA
filed comments with the FDIC on the third
application by Rakuten for Federal deposit
insurance:
"Re:
Timely first opposition to (third) application
by Rakuten for FDIC insurance Dear
Chairman
McWilliams: Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch is hereby timely
opposing the second re-submission by Rakuten
Card Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Rakuten, Inc.,
of an application for federal deposit insurance
(Rakuten Application) with the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure the
deposits of Rakuten Bank America (Rakuten
Bank).
Not
only do we believe that the revised application
has not meaningfully changed and does little to
address the fundamental question of mixing
banking and non-financial activity as raised by
the initial application, including concerns
involving the use, privacy, and security of
customer information - we also have these
Rakuten-specific concerns which must be
addressed, including at the public hearings we
are hereby timely requesting.
1) "
Rakuten USA, Inc’s Americas President, Yasuhisa
“Yaz” Iida, allegedly grooming, sexually
harassing, and finally, demoting Director of
Corporate Hospitality, Jessica Wyman, who
spurned his advances across two and a half
years." See here
2)
"A former SoftBank Corp. employee has been
arrested on suspicion of illegally disclosing 5G
trade secrets to his new employer, Rakuten
Mobile Inc., as it was preparing to launch its
own mobile network. [Police] arrested
Kuniaki Aiba, 45, on suspicion of leaking secret
information in breach of a law preventing unfair
competition. See, here
3)
Also on anticompetitive behavior by Rakuten:
"antitrust watchdog will launch an investigation
into e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. after
receiving a petition from a group of merchants
over the planned free-shipping policy of the
company's online shopping mall. According
to the petition organized by around 450 Rakuten
marketplace merchants that was signed by 4,000
people, the company is abusing its dominant
position by forcing them to shoulder the costs
of free shipping for all orders." See, here
4)
Rakuten, Inc. has confirmed a judgement has been
issued in a class action lawsuit against its
consolidated subsidiary Buy.com Inc. (currently,
RAKUTEN COMMERCE LLC) (U.S.). 1.Court and date
of judgement (i) Court: United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, here
February
15, 2021
Wells Fargo Account Scam Triggers SDNY Suit So Demand By Wells For Arbitration
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Feb 11 – Billy Dixon opened a Wells
Fargo account with $750 in 2013. Then with Wells
Fargo caught up in account opening fraud, it was
closed the money not paid back for three weeks.
Dixon
sued.
On February 11, U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge John P.
Cronan held a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
Wells
Fargo predictably wants to compel arbitration,
or to dismiss the case.
It
has no fewer than three lawyers in the docket.
February
8, 2021
In CRA Test Challenges To VeraBank Panola Application Replied To By Fed But OCC Silent
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL
COURT / S Bronx, Feb 6 – Whether or not the U.S.
Community Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new Administration and its
regulators is an open questions.
On the 10th day of the new Administration, Fair
Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA
filed comments with the post-Brooks Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency and with the
Federal Reserve on a proposal by VeraBank of
Texas to acquire Panola National Bank.
The
issues include that the applicant VeraBank in
Texas in 2019 made 465 home loans to whites and
only NINE to African Americans. Its denial rate
for African Americans was more than FOUR TIMES
than for whites.
That is to say, VeraBank in Texas in 2019 made
3.7 loans to whites for each denial to whites.
It made less than one - 0.81 - loans to African
Americans for every denial to African Americans.
There is also this: "'In the second round we
have seen about half the number of requests that
we did in the first round,' said Brad Tidwell,
president and CEO of Henderson-based VeraBank."
To the OCC, the rubber-stamping of mergers by
redliners under Brian Brooks and Joseph Otting
has been explicitly noted. To the Fed, its logic
in extending a recent comment period due to
Coronavirus must apply to this and other
applications.
February
1, 2021
As
Yellen Takes
Over Treasury
Fair Access
Paused But
What Merger
Rubber
Stamping?
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Jan 29 – The US Treasury
Department's Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency under Joseph Otting and Brian Brooks
rubber stamped bank charters and mergers for
crypto-currency operators and redliners without
regard to the Community Reinvestment Act, or
FOIA.
January
25, 2021
On If
CFPB Whitewash
of Home
Mortgage Data
End Under
Chopra FOIA By
Inner City
Press
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Jan 20 – The US Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau under Kathy Kraninger issued
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data in a way that
excluded more of the public and community groups
more than in any recent year, undermining the
entire purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page.
Now,
what will Rohit Chopra do? The access to data
for grassroots groups no using Excel should be
restored - and FOIA requests, by Inner City
Press and others, must now be answered, see
below.
Inner City Press on submitted this FOIA request:
"Dear CFPB Chief FOIA Officer: Pursuant to
the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.
§ 552, I request from the CFPB any and all
records as that term is defined in FOIA
regarding the CFPB's decision / action to make
the 2018 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data only
available for download (the so-called data
filter) rather then searchable and viewable in
reports on the CFPB website as was the case for
the 2017 data.
To assist you in rapidly providing the requested
information - this is a request for expedited
treatment given that the withholding in
accessible format of the 2018 data each day
hinders low income community groups from
commenting on bank mergers, the only enforcement
mechanism of the Community Reinvestment Act to
prevent bank redlining - be aware that the issue
has been raised to CFPB staff in a number of
conference calls including most recently to,
inter alia Brenda Muniz, Tim Lambert [some
names redacted in this format.]
January
18, 2021
As Crypto Comptroller Brooks Gifts Anchorage He Quits Early So Can Corrupted OCC Be Fixed
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, Jan 14 – In the midst of the Coronavirus
pandemic and after the insurrection, crypto
Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks on
January 13 gave another quid pro quo gift, a
bank charter to Anchorage, even as he quit with
a week left in the Administration. Where might
he land and get rewarded for all this?
Meanwhile
Inner City Press' requests under the Freedom of
Information Act into Brooks' conflicts of
interest in the fintech and crypto-currency
world have yet to be fully answered. Will
Brooks be taking "his" documents with him?
Brooks went whole hog with Anchorage, the
so-called first crypto bank. It should be
reversed - but will it be? Anchorage was
represented by Dana Syracuse through the
revolving door from the NYS Department of
Financial Services.
Fair
Finance Watch and others opposed and requested
extensions on Figure, for which OCC has yet to
answer Inner City Press' FOIA request, here.
January
11, 2021
Manafort Lender Calk In Florida Is Denied Transfer To Illinois OCC Witnesses at Issue
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Jan 7 – Steven M. Calk of
FDIC-regulated Federal Savings Bank was
presented and arraigned on May 23 in the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
for financial institution bribery for corruptly
using his position with FSB to issue $16 million
in high-risk loans to Paul Manafort in a bid to
obtain a senior position with the Trump
administration, namely Undersecretary of the
Army.
On April 23 SDNY Judge Lorna G. Schofield held
an oral argument, by telephone with Calk himself
on the line from Chicago. Inner City Press
covered it, below.
On
December 17, this: " ORDERED that this case is
in second place to be tried beginning on
February 17, 2021. The parties shall be prepared
to begin trial on that date."
Now
on January 7, Judge Schofield held a proceeding
and Inner City Press covered it. Calk, currently
in Florida, had his lawyers argue to transfer
the trial to Chicago. But jury trial there are
banned through at least March 1. Calk's lawyer
stressed their right to confront witnesses; OCC
witnesses arose. Will the OCC's position change?
Or, might Calk get a pardon before January 20?
Inner City Press live tweeted some, here:
Manafort's
lender Calk is arguing again that a Chicago and
not @SDNYLIVE trial would be more
convenient, with OCC witnesses. Will OCC get
more aggressive?
Calk's
lawyer: "Mr. Calk is in Florida today, but would
have no problem being in Chicago whenever
necessary." AUSA: We're not sure the
witnesses could testify by video of the
defense's objections....
Judge
Schofield has just denied the motion to transfer
the trial to Chicago. Calk's lawyers said they
oppose Zoom cross examination. Case to proceed
in SDNY.
Jan
7 podcast here.
On
November 13 Calk again asked to transfer his
case to the Northern District of Illinois,
saying that "critical Chicago-based witnesses"
will not come to New York due to travel
restrictions and COVID quarantine rules.
Calk's
filing listed Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency witnesses Catherine Aguirre and four
unnamed in the Chicago area and one in
Virginia.
Now
on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving,
Calk's lawyers have made a filing stating that
"the infection rate in Illinois is high but may
be cresting; in New York it is lower but clearly
rising." Watch this site.
On September 4 a trial date was set, after
review by the SDNY assignment committee made up
of Judges J. Paul Oetken and P. Kevin Castel and
White Plains-based District Judge Vincent L.
Briccetti: "ORDER as to Stephen M. Calk. It is
hereby ORDERED that the parties are advised that
jury trials will resume, and the jury trial in
this action shall commence on December 2, 2020."
But
on September 11, the US Attorney wrote to Judge
Schofield to put on the record the Illinois has
been added to New York's (and the SDNY's) 14 day
quarantine list, and says it may significantly
impact the feasibility of a December trial. On
September 17 Judge Schofield held a proceeding
on this, and Inner City Press live tweeted it, here
...
While the OCC has yet to sufficiently answer,
and is trying to hinder Inner City Press'
reporting, we will stay on this case.
On May 23, still from the SDNY courthouse
covering other cases including one involving the
death
penalty, Inner City Press reported
finding no U.S. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
data for "Federal Savings Bank." But there's
more.
The
Federal Savings Bank's website,
while providing a generic link to the FDIC, and
a statement "Member FDIC," has no link for the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act. (Nor does it
mention the indictment of Stephen Calk, simply
listing his brother John Calk now as CEO and
Vice Chairman. Who is the chairman?)
It lists a loan production office on Avenue J in
Brooklyn, and two deposit taking braches in
Illinois. Did it see some exemption from the CRA
and other consumer protection laws? From fair
lending laws?
Earlier on the morning of May 24 Inner City
Press asked the FDIC, "Having covered
yesterday's arraignment of the Chairman of The
Federal Savings Bank in the SDNY courthouse,
including the FDIC's involvement, I checked the
bank's website and found "Member FDIC" but no
mention of the Community Reinvestment Act."
The FDIC's spokesperson David Barr, to his
credit, responded quickly, writing to Inner City
Press: "The Federal Savings Bank, Chicago, is
regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency. They would be responsible for CRA
and regulatory oversight. You should contact the
OCC for more information."
Stephen Calk was quoted,
at least in 2012, opposing regulation: "As Mr.
Stephen Calk writes in the September 7, 2012
edition of Origination News: “Basel III is
designed to level the playing field among major
banking institutions that operate
internationally. Force-feeding these same rules
to community banks in the United States is
unnecessary and in fact counter-productive,
particularly in the current economic
environment.” Basel III is one thing. But no
Community Reinvestment Act?
January 4, 2021
Santander Makes Yonkers Towing A Federal Case Citing US Constitution and 42 USC 1983
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Dec 31 – Santander Consumer USA,
Inc. has sued the City of Yonkers, citing the
U.S. Constitution, for towing vehicles in which
Santander has a security interest.
Now
on New Year's Eve Santander has complained to
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
New York Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison about
Yonkers not cooperating with
discovery.
Santanter
writes, "This is a 42 USC 1983 case regarding
the policies and customs of Yonkers and its
towing agent, APOW... the only document Yonkers
produced was a redacted letter relating to some
other seized vehicle. This is not a sufficient
production."
Depositions
are to be completed by January 29, 2021.
The case is Santander Consumer USA, Inc. v. The City of Yonkers, et al., 20-cv-4553 (Karas / Davison)
***
December
28, 2020
Fair Finance Watch Protests Figure Bank at OCC Which Is Now Sued By CSBS in DC District
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SOUTH BRONX, NY, Dec 26– Even amid the Coronavirus pandemic, U.S. banks and fintechs keeps seeking to merge and expand, with less and less oversight. Now the Conference of State Bank Supervisors has sued the OCC, see below, citing "extensive consultation with Figure that occurred during the draft application process."
Fair
Finance Watch, with Inner City Press on the
FOIA, filed a Community Reinvestment Act protest
/ request for extension of the OCC comment
period:
Dear
Comptroller Brooks, Mr. Lybarger, and others in
the OCC: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
required OCC's public comment period on the
application of Figure Bank
NA.
Back on November 23 Inner City Press submitted,
through the OCC's FOIA portal, a request for
"the entirety of the pending applications of,
and all OCC communications since 1/1/2020
with... Figure. The records should be provided
within the comment period on each application,
including OCC communications with the companies
and affiliates, given the policy issues raised
by the
application."
Now at the deadline, despite the policy issues,
no response at all. This is unacceptable. The
comment period must be extended - it is absurd
to require the public to comment while having
none of the information it timely requested.
We will simply note for now that this proposal,
and the rushing and cover up by the OCC, is an
assault on the CRA.
On the obvious need for the OCC to respond to
the FOIA request, from the public record:
"Founder Mike Cagney is always pushing the
envelope, and investors love him for it. Not
long after sexual harassment allegations
prompted him to leave SoFi, the personal finance
company that he co-founded in 2011, he raised
$50 million for a new lending startup called
Figure that has since raised at least $225
million from investors and was valued a year ago
at $1.2 billion. Now, Cagney is trying to
do something unprecedented with Figure."
Unprecedented
- and covered up? Amid sexual harassment
allegations?
For
the above reasons, including the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and restrictions,
the comment period should not yet start or
should extended, until in person public hearings
can be held."
On
December 10, a boiler plate acknowledgement of
comment - with still no response at all to the
FOIA request filed during the comment period:
"Re: Figure Bank, National Association Charter
Application OCC Control Number
2020-WE-Charter-317593
Dear
Mr. Lee: The Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency acknowledges receipt of your letter
dated December 7, 2020 regarding the above
referenced application. We appreciate your
comments and will consider these remarks during
our review of the application. A copy of your
comment letter has been provided to the
applicant for their information."
Now the Conference of State Bank Supervisors has
sued the OCC over Figure: "Because of the
extensive consultation with Figure that occurred
during the draft application process, and the
OCC’s accepting the application as complete, the
OCC’s imminent approval of the Figure Charter
Application is a foregone conclusion.
Additionally, the OCC is actively soliciting
other applications for Nonbank Charters and has
expressed publicly its enthusiasm for issuing
Nonbank Charters. 28. Both CSBS and each of its
members that currently supervise and regulate
Figure’s operations in their states have already
suffered actual injury as a result of the
confusion and disruption of resource allocation
created by the Nonbank Charter Program and
Figure Charter Application, as described herein.
Additional injuries to CSBS and its members are
imminent as Figure prepares to begin operating
as a chartered nonbank and the OCC continues its
pursuit of Case 1:20-cv-03797 Document 1 Filed
12/22/20 Page 9 of 70 10 additional Nonbank
Charter applicants. The injuries suffered by
CSBS and its members have therefore taken a
concrete and particularized form, and the legal
challenge brought by CSBS is fit for
adjudication. 29. For all of these reasons, the
Nonbank Charter Program and the OCC’s imminent
granting of a Nonbank Charter to Figure are
subject to this Court’s review under the
Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) and cannot
stand. CSBS brings this action seeking
declaratory and injunctive relief declaring the
OCC’s Nonbank Charter Program and the Figure
Charter unlawful and enjoining the OCC from
soliciting, accepting, or approving applications
for Nonbank Charters, including the Figure
Charter Application. 30. Additionally, CSBS
seeks a declaration that the OCC’s preemption
regulations (found at 12 CFR §§ 7.4007, 7.4008,
& 34.4) are invalid and enjoining the OCC
from further action pursuant to those
regulations."
December
21, 2020
FDIC
Widens ILC
Loophope As
Abuses FOIA
Exemption 8 To
Withhold From
Inner City
Press
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Dec 11 – How pro-bank has the FDIC
become? There's been evasion of FOIA - and now a
wider ILC loophole.
On
the former, when Inner City Press submitted a
FOIA request for the absurd redactions by
Multi-Bank to its application for a denovo bank
in Florida, the response was that there will be
no review of the redactions to the application -
until the application is
approved.
Also,
the FDIC uses FOIA exemption 8 to say that every
single one of its communications about the
application are exempt. This is a new low.
As
is this, the finalization of an industrial loan
company loophole rule which could, unless
closed, allow Amazon, Facebook, Walmart and even
Google through. Even Bank Policy
Institute
said of an ILC application Inner City Press
opposed, "it will set a
precedent for every other Big
Tech company (Amazon,
Facebook, Google, etc.) to
enter banking through an
[industrial loan company]
charter without consolidated
supervision." This must be
opposed.
Inner
City Press (and Fair Finance Watch) requested:
This
is a FOIA request for (all of) the overly
redacted "public" application of Multi-Bank
Application For DeNovo State Bank in Florida.
Inner City Press has seen the redacted version,
which withholdings from the public and press
information about those involved and their
plans. The entire application should be provide,
along with all of the FDIC's communications with
these applicants for the past year (including
for preparation of public comment - it should be
expedited and provided on a rolling basis).
Here
is the FDIC's response of December 11:
This
is in response to your November 29, 2020 Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) request... In general,
the non-confidential portions of an application
for deposit insurance for a de novo bank, an
application to establish a branch, and other
applications are publicly available in the
appropriate FDIC Regional Office until 180 days
following final disposition of the filing... for
access to the public file, please contact: FDIC
Atlanta Regional Office ATTN: RMS Regional
Director 10 10th Street, NE, Suite 800 Atlanta,
GA 30309 Since a FOIA request for these records
is premature under our regulations, we are
administratively closing this portion of your
request.
So
there is no review of redactions. Outrageous
.
Communications Between the FDIC and Applicants
By its very nature, the information that you
requested, if it exists and could be located,
would be information contained in, or related
to, the examination, operating, or condition
reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the
use of the FDIC in its regulation or supervision
of financial institutions. All of that
information, if it exists and could be located,
would be exempt from disclosure in full under
FOIA Exemption 8, 5 U.S.C. § 552 (b)(8).
Therefore, this portion of your request is
denied under Exemption 8
Inner
City Press has appealed:
This
is a FOIA appeal to the outrageous total denial
by the FDIC to Inner City Press' FOIA request
for the erroneously redacted portions of a
pending bank application, and to communication
about it. Contrary to FOIA and the
practice of other regulators, the December 11
decision ("Denial") by Alisa Colgrove Government
Information Specialist FOIA/Privacy Act Group
makes review of an applicant's redactions
impossible until the FDIC approves an
application.
December
14, 2020
Fair
Finance Watch
Protests
Figure Bank at
OCC Which
Ignores FOIA
Reply Is
Boilerplate
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SOUTH
BRONX, NY, Dec 10– Even amid the Coronavirus
pandemic, U.S. banks and fintechs keeps seeking
to merge and expand, with less and less
oversight. Fair Finance Watch, with
Inner City Press on the FOIA, filed a Community
Reinvestment Act protest / request for extension
of the OCC comment period:
Dear
Comptroller Brooks, Mr. Lybarger, and others in
the OCC: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
required OCC's public comment period on the
application of Figure Bank
NA.
Back on November 23 Inner City Press submitted,
through the OCC's FOIA portal, a request for
"the entirety of the pending applications of,
and all OCC communications since 1/1/2020
with... Figure. The records should be provided
within the comment period on each application,
including OCC communications with the companies
and affiliates, given the policy issues raised
by the
application."
Now at the deadline, despite the policy issues,
no response at all. This is unacceptable. The
comment period must be extended - it is absurd
to require the public to comment while having
none of the information it timely requested.
December
7, 2020
Fair Finance Watch Protests Hanover Bank Bid On Savoy Bank As Bronx and Brooklyn Harmed
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SOUTH
BRONX, NY, Dec 5 – Even amid the Coronavirus
pandemic, U.S. banks keeps seeking to merge and
expand, with less and less
oversight. Fair Finance Watch, with
Inner City Press on the FOIA, has filed a
Community Reinvestment Act protest:
Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation Attn: Frank
Hughes, Regional Director and Robert P.
Cordeiro, Scott D. Strockoz 350 Fifth Avenue,
Suite 1200 New York, NY 10118-0110
Re: Timely First Comment on Applications by
Hanover to acquire Savoy Bank. Dear
Regional Director Vogel and others at the
FDIC:
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FDIC's public
comment period on the Applications by Hanover to
acquire Savoy Bank.
The applicant Hanover in the New York in 2019
made 67 home loans to whites and only THREE to
African Americans. Note that Hanover's CRA
assessment area includes The Bronx, and
Brooklyn.
Hearings are requested on that; they may also
touch on the financing of the proposed deal:
"“We are pleased to announce the successful
completion of our subordinated debt offering,”
said Michael Puorro, Hanover’s Chairman and CEO.
“This offering is directly aligned with
Hanover’s strategic plan of high growth and high
profitability, which continues to create
significant shareholder value. The proceeds from
this transaction provide us with the necessary
capital to finance our recently announced
partnership with Savoy Bank, as well as the
ability to continue to compete in an exciting
marketplace and to execute upon our longer-term
strategic goals.” Stephens Inc. acted as
lead placement agent for the offering, with PNC
Financial Services Group, Inc. acting as
co-placement agent. Windels Marx served as legal
counsel to Hanover and Covington & Burling
LLP served as legal counsel for the placement
agents."
The
comment period should be extended; evidentiary
hearings should be held; and on the current
record, the application should not be
approved From the FDIC: Matthew R. Lee,
Esq. Fair Finance Watch P.O. Box 20047 New York,
New York 10017 Dear Mr. Lee: We received
your e-mail dated November 28, 2020, concerning
Hanover Community Bank’s applications to acquire
Savoy Bank. We reviewed your correspondence in
accordance with the guidelines of 12 C.F.R.
Section 303.2(c) and 303.2(l), and consider it a
protest for the purpose of the applications. We
forwarded your comments to the applicant
That
is,
November
30, 2020
HUD FOIA Case Put Off For Inauguration As Rule on Housing Eligibility May Die Sine Die
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 24 – The Legal Aid
Society, represented by the Winston & Strawn
law firm, has sued the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development under FOIA in
March. On July 16 U.S. District for the Southern
District of New York Judge Lewis J. Liman held
another conference on the case; Inner City Press
covered it.
Now
on November 24 the case has been adjourned "sine
die" because the underlying rule may die. There
was a proceeding on November 24 and Inner City
Press covered it. Reference was made to the
Presidential inauguration being less than 50
days off. Judge Liman apologized for not getting
into the docket endorsement of the adjournment,
and took the opportunity to wish Happy
Thanksgiving and safety. How many other cases
will be adjourned like this?
That FOIA request concerns a HUD rule limiting
eligibility to housing based on immigration
status of family members. The requesters want to
know who worked on the rule.
In another FOIA case against HUD handled by
Judge Liman, PRLDEF now LatinoJustice is seeking
documents about the disproportionate impact of
the "Verification of Eligible Status Rule."
Judge Liman held a proceeding on July 28 and
Inner City Press covered it. A meet and confer
had released a few documents, but HUD still
disputes a fee waiver.
Judge
Liman asked how LatinoJustice plans to
disseminate documents to the public. The
response was, El Diario, Huffington Post, even
the Daily Mail. The next conference was set for
August 20. This case is LatinoJustice PRLDEF v.
HUD, 20-cv-4859 (Liman).
On
July 16 Judge Liman told the parties to agree to
a production schedule by July 27, or to brief
the issue. The Government's lead lawyer said she
will be on vacation. The the deadline remains,
with another conference scheduled for July 31.
There were 640 pages in 132 White House
documents, minus White House briefing documents.
On
September 25 Judge Liman held another conference
with Inner City Press also covered. It came
after a dispute arose whether PRLDEF's request
for mixed-status family data was a new request
not covered by the fee waiver request. Judge
Liman inquired in detail, and set a new October
30 date. Inner City Press will continue to
follow this case.
November
23, 2020
Pro Crypto US Comptroller Brooks Wants To Give Gifts to Anchorage and Figure at 11th Hour
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, Nov 18 – In the midst of the Coronavirus
pandemic and the election, with a fintech and
crypto-currency proponent installed as Acting
Comptroller, SoFi and its controller SoftBank
sought to get and got a U.S. bank charter.
Meanwhile
Inner City Press' requests under the Freedom of
Information Act into Acting Comproller Brian P.
Brooks' conflicts of interest in the fintech and
crypto-currency world have yet to be fully
answered.
Now, with Brooks cynically nominated to be
confirmed (to test out how fast he could be
fired under Section 2 of the National Bank Act),
Brooks has gone whole hog, inviting any and all
crypto firms into the national bank world
through the trust bank loophole, without regard
to CRA or anything else. There is Anchorage,
represented by Dana Syracuse through the
revolving door from the NYS Department of
Financial Services; there is Figure. All this
must be opposed - and will be.
November
16, 2020
While FTC Gets $371 For Discrimination Victims of Bronx Honda Lenders Not Named
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 10 – Bronx Honda of East Tremont
Avenue targeted Bronxites of color for higher
prices; victims now get $371 each from the FTC.
But when Inner City Press checks it out, Bronx
Honda doesn't only use Honda Finance - it says
it has "strong relationships" to find customers
the best loans. So who are the other lenders?
And are they being charged? We aim to have more
on this. Here's from the FTC, November 10:
November
9, 2020
Flagstar Bank Blames Regulators For Golden Parachute Delay But Docket Excludes Public
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 1 – Joseph P.
Campanelli was apparently an officer of Flagstar
Bank, who wants his golden parachute payments
but is being told he can only get them if the
Federal Reserve and FDIC (and, it seems, the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) sign
off.
On
October 30 U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge Paul A. Engelmayer,
to whom the case was assigned in August 2019,
held a proceeding. Inner City Press covered
it.
In the proceeding Judge Engelmayer to his credit
told counsel for Flagstar, which was once
referred to as Flagstaff like in Arizona, that
they could not hide behind the regulators by
citing "best efforts" language in the agreement.
The difficult is that even hours after the open
proceeding, the complaint of PACER still says,
"You do not have permission to view this
document." We will continue on this.
November
2, 2020
SoFi Bank Charter Rubber Stamped by Pro FinTech Comptroller Brooks After FFW Protest
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX, Oct 28 – In the midst of the Coronavirus
pandemic, and with a fintech and crypto-currency
proponent installed as Acting Comptroller, SoFi
and its controller SoftBank are seeking to get a
U.S. bank charter. The WSJ and others have
reported the bid, but it is not yet on the OCC's
website (which often lags behind such that
public comment periods end before notice is
given).
Meanwhile
Inner City Press' requests under the Freedom of
Information Act into Acting Comproller Brian P.
Brooks' conflicts of interest in the fintech and
crypto-currency world have yet to be
answers.
And
so on July 13 Fair Finance Watch filed with the
OCC, including this: "July 13, 2020
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency DC Comptroller Brooks and Mr.
Lybarger, Deputy Comptroller for Licensing
& Northeastern District Office
Re: Timely First Comment on SoFi's
reported application to the OCC to get into
banking
Dear
Mr. Lybarger, Ms. Cummings and others in the
OCC: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
required OCC's public comment period on reported
proposal by SoFi to get a national bank
charter.
This is a major proposal, by a fintech in which
SoftBank has a large stake. Yet, it is not yet
on the OCC's website, where as of July 13 the
most recent Weekly Bulletin cuts on on July 4.
The only charter application listed as open for
comment is Monzo Bank; the New Bank application
link does not work. So, any comment period will
have be be extended. This is a request for the
complete application, all portions that the OCC
after review does not find withholdable under
FOIA.
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch opposed
SoFi's previous, suspended attempt to get into
banking. Since then the questions have only
grown.
For now, we note that Inner City Press asked the
OCC's FOIA unit for a copy of Comptroller
Brooks' conflict of interest list with fintechs
but has yet to receive it. Pending receipt, we
ask that Acting Comptroller Brooks be recused
from this application and that you confirm this
in writing.
As to SoftBank, the dispute regarding another of
its holdings, WeWork, portends the type of
problems that regulators like the OCC are
directed to keep out of, not invite into, the
banking system.
For the above reasons, including the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and restrictions,
the comment period should not yet start or
should extended, until in person public hearings
can be held, and Comptroller Brooks' should be
recused pending/and his conflict of interest
list should be released."
October
26, 2020
Goldman
Sachs Gets
$2.9B Deferred
Prosecution
Deal Like HSBC
Fed Reserved
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
FEDERAL
COURTS NYC, Oct 22 – In the 1MDB scandal
Inner City Press live tweeted a proceeding in
August 2020, here
and below.
Now
on October 22, "today, in federal court in
Brooklyn, Goldman Sachs entered into a deferred
prosecution agreement with the United States
Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of
New York and the Department of Justice’s
Criminal Division, Fraud Section and Money
Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Sections (the
Department) in connection with a criminal
information filed in the Eastern District of New
York charging the Company with conspiracy to
violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.
GS Malaysia pleaded guilty in the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of New York to a
one-count criminal information charging it with
conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery
provisions of the FCPA. Previously, Tim
Leissner, the former Southeast Asia Chairman and
a Participating Managing Director of Goldman
Sachs, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate
the FCPA and conspiracy to commit money
laundering. Ng Chong Hwa, also known as “Roger
Ng,” former Managing Director of Goldman and
Head of Investment Banking for GS Malaysia, has
been charged with conspiracy to violate the FCPA
and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Ng
was extradited from Malaysia to face these
charges and is scheduled for trial in March
2021. All four cases are assigned to U.S.
District Judge Margo K. Brodie of the Eastern
District of New York."
For those counting, HSBC also got a deferred
prosecution agreement. And the Federal Reserve,
in the shadows, has let Goldman Sachs into bank,
and rubber stamps mergers like by Banco Bradesco
to this day. From August
2020:
OK
- in EDNY, 1MDB / Malaysia defendant EDNY Ng
Chong Hwa, a.k.a. “Roger Ng" charged with
conspiring to launder billions of dollars
embezzled from 1Malaysia Development is before
Judge Margo K. Brodie. Inner City Press will
live tweet - thread
Judge
Brodie says there is a back-up of cases caused
by COVID19, no assurance this trial can go
forward in January 2021. Says won't have real
info in September - even if protocol is in
place, it will still be being tested. AUSA
points out extradition from Malaysia
AUSA
says a status conference in early October would
be fine "even if the trial is moved a little
bit." Defense lawyer: I understand the
difficulties of the court. But I'd like to
convince the government or your Honor to loosen
Mr Ng's conditions of home detention
Defense
lawyer: Malaysia is not allowing Americans into
the country at all, at least until September.
This is a challenge we face. We'd like Mr. Ng to
get out a bit more, and exercise. Judge: I think
the parties should work that out. Next date Oct
6 at 10 am?
Judge:
Does that work? Yes. Yes. No need to exclude
time on this matter but I'll do it anyway. See
you in October. Have a good day. Adjourned.
And on Goldman, from SDNY:
Bryan
Cohen, a Goldman Sachs banker charged with
insider trading with the same cooperating
witness as Telemaque Lavidas now on trial, on
January 7 pled guilty to conspiracy to commit
securities fraud.
The US Attorney's Office did not publicize the
proceeding or its 30 to 37 month plea deal, but
Inner City Press was in the U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of New York
Magistrates Court as the only media, and spoke
afterward with Cohen's defense lawyer Benjamin
Brafman. More on Patreon here.
As HSBC and Wells Eye Harlem Brownstone Bankruptcy Appeal Arrives in SDNY
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Oct 22 – Laverne Leonard lives in a
brownstone on 131st Street in Manhattan and is
worried it will be foreclosed on by lenders
and/or servicers who don't even own the loan,
including HSBC and Wells Fargo as server.
On October 22 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge Lewis J.
Liman held a bankruptcy appeal proceeding. Inner
City Press covered it.
Judge
Liman asked where the property is, and noted
that he had a big box of documents related to
the matter. He urged Ms. Leonard to email his
Chambers.
The
case is In Re: Laverne Leonard, 20-cv-6811
(Liman)
October
19, 2020
As Bronx Amalgamated Closing Has Negative Impact Inner City Press Hits BNB Dime Merger
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
South
Bronx, Oct 14 – This is a tale of two
closing of bank branches, in The Bronx and in
Kenosha, Wisconsin.
In the South Bronx closing, by Amalgamated Bank,
the FDIC did not hold a public meeting.
But as to Kenosha, the Federal Reserve has said:
"This is in reference to the notice provided to
the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (“Reserve
Bank”) by Johnson Bank, Racine, Wisconsin to
close its branch located at 2729 18th Street,
Kenosha, Wisconsin. This Reserve
Bank received correspondence regarding the
branch closure which discusses its adverse
effects on available banking services in the
area; this Reserve Bank considers the comment
not frivolous. Therefore, under Federal statute
12 USC § 1831r-1, this Reserve Bank shall
convene a meeting of interested parties to
explore the feasibility of obtaining adequate
alternative facilities and services for the
affected area following the branch closure....
Respectfully, Jeremiah Boyle
Assistant Vice President Community and Economic
Development Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago."
This is the same Federal Reserve which rubber
stamped Banco Bradesco, and even serviced Varo
at the Reserve Bank level. But the FDIC held no
meeting, even virtual, on this (acknowledged as
negatively impactful by the New York State
Department of Financial Services, which has yet
to meaningful act of the negative impacts of
Dime being taken over by BNB, below) --
October
12, 2020
Citibank Tells Those Facing Discrimination To Move But Inner City Press Hits BNB Dime
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
South
Bronx, Oct 6 – Citigroup, the global
colossus, has issued a report including on what
is says individuals can do when faced with
discrimination.
Citibank
recommends... moving. Here,
at page 93: "Move: While a difficult decision,
relocation may be the answer to improved jobs
prospects. Sixty five percent of the Black
population resides in 16 states in the U.S.
However, according to a survey by McKinsey and
Company, on average these states rank below
national averages in metrics that can lead to an
improved quality of life and wealth generation.
Black workers, especially younger workers can
opt to move to states that are generating the
most jobs in high paying industries."
Beyond being a "difficult decision," isn't this
just accepting and perpetuating redlining?
October
5, 2020
Dime Community Bank To Be Bought By BNB With No Loans to African Americans So Protest
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
South
Bronx, Sept 28 – Brooklyn based Dime
Community Bank, it is proposed, would be taken
over by Long Island-based Bridge Bancorp, making
few to no loans to people of color. Fair Finance
Watch has filed a timely protest:
"September
28, 2020 New York State Department of Financial
Services Attn: Linda A. Lacewell, Acting
Superintendent of Financial Services
A Re: Timely First Comment on
Applications by Bridge Bancorp, Inc. to acquire
control of Dime Community Bank and all related
applications
Dear
Acting Superintendent Lacewell: This is a
timely first comment opposing and requesting an
extension of the NYSDFS' public comment period
on the Applications by Bridge Bancorp, Inc. to
acquire control of Dime Community Bank and all
related applications The applicant's BNB
Bank in New York State in 2019 made 108
HMDA-reported loans to whites -- and NONE to
African Americans, and only two to
Latinos.
This is unacceptable and Fair Finance Watch and
Inner City Press hereby timely request public
evidentiary hearings and that Bridge Bancorp's
and BNB Bank's applications be denied on
Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending
grounds.
Dime Community Bank, whose record Inner City
Press has previously critiqued with some impact,
in 2019 in NYS made 16 HMDA reported loans to
whites, five to African Americans and NONE to
Latinos. This is too is unacceptable,
particularly in combination. This proposed
merger should be denied.
See
also, Shelter Island Reporter of July 6, 2020:
"Certain retail locations on the East End
w[ould] operate under the BNB Bank name for at
least one year, according to a press release. It
did not specify which locations.... what started
as a trickle of bank branch closings and mergers
has turned into a river. Capital One was among a
handful of major banks that bucked the trend as
late as 2014, actually adding more branches. But
three years ago it joined the brick-and-mortar
vanishing act, as reflected by branch closings
on the East End, including Shelter Island.
According to The Economist, since the financial
crisis of 2008, banks have closed more than
10,000 branches."
All
impacts of this proposed merger should be
disclosed - this a timely request to be emailed
a copy of the application(s), which should have
been placed on the Department's website for
public review as many Federal agencies do.
The comment period should be extended;
evidentiary hearings should be held; and on the
current record, the application should not be
approved." We'll have more on this.
September
28, 2020
Insurers Beat NYS Regulator In ACA Case in 2d Circuit Now SDNY Follows Suit
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Sept 24 – Insurers sued the NYS
Superintendent of Financial Services for a
2017-18 regulation requiring them to pay a
portion of the funds they received under the
ACA's risk adjustment program into the NYS
treasury.
The
insurers won in the Second Circuit Court of
Appeals.
On
September 24 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge John
G. Koeltl held a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
The State's lawyer wanted a delay, to change
their regulations seemingly voluntarily.
Judge
Koeltl rejected these optics, and granted the
insurers summary judgment.
The case is, or was, UnitedHealthcare of New York, Inc. et al v. Vullo, 17-cv-7694 (Koeltl)
***
September
21, 2020
Varo Bank The Bancorp Application Protested to OCC But Crypto Brooks Rubber Stamps It
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
South
Bronx, Sept 14 – The fintech Varo has
applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency of pro-crypto Brian Brooks for a
transaction with The Bancorp. Fair Finance Watch
filed a timely protest:
"September
7, 2020 Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency DC Comptroller
Brooks & Western District Office 1225
17th Street, Suite 300 Denver, CO
80202
Dear
Comptroller Brooks and others in the
OCC: On behalf of Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch (FFW) and in my
personal capacity, this is questionlessly timely
protest to the application by Varo regarding The
Bancorp.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Sept 15 – Two employees sued
State State Bank for discrimination. Then their
lawyer had some problems
On
September 15 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge Gregory H.
Woods held a status conference. Inner City Press
covered it.
State
Street's lawyer complained about the plaintiff
getting double standards, while purporting to
sympathize for their problems. The plaintiffs
cite State Street's "notorious male-dominated
'Boston club' culture."
September
14, 2020
Varo Bank The Bancorp Application Protested to OCC of Crypto Brooks By Fair Finance Watch
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
South
Bronx, Sept 7 – The fintech Varo has
applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency of pro-crypto Brian Brooks for a
transaction with The Bancorp. Fair Finance Watch
has filed a timely protest:
"September
7, 2020 Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency DC Comptroller
Brooks & Western District Office 1225
17th Street, Suite 300 Denver, CO
80202
Dear
Comptroller Brooks and others in the
OCC: On behalf of Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch (FFW) and in my
personal capacity, this is questionlessly timely
protest to the application by Varo regarding The
Bancorp.
FFW
and Inner City Press are deeply concerned about
the rush by the OCC under Acting Comptroller
Brooks to let fintechs and others into banking,
and by his comment about not regulating entities
(banks) but rather activities. This is killing
the Community Reinvestment Act and we timely
request public hearings.
As
to Varo, consider for example the recent
consumer complaints below, on top of their
service interruption in October 2019, including
declined debit card transactions, which they
tried to blame on their processor Galileo. See,
e.g., this.
More
fundementally, consider weakened CRA duties, and
disproportionate exclusion: low and moderate
consumers disproportionately have prepaid or
limited data plans and face disconnections of
their mobile service. And just because consumers
have email addresses does not mean that they
have regular internet access, and if they close
or move their accounts, they may lose access to
their financial records.
Despite
or perhaps because of these and the service
interruptions, using OCC deregulation, "Varo
Money has raised an additional $241 million in
Series D funding, the company announced today.
The investment was co-led by new investor
Gallatin Point Capital and existing investor The
Rise Fund, co-founded by TPG. Also participating
in the round were Bono (yes, that one), along
with entrepreneur, impact investor and movie
producer Jeff Skoll; plus HarbourVest Partners
and Progressive Insurance. To date, Varo
has raised $419.4 million in
funding."
See
also, for the record on which Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch and I are timely requesting
evidentiary hearings on this application, " NEWS
Technology Finance Unregulated Fintech
Could be the Source of the Next Market Crash
Posted to
TechnologyFinance."
Here
for the record are recent consumer complaints
against Varo: Sep 02 Froze my account
because I transferred money 3 times! 2.5 Details
Varo Money - Froze my account because I
transferred money 3 times! Varo Money - Froze my
account because I transferred money 3 times! I
was speechless when I received an email from
Varo saying my account had been frozen due to an
a number of transfers from my Chime account. I
had a total of 3 transfers in the past year that
I've had the account. I have $9,754 in my
account and it came from unemployment, school
refunds and tax refund. They won't respond to
emails and customer service doens't know
anything. How can this be legal? User's
recommendation: find another bank because they
will freeze your account. No way to
communicate with someone LOSS $9754 PREFERRED
SOLUTION I want my money to be released
immediately so I can transfer it to another
bank
Aug
07 Their website leaves many unanswered
questions and when I called their listed phone
number there was a very long and detailed
recording and only by accident could you reach a
prompt to talk with an agent. Another recording
indicated that there would be a long delay in
reaching an agent followed by some distorted
music. After 20 minutes still no response so I
disconnected. Their entire platform seems
confusing and convoluted with unnecessary
information. I would question the security of
doing banking matters in an entirely mobile
format with no customer service.
Aug
04 Terrible service They closed my
account. I've sent them 4 forms of id, proof of
address, etc. After sending all that they said
they still couldn't verify my identity and
closed by account that I've had for years. Now
I'm waiting for them to send my direct deposit
back , and it's been a few days. User's
recommendation: Don't use them."
We timely request public hearings on, and the
denial of, this application. Thank you for
your prompt attention, Matthew R.
Lee Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch."
The Federal Reserve coordinated its timing with
the OCC of Brian Brooks, who has numerous
conflicts of interest in the fintech
field. Varo has bragged, "Varo
has filed its Strategic Plan with the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency and believes
that it will be approved in the near future.
Varo respectfully submits that the OCC process
is the appropriate forum for his comments. The
Comment Letter vaguely references the “COVID-19
pandemic” and “Coronavirus restrictions” without
providing any clear or definite demonstration as
to how such pandemic or restrictions have
interfered with the Commenter’s ability to meet
the specified comment period or given rise to
any hardship to Commenter or other meritorious
reason to extend the comment period, or how the
arbitrarily chosen “Phase Two” of such
restrictions would alleviate any such
unsubstantiated causes for delay. To the
contrary, by virtue of the scope and content of
the Comment Letter itself, the Commenter has
clearly demonstrated his ability to comment
within the specified comment period."
What arrogance - commenting amid lockdowns is
fine, the OCC is the place to comment. Well, now
it's in.
September
7, 2020
From Coinbase Brooks Into OCC Says Will Not Regulate Entities Or Obey SDNY or CRA
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN
GATE / SDNY COURT, Sept 1 – Acting U.S.
Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks, as
Coinbase’s chief legal officer, was paid
$1.4 million in salary -- separate from the
stock options -- in the year and a half he spent
with company, which had weighed seeking a
charter through the OCC before making other
moves to access the banking system."
Now Brooks says, "I'm increasingly thinking of
this agency as an activities regulator, not an
entity regulator." But since the Community
Reinvestment Act is enforced with regard to
entities, this is an even more egregious attach
on CRA than Otting engaged in. Combined with
Brooks open contempt for rulings of the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New
York, it shows why he should be removed as
Comptroller.
On
his conflicts of interest, Inner City Press
asked - and then requested under FOIA - what are
the "other tech firms" as to which Brooks is
acknowledging a conflict.
The OCC wrote to Inner City Press, faux
apologizing for withholding information it has
requested about Otting until after he had left
the agency. Inner City Press immediately wrote
back requesting a copy of Brooks' ethics letter
and list of companies as to which even he
acknowledges a conflict of interest.
On June 18, that simple request was denied and
so a FOIA request was filed, see below.
And now more than a month later on July 22 the
OCC has provide to Inner City Press under FOIA a
copy of the ethics memo that Brooks is recused
on: Amazon (minus AWS), Avant, Aventas, Merrill
Lynch, CoinBase, EarnUp, Spring Labs, TextIQ -
and Citibank N.A. residential mortgage
business." We'll have more on this.
From Inner City Press' FOIA request: "This is a
request under FOIA on behalf of Inner City Press
and in my personal capacity for all records
concerning conflicts of interest or the
appearance of conflict of interest by Acting
Comptroller Brian Brooks, including but not
limited to the Ethics letter Inner City Press
requested from the OCC, below, and Coinbase,
Avant, OneWest and any other firm. Inner
City Press in responding to a request by OCC to
"close out" a FOIA request still not completed
asked "I do have an OCC public information /
transparency question - for the Acting
Comptroller's ethics filing - can it be sent to
me at Matthew.Lee@innercitypress.com? To
identify it: "Brooks has submitted a letter
through the agency's ethics office outlining
companies he'll steer clear of because of
potential conflicts of interest, including
Amazon.com Inc., Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill
Lynch unit, Coinbase and a number of other tech
firms he's worked with." What are those
companies? Thanks, -Matthew Lee, Inner City
Press" Days later and minutes ago Inner
City Press received this: Good Morning Mr.
Lee.... I don't know the answer to the
question you asked. You should file a FOIA
request for the records you seek regarding the
Acting Comptroller. " This is that request, on
which expedited treatment should be granted -
such disclosures are among the very purposes of
FOIA." Watch this site.
August
31, 2020
Japanese
FinTech
Rakuten
Retreats From
CRA Evasion
While OCC and
Fed Cheer On
Varo
By
Matthew R. Lee
SOUTH
BRONX, Aug 23 – Amid attacks on the U.S.
Community Reinvestment Act now under Brian
Brooks after Joseph Otting had his turn as
Comptroller of the Currency, now Japan's Rakuten
has withdrawn its application to get into
banking. The opposition of smaller American
banks didn't stop the OCC, and Federal Reserve
on a delegated basis, from rubber stamping Varo
into banking. But the line has been drawn,
curved like an arrogant Amazon "smile," at this
Japanese Internet company.
August
24, 2020
Sued for PPP JPM Chase Citigroup Signature Tell Judge Rakoff of Chevron Deference
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Aug 21 – In the U.S. Paycheck
Protection Program, banks limited the loans to
their own customers first. Then they refused to
pay compensation to agents, and got sued.
On
August 21 U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff held an
oral argument, on Zoom. Inner City Press covered
it.
A lead defendant is JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A..
There's also Citigroup, MUFG Union Bank and
Signature Bank.
Judge
Rakoff was directed to Chevron deference and
quipped, I think that's still good law. When the
Zoom broke down, he said it must be "Putin."
The banks have moved to dismiss for failure to
state a claim and for lack of subject matter
jurisdiction.
By the end of the proceeding, Judge Rakoff
allowed sur-rebuttal and promised a prompt
decision.
August
17, 2020
The
regulators,
even amid the
COVID-19
pandemic, have
shown a
willingness to
rubber stamp
applications
including the
Federal
Reserve on a
"delegate" /
approval-only
basis as they
did with
Varo's
application to
become a bank
holding
company.
But
these moves
are drawing
increasing
scrutiny, and
some
bad-actors are
having to
settle
charges, like
Capital One's
$80 million
fine, here....
Aug, Texas:
"Three
affiliated
banks have
announced a
merger to form
a Central
Texas banking
franchise in
San Antonio,
Austin and the
Texas Hill
Country.
Southwest
Bancshares,
Inc., a bank
holding
company for
the Bank of
San Antonio,
Capitol of
Texas
Bancshares,
Inc., a bank
holding
company for
the Bank of
Austin, and
Texas Hill
Country
Bancshares,
for the Texas
Hill Country
Bank, will
merge into one
company"
July 17,
Missouri:
"United State
Bank, based in
Lewistown,
Missouri,
signed a
pending
acquisition
agreement with
Canton State
Bank, based in
Canton,
Missouri"
There are more
branch
closures, for
example in
Michigan,
here.
And Florida,
here (and
South
Carolina,
here).
August
10, 2020
Rubber Stamp of Varo Bank Protested to Federal Reserve Chair Powell Collusion With OCC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
South
Bronx, Aug 3 – How corrupt has the Federal
Reserve become using the COVID-19 pandemic as
ground cover? Well, despite rules that
substantively challenged applications can only
be approved by the Board of Governors in DC, on
July 28 the Fed rubber stamped on a delegated
basis fintech Varo's application to form a bank
holding company. It is an unprecedented now low
- but happens while the Federal Reserve
withholds under FOIA all information about the
impact of COVID-19 on the application by
Brazil-based Banco Bradesco. Something has gone
dreadfully wrong on C St.
Here's the Fed's - Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco's - July 28 letter, sent to Inner City
Press: "Dear Mr. Walsh:
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
(“Reserve Bank”), acting under authority
delegated by the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (“Board”), and having
considered the relevant statutory factors,
hereby approves the subject application. In
consideration of this filing, reliance was
placed upon all the representations and the
commitments made by or on behalf of Bancorp. No
significant changes in the transaction should be
made prior to consummation without our approval.
Approval of the application is subject to the
Board’s authority to require reports by and make
inspections and examinations of BHCs and their
subsidiaries, and to require such modification
or termination of activities of a holding
company or any of its subsidiaries as the Board
finds necessary to ensure compliance with the
BHC Act. Approval of the application is also
subject to receipt of all other required
regulatory approvals, non-objections, or
consents with this transaction. The proposed
transaction may be consummated upon approval. 1
Please notify the undersigned in writing when
the transaction is consummated."
August
3, 2020
Federal Reserve Rubber Stamps Varo Into Banking On Delegated Basis As Denies FOIAs
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
South
Bronx, July 28– How corrupt has the
Federal Reserve become using the COVID-19
pandemic as ground cover? Well, despite rules
that substantively challenged applications can
only be approved by the Board of Governors in
DC, on July 28 the Fed rubber stamped on a
delegated basis fintech Varo's application to
form a bank holding company. It is an
unprecedented now low - but happens while the
Federal Reserve withholds under FOIA all
information about the impact of COVID-19 on the
application by Brazil-based Banco Bradesco.
Something has gone dreadfully wrong on C St.
Here's the Fed's - Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco's - July 28 letter, sent to Inner City
Press: "July 28, 2020
Via Electronic Mail Mr. Colin Walsh Varo Money,
Inc. 222 Kearny Street, 9th Floor San Francisco,
California 94108 RE: Varo Money, Inc., San
Francisco, California (“Bancorp”), to become a
bank holding company (“BHC”) through the
acquisition of 100 percent of the voting shares
of Varo Bank, N.A. (In Organization), Draper,
Utah, pursuant to Section 3(a)(1) of the Bank
Holding Company Act (“BHC Act”) Dear Mr. Walsh:
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
(“Reserve Bank”), acting under authority
delegated by the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (“Board”), and having
considered the relevant statutory factors,
hereby approves the subject application. In
consideration of this filing, reliance was
placed upon all the representations and the
commitments made by or on behalf of Bancorp. No
significant changes in the transaction should be
made prior to consummation without our approval.
Approval of the application is subject to the
Board’s authority to require reports by and make
inspections and examinations of BHCs and their
subsidiaries, and to require such modification
or termination of activities of a holding
company or any of its subsidiaries as the Board
finds necessary to ensure compliance with the
BHC Act. Approval of the application is also
subject to receipt of all other required
regulatory approvals, non-objections, or
consents with this transaction. The proposed
transaction may be consummated upon approval. 1
Please notify the undersigned in writing when
the transaction is consummated."
July
27, 2020
From Coinbase Brooks Into OCC With List of Conflicts Avant Aventas and Some of Citibank
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN
GATE / SDNY COURT, July 22 – Acting U.S.
Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks, as
Coinbase’s chief legal officer, was paid
$1.4 million in salary -- separate from the
stock options -- in the year and a half he spent
with company, which had weighed seeking a
charter through the OCC before making other
moves to access the banking system."
Inner City Press asked - and then requested
under FOIA - what are the "other tech firms" as
to which Brooks is acknowledging a conflict.
The OCC wrote to Inner City Press, faux
apologizing for withholding information it has
requested about Otting until after he had left
the agency. Inner City Press immediately wrote
back requesting a copy of Brooks' ethics letter
and list of companies as to which even he
acknowledges a conflict of interest.
On June 18, that simple request was denied and
so a FOIA request was filed, see below.
July
20, 2020
SoFi Bid For Bank Charter From Pro FinTech Comptroller Brooks Is Opposed By Fair Finance Watch
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH
BRONX / SDNY, July 13 – In the midst of
the Coronavirus pandemic, and with a fintech and
crypto-currency proponent installed as Acting
Comptroller, SoFi and its controller SoftBank
are seeking to get a U.S. bank charter. The WSJ
and others have reported the bid, but it is not
yet on the OCC's website (which often lags
behind such that public comment periods end
before notice is given).
Meanwhile
Inner City Press' requests under the Freedom of
Information Act into Acting Comproller Brian P.
Brooks' conflicts of interest in the fintech and
crypto-currency world have yet to be
answers.
And
so on July 13 Fair Finance Watch filed with the
OCC, including this: "July 13, 2020
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency DC Comptroller Brooks and Mr.
Lybarger, Deputy Comptroller for Licensing
& Northeastern District Office
Re: Timely First Comment on SoFi's
reported application to the OCC to get into
banking
Dear
Mr. Lybarger, Ms. Cummings and others in the
OCC: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
required OCC's public comment period on reported
proposal by SoFi to get a national bank
charter.
This is a major proposal, by a fintech in which
SoftBank has a large stake. Yet, it is not yet
on the OCC's website, where as of July 13 the
most recent Weekly Bulletin cuts on on July 4.
The only charter application listed as open for
comment is Monzo Bank; the New Bank application
link does not work. So, any comment period will
have be be extended. This is a request for the
complete application, all portions that the OCC
after review does not find withholdable under
FOIA.
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch opposed
SoFi's previous, suspended attempt to get into
banking. Since then the questions have only
grown.
For now, we note that Inner City Press asked the
OCC's FOIA unit for a copy of Comptroller
Brooks' conflict of interest list with fintechs
but has yet to receive it. Pending receipt, we
ask that Acting Comptroller Brooks be recused
from this application and that you confirm this
in writing.
As to SoftBank, the dispute regarding another of
its holdings, WeWork, portends the type of
problems that regulators like the OCC are
directed to keep out of, not invite into, the
banking system.
For the above reasons, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and restrictions, the comment period should not yet start or should extended, until in person public hearings can be held, and Comptroller Brooks' should be recused pending/and his conflict of interest list should be released." Watch this site.
***
July
13, 2020
Epstein Deals of Deutsche Bank Trigger $150M NYS Fine As UN Maxwell Deals UNexplained
By
Matthew Russell Lee Patreon Periscope Song
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
-
Source
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, July 7 – After the death of Jeffrey
Epstein in the MCC prison, on July 2 Acting US
Attorney for the Southern District of New York
Audrey Strauss announced and unsealed in
indictment of Maxwell on charges including sex
trafficking and perjury.
Inner City Press went to her press conference at
the US Attorney's Office and asked, Doesn't
charging Maxwell with perjury undercut any
ability to use testimony from her against other,
bigger wrong-doers? Periscope here
at 23:07.
Strauss replied that it is not impossible to use
a perjurer's testimony. But how often does it
work?
Now on July 7 from NYS Superintendent of
Financial Services Linda A. Lacewell, this: "Deutsche
Bank AG, its New York branch, and Deutsche
Bank Trust Company America (collectively
“Deutsche Bank” or the “Bank”) have agreed to
pay $150 million in penalties as part of a
Consent Order entered into with the New York
State Department of Financial Services (“DFS” or
the “Department”) for significant compliance
failures in connection with the Bank’s
relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and
correspondent banking relationships with Danske
Bank Estonia (“Danske Estonia”) and FBME Bank
(“FBME”). This agreement marks
the first enforcement action by a regulator
against a financial institution for dealings
with Jeffrey Epstein. “Banks are the
first line of defense with respect to preventing
the facilitation of crime through the financial
system, and it is fundamental that banks tailor
the monitoring of their customers’ activity
based upon the types of risk that are posed by a
particular customer,” Superintendent Lacewell
said. “In each of the cases that are being
resolved today, Deutsche Bank failed to
adequately monitor the activity of customers
that the Bank itself deemed to be high risk. In
the case of Jeffrey Epstein in particular,
despite knowing Mr. Epstein’s terrible criminal
history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect
or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious
transactions.” With respect to the
case of Jeffrey Epstein, the Bank failed to
properly monitor account activity conducted on
behalf of the registered sex offender despite
ample information that was publicly available
concerning the circumstances surrounding Mr.
Epstein’s earlier criminal misconduct. The
result was that the Bank processed hundreds of
transactions totaling millions of dollars that,
at the very least, should have prompted
additional scrutiny in light of Mr. Epstein’s
history, including: payments to
individuals who were publicly alleged to have
been Mr. Epstein’s co-conspirators in sexually
abusing young women; settlement
payments totaling over $7 million, as well as
dozens of payments to law firms totaling over $6
million for what appear to have been the legal
expenses of Mr. Epstein and his
co-conspirators; payments to Russian
models, payments for women’s school tuition,
hotel and rent expenses, and (consistent with
public allegations of prior wrongdoing) payments
directly to numerous women with Eastern European
surnames; and periodic suspicious cash
withdrawals — in total, more than $800,000 over
approximately four years. This substantive
failure was compounded by a series of procedural
failures, mistakes, and sloppiness in how the
Bank managed and oversaw the Epstein accounts.
For example, certain conditions imposed upon the
Epstein accounts by a Bank reputational risk
committee — conditions that, if followed, might
have detected and prevented many subsequent
suspicious transactions — (a) were not
transmitted to the majority of the account
relationship team; and (b) were misinterpreted
by a compliance officer in a way that resulted
in very little actual change in how the
monitoring of the accounts occurred. Throughout
the relationship, very few problematic
transactions were ever questioned, and even when
they were, they were usually cleared without
satisfactory explanation." We'll have more on
this.
In the July 3 media coverage of Epstein's
procurer Ghislaine Maxwell, media all of the
world used a video and stills from it of Maxwell
speaking in front of a blue curtain, like here.
What
they did not mention is something Inner City
Press has been asking the UN about, as under
UNSG Antonio Guterres with his own sexual
exploitation issues (exclusive video
and audio)
it got roughed up and banned
from the UN: Ghislaine Maxwell had a ghoulish
United Nations press conference, under the
banner of the "Terramar Project," here.
On July 5, after some crowd-sourcing, Inner City
Press reported on another Ghislaine Maxwell use
of the United Nations, facilitated by Italy's
Permanent Representative to the UN, UN official
Nikhil Seth and Amir Dossal, who also let into
the UN and in one case took money from convicted
UN briber Ng Lap Seng, and Patrick Ho of CEFC
China Energy, also linked to UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres.
At the Ghislaine Maxwell UN event, the UN Deputy
Secretary General was directly involved.
List
of (some of) the participants on Patreon here.
Antonio
Guterres claims he has zero tolerance for sexual
exploitation, but covers it up and even
participate in it. He should be forced to resign
- and/or have immunity waived.
Terramar has been dissolved, even though
Maxwell's former fundraiser / director of
development Brian Yurasits still lists the URL
on his (protected) Twitter profile,
also here.
But now Inner City Press has begun to inquire
into Ghislaine Maxwell's other United Nations
connections, starting with this photograph of
another day's (or at least another outfit's)
presentation in the UN, here.
While co-conspirator Antonio Guterres has had
Inner City Press banned from any entry into the
UN for two years and a day, this appears to be
in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
chamber. We'll have more on this, and on Epstein
and the UN. Watch this site.
July
6, 2020
On Manafort Lender Stephen Calk Trial Reset For Dec 1 Witness List Has Gates and Kushner
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, June 28 – Steven M. Calk of
FDIC-regulated Federal Savings Bank was
presented and arraigned on May 23 in the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
for financial institution bribery for corruptly
using his position with FSB to issue $16 million
in high-risk loans to Paul Manafort in a bid to
obtain a senior position with the Trump
administration, namely Undersecretary of the
Army.
On April 23 SDNY Judge Lorna G. Schofield held
an oral argument, by telephone with Calk himself
on the line from Chicago. Inner City Press
covered it, below.
On
July 2, Judge Schofield held a proceeding. Inner
City Press live tweeted it:
Assistant
US Attorney Paul Monteleoni rattled off COVID
bad news, to request trial later in 2021. He
says Broadway is closed through 2020, indoor
dining pushed back, possible outbreak in
Rockland County.
AUSA
Monteleoni floats the idea of a witness having
to go into 2 week quarantine. Notes that
incarcerated defendants will get first trials.
US Attorney does not want December 2020.
Judge
Schofield: This is complex. There are 26 active
judges, and senior judges, many trials waiting.
So, I think what I'll do at the moment is set a
December trial date with the understanding that
we all need to talk with each other. We'll take
the earliest date. I'll set it for Tuesday,
December 1. Take it with a grain of salt. I
won't schedule a conference now. Let's move on
to the motions that are at issue. The motions to
compel...
AUSA:
They've asked us for a document and we're
working on it.
Judge
Schofield: Let's move on to the issue of
sanctions.
Calk's
lawyer: Government wrote to you in August, for
six weeks to give documents from the Special
Counsel's office. They took longer; we did not
complain. But in March we learned of millions of
more pages. We only got the documents in April -
but the government learned about them in
December. We felt this was unfair, given the
government an unfair tactical advantage for
trial.
Calk's
lawyer: "The government has put on its witness
list Mr. Manafort, Gates and Kushner."
Judge
Schofield: The defendant's motion for sanctions
for US discovery violations is denied. Court's
examine the culpability and prejudice to the
defendant. Miranda, 2d Cir, 1975. Here, the
government was untimely, the argument goes. But
it was not intentional.
June
29, 2020
Once Otting Out of OCC To Black Knight His Anti CRA Rule Challenged NDCA Court
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, June 25 – On May 29 Joseph Otting
had his last day as US Comptroller of the
Currency, a position he has misused to attack
the Community Reinvestment Act he came to
despise as head of OneWest Bank.
A week later Ottting cashed out, taking a paying
position on the board of directors of Black
Knight, described as a fintech.
But if bank regulators have a cooling off
period, how can the just former Comptroller
joint a fintech, an industry he and his
successor worked and work to get into the
national banking world?
Now
Otting's handiwork, undermining the CRA, is
itself under attack, in a lawsuit filed in the
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
California by NCRC and CRC; the complaint cites
"During the Senate hearings on the CRA, Senator
William Proxmire of Wisconsin stated: By
redlining let me make it clear what I am talking
about. I am talking about the fact that banks
and savings and loans will take their deposits
from a community and instead of reinvesting them
in that community, they will actually or
figuratively draw a red line on a map around the
areas of their city, sometimes in the inner
city, sometimes in the older neighborhoods,
sometimes ethnic and sometimes black, but often
encompassing a great area of their
neighborhood."
As to Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks, Bloomberg
reported that "[a]s Coinbase’s chief legal
officer, Brooks was paid $1.4 million in salary
-- separate from the stock options -- in the
year and a half he spent with company, which had
weighed seeking a charter through the OCC before
making other moves to access the banking
system... He still has stock and bond holdings
between $1 million and $2.2 million. Because
he’s acting comptroller -- not yet nominated by
President Donald Trump to seek Senate
confirmation -- he’s not required to take the
ethics pledge that would limit his ability to
work in lobbying after he leaves the job,
according to an OCC spokesman. However, Brooks
has submitted a letter through the agency’s
ethics office outlining companies he’ll steer
clear of because of potential conflicts of
interest, including Amazon.com Inc., Bank of
America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit, Coinbase and
a number of other tech firms he’s worked
with.... Otting, who left the job last
month, wasn’t out of work long. He was tapped
this week to join the board of Black Knight
Inc., which provides software for the mortgage
industry." Bloomberg did not delve into that
conflict of interest. And what are the "other
tech firms" as to which Brooks is acknowledging
a conflict?
The OCC wrote to Inner City Press, faux
apologizing for withholding information it has
requested about Otting until after he had left
the agency. Inner City Press immediately wrote
back requesting a copy of Brooks' ethics letter
and list of companies as to which even he
acknowledges a conflict of interest. So far,
nothing. But we note, for example, that he was
on the board of Avant. What else?
June
22, 2020
From Coinbase Brooks Into OCC With List of Conflicts Withheld So Now FOIA Request
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN
GATE / SDNY COURT, June 18 – May 29 was the last
day for Joseph Otting as US Comptroller of the
Currency, a position he has misused to attack
the Community Reinvestment Act he came to
despise as head of OneWest Bank.
A week later Ottting cashed out, taking a paying
position on the board of directors of Black
Knight, described as a fintech.
But if bank regulators have a cooling off
period, how can the just former Comptroller
joint a fintech, an industry he and his
successor worked and work to get into the
national banking world?
As to Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks, Bloomberg
reported that "[a]s Coinbase’s chief legal
officer, Brooks was paid $1.4 million in salary
-- separate from the stock options -- in the
year and a half he spent with company, which had
weighed seeking a charter through the OCC before
making other moves to access the banking
system... He still has stock and bond holdings
between $1 million and $2.2 million. Because
he’s acting comptroller -- not yet nominated by
President Donald Trump to seek Senate
confirmation -- he’s not required to take the
ethics pledge that would limit his ability to
work in lobbying after he leaves the job,
according to an OCC spokesman. However, Brooks
has submitted a letter through the agency’s
ethics office outlining companies he’ll steer
clear of because of potential conflicts of
interest, including Amazon.com Inc., Bank of
America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit, Coinbase and
a number of other tech firms he’s worked
with.... Otting, who left the job last
month, wasn’t out of work long. He was tapped
this week to join the board of Black Knight
Inc., which provides software for the mortgage
industry." Bloomberg did not delve into that
conflict of interest. And what are the "other
tech firms" as to which Brooks is acknowledging
a conflict?
The OCC wrote to Inner City Press, faux
apologizing for withholding information it has
requested about Otting until after he had left
the agency. Inner City Press immediately wrote
back requesting a copy of Brooks' ethics letter
and list of companies as to which even he
acknowledges a conflict of interest.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
South
Bronx, June 18 – With the Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency now under Brian
Brooks formally undermining the
Community Reinvestment Act,
Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch filed a
number of CRA
protests, and
requests with
bank- and
non-bank
lenders for
their PPP
information.
On June 18
the Consumer
Financial
Protection
Bureau (CFPB)
announced "a pilot
advisory
opinion
program
designed to
provide
additional
protections
for financial
institutions
at the expense
of consumers.
Under the CFPB
pilot, itself
issued without
notice and
comment,
financial
institutions
are invited to
submit
requests for
regulatory
clarifications
in areas of
“substantive
importance.”
The advisory
opinions will
then be issued
by the CFPB,
without
notice-and-public
comment, on
the basis of
confidential
information
submitted by
the financial
institution.
Only entities
subject to the
CFPB’s
jurisdiction
may request
these advisory
opinions, and
the advisory
opinions will
provide safe
harbor
protections
for financial
institutions
under all
major consumer
protection
laws. One of
the priorities
of the pilot
program is to
identify
outdated,
unnecessary or
unduly
burdensome
regulations in
order to
reduce
regulatory
burdens on
companies."
This is a
pattern.
June
15, 2020
Through Revolving Door Brooks Into OCC With List of Conflicts As Otting Out to Black Knight
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN
GATE / SDNY COURT, June 11 – Only a week ago,
May 29 was the last day for Joseph Otting as US
Comptroller of the Currency, a position he has
misused to attack the Community Reinvestment Act
he came to despise as head of OneWest Bank.
Now a week later Ottting has cashed out, taking
a paying position on the board of directors of
Black Knight, described as a fintech.
But if bank regulators have a cooling off
period, how can the just former Comptroller
joint a fintech, an industry he and his
successor worked and work to get into the
national banking world?
As to now Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks,
Bloomberg reports that "[a]s Coinbase’s chief
legal officer, Brooks was paid $1.4 million in
salary -- separate from the stock options -- in
the year and a half he spent with company, which
had weighed seeking a charter through the OCC
before making other moves to access the banking
system. He also received $1.5 million in the
past two years from Fannie Mae, where he was a
board member after having been the company’s top
lawyer. Brooks traded those lucrative
posts to earn less than $300,000 a year running
the OCC. But he still has stock and bond
holdings between $1 million and $2.2 million.
Also, OCC chiefs are among high-ranking
government officials who often move on to
high-paying positions after their time in the
government. Because he’s acting
comptroller -- not yet nominated by President
Donald Trump to seek Senate confirmation -- he’s
not required to take the ethics pledge that
would limit his ability to work in lobbying
after he leaves the job, according to an OCC
spokesman. However, Brooks has submitted a
letter through the agency’s ethics office
outlining companies he’ll steer clear of because
of potential conflicts of interest, including
Amazon.com Inc., Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill
Lynch unit, Coinbase and a number of other tech
firms he’s worked with.... Otting, who
left the job last month, wasn’t out of work
long. He was tapped this week to join the board
of Black Knight Inc., which provides software
for the mortgage industry." Bloomberg did not
delve into that conflict of interest. And what
are the "other tech firms" as to which Brooks is
ackowledging a conflict? Watch this site.
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SDNY
COURT / SOUTH BRONX, June 13 –
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
fair lending and the Community Reinvestment Act
are taking a back seat, or worse. Some banks to
which CRA applies are excluding smaller
businesses and those in communities of color.
And some banks bragging about the PPP loans
won't provide any information - we are Pressing.
Inner City Press / Community on the Move has
begun contacting both banks and non-banks for
their Paycheck Protection Program data. Without
yet getting into the full results, we want to
make a contrast not only to the contempt for CRA
and public disclosure shown by Joseph Otting,
now with Black Knight but also his OneWest crony
and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin calling PPP
information "proprietary."
The
contrast is to the answers by a sample bank,
PNC, to questions Inner City Press / Community
on the Move put to it and others:
"Hello
again, Matthew. I am able to answer most but not
all of your questions. As you know, the Paycheck
Protection Program is still active but I can
provide the most recent information on
hand:
1.
How many loans have you made pursuant to the
programs? We have registered more than 74,000
applications from small business customers in 49
states and the District of Columbia.
2.
What is the total dollar amount of loans made
pursuant to the program ? $14.1 billion
3.
What is the average loan size? The average loan
amount for all of our SBA registered loans is
less than $190,000, demonstrating that our
efforts reached many of the smallest businesses
in need.
4.
What is the distribution by loan size (e.g. LTE
$99,999, $100,000-$999,999, $1mm-$10mm) of the
loans made pursuant to the program?
Approximately 80 percent of the total
applications that we have been able to
successfully register with the SBA are for
amounts of $150,000 or less; and an additional
10 percent are for amounts of $350,000 or less
(but more than $150,000). Although the statutory
maximum PPP loan size per business is $10
million, only 0.4 percent of our total
SBA-registered applications are for amounts
above $5 million.
5.
What is the distribution of the average annual
revenues of borrowers under your program (e.g.,
LTE $99,999, $100,000-$999,999, $1mm-$5mm)? This
information was not required to be provided on
the SBA PPP application.
6.
How many loans have you made to qualifying
tax-exempt non-profits? What is the total
dollar amount of those loans? We also took
special care to ensure that applications from
non-profit organizations were not left behind.
We have successfully registered more than 4,600
PPP applications totaling $1.24 billion from
non-profit organizations throughout our
footprint.
7.
How many loans have you made to hotels and
restaurants (NAICS code beginning with
72)? What is the total dollar amount of
those loans? This information is not
available.
8.
What is the distribution of loans by number of
employees of the borrower (e.g., 1-10, 11-50,
51-100, 101-250, 251-5000? Eighty two
percent of our SBA-registered loans are for
businesses with twenty or fewer employees, and
an additional ten percent are for businesses
with 21 to 50 employees. Only six percent of our
SBA-registered loans are for businesses with
between 51 and 250 employees, and only one
percent for businesses with more than 250
employees. Clearly, our efforts assisted some of
the smallest businesses across our
communities.
9.
What percentage of your PPP loans are to
borrowers with a previous borrowing relationship
with your institution? We require that the
borrower have a business relationship with us,
which could mean a loan or deposit relationship.
The vast majority (85 percent) of the PPP
applications we have processed and registered
with the SBA are from our Business Banking
clients, which is our business segment that
services business clients (including
non-profits, sole proprietors and independent
contractors) with less than $5 million in annual
revenues. Only approximately 15 percent of the
PPP loans that we submitted and that have been
registered by the SBA are from eligible
businesses within our Corporate &
Institutional Bank, which services businesses
with $5 million or more in annual revenues, or
other business segments... On our PPP
applications from small businesses operating in
low- or moderate-income (LMI) geographies, as
you know these areas are frequently the hardest
hit in periods of economic stress. I am pleased
to report that we have assisted more than 15,400
small business located in LMI census tracts
receive SBA registration for their loans
aggregating to approximately $3.36 billion. To
further support small businesses that may lack
access to traditional financial institutions,
PNC has committed nearly $50 million to eight
community development financial institutions
(CDFIs) since March 2020 to support their own
origination of PPP loans in potentially
underserved geographies and sectors."
Contrast this to the "proprietary information"
dodge - and note for example that the highest
overdraft fee bank in America, Ameris Bank has
for now responded to Inner City Press' questions
by stating that: "Information about our Paycheck
Protection Program participation can be found in
our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Sincerely, William D.
McKendry EVP and Chief Risk Officer Ameris Bank.
" UNacceptable.
We'll have more on this and others, including fintechs. Watch this site.
June
8, 2020
Police Brutality Bonds Raise Questions About Investments by Federal Reserve and UN
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Soundcloud
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, June 6 – Amid the protests of police
brutality triggered by the murder of George
Floyd in Minneapolis, U.S. cities' use of
municipal bonds reduce the cost of their abuse
of residents has come into focus.
Holders of issuances such as Chicago, IL 7.045%
2029 bonds have been petitioned to acknowledge
their role in enabling and reducing the costs of
brutality. A former attorney for the
City of Chicago admitted, "When you had to
budget more for police tort liability you had
less to do lead poisoning screening for the poor
children of Chicago. We had a terrible
lead poisoning problem and there was a direct
relationship between the two. Those kids
were paying those tort judgments, not the police
officers."
Chicago’s
lawsuit payouts required the city to sell $1
billion in bonds in 2011 and to issue $100
million in bonds in 2014.111 Yet the
spokesman for the Chicago Police
Department made clear that “the police
department isn’t forced to cut back on things
like OT [overtime] or equipment purchases due to
litigation costs Email from Roderick Drew,
Freedom of Info. Officer, City of Chi. Law
Dep’t, to author (Oct. 9, 2013), on file with
Joanna C. Schwartz of UCLA School of Law. See,
63 UCLA L. Rev. 1144.
June
1, 2020
On Day Otting Out of OCC Legacy of Contempt For CRA Public Process and FOIA Brooks Next
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN
GATE / SDNY COURT, May 29 – Today is the last
day for Joseph Otting as US Comptroller of the
Currency, a position he has misused to attack
the Community Reinvestment Act he came to
despise as head of OneWest Bank.
We have only two words: Good riddance.
It has not only been a policy dispute. Under
Otting, the OCC immediately started denying
Freedom of Information Act fee waivers, even for
copies of pending merger applications subject to
public comment. He debased certain longtime OCC
staff, or perhaps they had alwasy been ready to
take this turn. Time will tell.
Otting
started refusing to consider timely comments on
mergers, such as the take-over of Chinatown FSB
by a national bank. Such contempt for the public
and the public process is Otting's legacy.
May
25, 2020
Amid PPP Abuse Lenders Like Berkshire Bank Refuse As Inner City Press Requests Basic Data
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SDNY
COURT / SOUTH BRONX, May 24 –
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, fair lending and the
Community Reinvestment Act are taking a back
seat, or worse. Some banks to which CRA applies
are excluding smaller businesses and those in
communities of color. And some banks bragging
about the PPP loans won't provide any
information - we are Pressing.
Inner City Press / Community on the Move has
begun contacting both banks and non-banks for
their Paycheck Protection Program data. Without
yet getting into the result, note that
ostensibly progressive or "exciting" Berkshire
Bank has for now responded to Inner City Press'
questions by stating that: "Good morning
Matthew, Our CRA Officer
will be reaching out to you to assist. Terry."
Then, after no answer, and Inner City Press
re-iterated its questions, this: "They are
working on getting the answers to all of your
questions. You should hear from them soon.
Terry."
But they were not getting answers to any of
Inner City Press' questions. Next, this came:
"Hi Matthew, Thank you
for reaching out to Berkshire Bank in regards to
receiving information about our CRA Public File
and our PPP loans. We are currently unable to
answer the questions you sent over because we do
not have that data available for release at this
time... Aaliyah Outlaw (She, Her,
Hers) Corporate Communications Coordinator."
UNacceptable.
We'll have more on this.
While
U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting
is pushing forward with his proposal to weaken
the CRA, his new chief national bank examiner
Blake Paulson said bank examinations have gone
95% off-site.
The Federal Reserve says it is suspending
"non-critical" examinations, even at the largest
institutions.
Meanwhile
the Fed is pushing forward to approve bank
merger applications, like Banco Bradesco - BAC
which Fair Finance Watch has been opposing, as
it has commented to the OCC against the
acquisition of State Farm's health savings
account business by Webster Bank, based in part
of Webster's problematic Paycheck Protection
Program performance.
Fintechs and other non-bank financial firms are
now at the PPP trough and are getting sued. For
example, there is the lawsuit filed as a class
action against Fountainhead Commercial Capital
LLC on May 6, noting the finance firm advertised
that it would process loan requests on a
first-come, first-served basis and then
stealthly shuffled its line of PPP applicants so
that it would lock down the largest lending fees
first.
Meanwhile Paulson of the OCC, which wants to
admit fintechs into banking without regulation,
says no one is in PPP for the money. This while
in response to Inner City Press' FOIA request
for Otting's schedule the OCC redacted the names
of banks that he met without, and obscured
others. (A FOIA appeal has been filed.)
May
18,2020
As US
Bank
Regulators
Suspend Non
Critical Exams
Or Go 95%
Off-Site New
Project on
Abuses
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN
GATE / SDNY COURT, May 11 –
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, fair lending and
Community Reinvestment Act are taking a back
seat, or worse.
While
U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting
is pushing forward with his proposal to weaken
the CRA, his new chief national bank examiner
Blake Paulson said bank examinations have gone
95% off-site.
The Federal Reserve says it is suspending
"non-critical" examinations, even at the largest
institutions.
Meanwhile
the Fed is pushing forward to approve bank
merger applications, like Banco Bradesco - BAC
which Fair Finance Watch has been opposing, as
it has commented to the OCC against the
acquisition of State Farm's health savings
account business by Webster Bank, based in part
of Webster's problematic Paycheck Protection
Program performance.
Fintechs and other non-bank financial firms are
now at the PPP trough and are getting sued. For
example, there is the lawsuit filed as a class
action against Fountainhead Commercial Capital
LLC on May 6, noting the finance firm advertised
that it would process loan requests on a
first-come, first-served basis and then
stealthly shuffled its line of PPP applicants so
that it would lock down the largest lending fees
first.
Meanwhile Paulson of the OCC, which wants to
admit fintechs into banking without regulation,
says no one is in PPP for the money. This while
in response to Inner City Press' FOIA request
for Otting's schedule the OCC redacted the names
of banks that he met without, and obscured
others. (A FOIA appeal has been filed.)
Capital One Bank Switch of Business Balance to Personal Is Sued in SDNY
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, May 12 – Capital One Bank (USA) NA
was sued in May 2019 for putting the balance on
a "Capital One Spark Signature Business Card"
onto plaintiff's personal credit history,
disqualifying him from a loan.
Capital One removed case to the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of New York, in
which on May 12 a conference was held that Inner
City Press covered.
SDNY Magistrate Judge Kevin N. Fox set a
discovery schedule.
Capital One's Park Avenue lawyer said to "Tee it
up for a mediator."
Judge Fox said, If not, submit joint pre-trial
order in November. Let me turn now to protective
order.
It turned out that Capital One Bank (USA) NA's
proposed Protective Order purported to bind
third parties to a confidentiality agreement.
Judge Fox ordered modified that and other
provisions.
May
11, 2020
Weakening CRA Comptroller Otting Met Bank CEOs and Clarence Thomas FOIA Appeal Filed
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SDNY
COURT / BRONX, May 10 – As US Comptroller
of the Currency Joseph Otting moved toward
closing the public comment period amid the
COVID-19 pandemic on his widely criticized rule
to weaken the Community Reinvestment Act, he
took one-on-one input from JPMorgan Chase's
Jaime Dimon, and the CEOs of Capital One,
Santander, Citizens Bank and others.
These others have their names obscured in the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's May
6 response to Inner City Press' February 12
Freedom of Information Act request for
"copies
of records sufficient to show all of Comptroller
Otting's scheduled meetings, appointments, and
scheduled events from the date he became
Comptroller to the date of your response
including but not limited to Outlook calendar
entries and daily briefing books for Comptroller
Ottings on those dates."
None of the briefing books have been provided,
and many of the names of people Otting met with
are obscured.
Listed
are, however, Supreme Court Justice Clarence
Thomas and Senator Tom Tillis (about "swaps") on
June 10, 2019, and Rick Perry, twice. View
on Scribd;
download on Patreon here.
Along with Chase's Jaime Dimon, Otting conversed
about CRA with former Chase CRA officer Mark
Willis, and had a meeting about a "Project
Madison," unexplained in the FOIA response.
There are many empty days, a trip to Japan and
the Philippines that is mostly empty but for
MUFG, and page after page of "private
appointment," "Do Not Schedule" and "Desk Time."
There is a reference to "Citi Bank" that is
obscured. Inner City Press has now appealed
under FOIA:
"This
is a FOIA appeal for all withheld portions of
Comptroller Otting's schedule and all other
withheld records responsive to Inner City Press
/ Fair Finance Watch's underlying FOIA
request. On May 6 Inner City Press
belatedly received some responsive documents,
but even on the Comptroller's schedule entries
are redacted or in some cases unreadable -
including the names of banks and CEOs met with.
For example on January 24, 2020 there is a
flurry of calls to bank CEOs, but only Wells
Fargo and MUFG are legible. The calls between 10
am and 11:30 am only list "CRA CAL" -- then cut
off. The names of these banks must be
disclosed. And more: On December 10, 2019,
the noon briefing has the Comptroller's
counterparty met with entirely redacted. This is
not acceptable, and is being appealed as well as
the withholding of "material attached" on that
day, and throughout. On January 2, 2020,
there is "Discuss [b(8)] and against on January
3, b(8). This must be released - at this remove,
and because it if the very purpose of FOIA. Who
was Comtroller Otting meeting with? About what?
For these reasons we are appealing all
redactions and withholdings, on an expedited
basis."
May
4, 2020
Amid COVID Fair Finance Watch Challenges Webster Bank Bid For State Farm HSAs to OCC
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN
GATE / SDNY COURT, May 2 – Amid the Coronavirus
pandemic, U.S. bank regulators like Comptroller
of the Currency Joseph Otting are continuing to
rubber stamp bank mergers, even by banks who are
under-performing in the Paycheck Protection
Program.
On May 2 Fair Finance Watch, and Inner City
Press on FOIA, filed a formal challenge with
Otting's OCC to the application by Webster Bank
to acquire State Farm Bank FSB, its problematic
health savings accounts, no less. Here is some
of it:
"This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the Application by Webster
Bank NA to acquire State Farm FSB / Health
Savings Accounts. Given complaints against State
Farm's HSAs, and Webster Bank's PPP performance,
public hearings are needed when they are not, as
now, prohibited by social distancing rules. The
CRA deform
proposal should be shelved.
While
Comptroller Otting has said he never saw
discrimination (except being told by family
members about it), consider for the record on
this application that even as reflected by the
too-limited 2018 HMDA data available on the
CFPB's website, Webster Bank in New York State
in 2018 made 270 loans to whites - and only NINE
to African Americans, out of proportion to the
demographics of its service area and of other
lenders' activities in
it. While
making only NINE loans to African Americans in
NYS in 2018, Webster denied 16 applications from
Africans, much more disparate that its ratio for
whites: 270 loans made, 145 denial: signifcantly
more disparate to African Americans.
This application should be denied. And for the
record, the CFPB's elimination of the HMDA
informaiton that has been available on the
FFIEC's and even its own website for 2017 data
is part of the destruction of CRA and HMDA of
which the OCC is a part.
Consider for the record that "the head of
Waterbury-based Webster Bank admitted his
company can improve its performance in getting
money into the hands of loan applicants.
“Certainly we wanted to help every small
business borrower and customer of Webster that
we could,” said CEO John Ciulla, speaking
Tuesday on a conference call. “We got through
approximately 30 percent applications approved
(and) 30 percent funded, plus or minus a few
percentage points on both sides of that."
Webster Bank has the third biggest base of
deposits in Connecticut, offering both
traditional savings and loans accounts as well
as a health-savings account business that is
among the largest in the nation. On Tuesday,
Webster bolstered its HSA Bank subsidiary with
the acquisition of 24,000 health-savings
accounts from State Farm totaling $140
million."
April
27, 2020
As
FinTechs Like
NewTek Snub
Small Business
While At PPP
Trough CRA
Should Apply
Inner City
Press Says
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
-
Source
BRONX
/ SDNY, April 25 – So-called fintech firms like
Square
and Kabbage have been trying to get into the
banking field without complying with the
Community Reinvestment Act, which would measure
and require their minimal fairness to low- and
moderate-income communities. Now they're at the
Paycheck Protection Program trough, along with
NewTek.
NewTekOne.com is (mis) serving small businesses
in many communities; look for example here
at the City of Detroit's PPP website, where it
is listed among lenders willing unlike Chase and
Bank of America to take non customers - well,
some of them. Here's a sample complaint:
"Contacted
my bank today to follow up again. Got the
website for newtekone, the lender handling the
majority of applicants for the PPP. I called
them, verified the app submitted on Apr 3rd was
rec'vd Apr 6th. 1099 & sole proprietor had
to wait until 10th to apply. By the time we
could apply the program ran out of $$ days later
and I still haven't even received the full
application by email yet 17 days later.
Newtekone confirmed today I'm in queue &
should still receive the application."
And
thus are small business jobs lost, as with
Junior's in Brooklyn and Times Square for other
reasons. But why are lenders like NewTekOne at
the trough, without oversight?
In
fairness, NewTekOne says, "Newtracker is fully
transparent, allowing our referral partner to
follow a referral from cradle to closing.
Partners also receive periodic reporting in
addition to creating an easily accessible audit
and compliance trail." Transparency only to
referral partners? We say, more oversight, and
CRA - or oust them. And others.
These
evasions of CRA have been assisted by the US
Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, who
has been attacking
CRA ever since he was outed submitting fake
comments to support the sale of his OneWest Bank
to CIT.
Now
under the Paycheck Protection Program Square is
bragging about having been approved to make SBA
loans; Kabbage says the same, through through a
fig leaf fiction with Celtic Bank.
April
20, 2020
As FinTechs Line Up at PPP Trough Community Reinvestment Act Should Apply Inner City Press Says
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
-
Source
BRONX
/ SDNY, April 14 – So-called fintech firms like
Square
and Kabbage have been trying to get into the
banking field without complying with the
Community Reinvestment Act, which would measure
and require their minimal fairness to low- and
moderate-income communities.
In
this evasion they have been assisted by the US
Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, who
has been attacking
CRA ever since he was outed submitting fake
comments to support the sale of his OneWest Bank
to CIT.
Now
under the Paycheck Protection Program Square is
bragging about having been approved to make SBA
loans; Kabbage says the same, through through a
fig leaf fiction with Celtic Bank.
April
13, 2020
As Banks Turn Small Businesses Away From PPP Otting Ghoulishly Closes Comment Period
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Periscope
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
-
Source
BRONX
/ SDNY, April 10 -- With the Community
Reinvestment Act under attack by US Comptroller
of the Currency Joseph Otting, Fair Finance
Watch and Inner City Press on April 8 submitted
a sixth comment, demanding that he not close the
comment period while even amid Coronavirus large
national banks turn away underserved business
from the Paycheck Protection Program. Otting
makes things worse.
Groups
have asked that in light of Coronavirus /
COVID-19 the comment period on the assault on
CRA be extended for months. See also here.
Though it shouldn't have been
necessary, Fair Finance Watch
commented again on March 20,
noting postponements by SEC
and others.
With Otting
even still resisting
postponing his dream of
weakening the CRA, his OCC has
joined not only his sometime
partner in crime the FDIC but
also the Fed providing a TWO
YEAR extension for
big banks, while still
threatening to push through his attack
on CRA, ghoulishly using
Coronavirus,
see below.
Otting's
outrageous
statement on April 9,
that should get him
fired and be
his legacy:
"'It
is our intention
to craft a final
rule that will
encourage banks
to lend and
invest more in
the communities
they serve,
including low-
and
moderate-income
neighborhoods,”
Otting said. “We
will work toward
issuing a final
rule during the
first half of
this year.
Further delay
would only
prevent these
valuable
resources from
reaching those
who need them
most in this
time of national
emergency.'
An FDIC
spokesman -
could it be Mr.
Barr? -- declined
Thursday to
comment on
Otting’s
statement but
stressed the
agency is now
just focused on
reviewing the
proposal
feedback."
From Fair
Finance Watch
April 8
comment: "even
now at the
absurdly (even
ghoulishly)
enforced
deadline, no
response so
far from the
OCC. In fact,
this was the
canned quote
from
Comptroller
Otting: 'Slowing
the rulemaking
would only
delay relief
and support
that
communities
across the
country need.
Modernization
would bring
valuable
additional
resources to
communities
across America
that are
currently
underserved by
the current
regime.
Further delay
will prevent
these
additional
resources from
reaching those
who need them
most in this
time of
national
emergency.'
April
6, 2020
As Regulators Give Big Banks Two Years Community Reinvestment Act Comment Period Must Be Extended
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Periscope
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
-
Source
BRONX
/ SDNY, March 30 -- With the Community
Reinvestment Act under attack by US Comptroller
of the Currency Josephy Otting, Fair Finance
Watch and Inner City Press on March 11 submitted
a third comment this time making an obvious
request.
They
ask that in light of Coronavirus / COVID-19 the
comment period on the assault on CRA be extended
for months. See also here.
Though it shouldn't have been
necessary, Fair Finance Watch
commented again on March 20,
noting postponements by SEC
and others.
Now, with
Otting even still resisting
postponing his dream of
weakening the CRA, his OCC has
joined not only his sometime
partner in crime the FDIC but
also the Fed providing a TWO
YEAR extension for
big banks, while still
threatening to push through his attack
on CRA, ghoulishly using
Coronavirus.
Fair Finance Watch has written in,
receipt confirmed, on
March 30:
Office of
the Comptroller of the
Currency Chief
Counsel's Office,
Attention: Comment
Processing, 400
7th Street SW, Suite
3E-218, Washington, DC
20219
Re: Docket ID
OCC-2018-0008 - 5th
opposition to OCC/FDIC
plan to weaken CRA -
formal demand that
comment period be
extended in light of
Coronavirus COVID-19
& OCC inaction, two year
postponement for
big banks, threats
to communities
To whom it may
concern at the OCC and
FDIC:
On behalf of Fair
Finance Watch, and
Inner City Press, and
in my personal
capacity, this is a
fifth timely comment
opposing the proposal
by Comptroller Joseph
Otting and the FDIC to
weaken the
CRA. On
March 11, amid the
then-worsening
Coronavirus COVID-19
crisis, we wrote
to formally demand an
extension of this
comment period.
On March 18, we
wrote to point out
that the SEC extended
comment periods, and
that even filing taxes
was extended to July
15.
Still, no response so
far from the OCC. This
is both telling and
troubling.
So now, on
March 30, this:
Otting's OCC was among
the Federal regulators
which announced on
Friday, March 27 that
"big banks can wait
longer before phasing
in the regulatory
capital effects of a
new loan loss
accounting standard
and can choose to
switch over early to
an updated methodology
for calculating
certain capital
requirements, moves
intended to buoy bank
lending during the
COVID-19
pandemic. The
Federal Reserve,
Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. and
Office of the
Comptroller of the
Currency issued an
emergency rule stating
that banks required to
adopt the current
expected credit
losses, or CECL,
accounting standard in
2020 may delay its
estimated impact on
their regulatory
capital for two
years."
So -
extensions for big
banks, but still none
for impacted
communities and
consumers. Even if the
OCC as it must acts
today to indefinitely
postpone Otting's
crusade to kill the
CRA, this delay has
been indicative of
Otting's inordinate
focus on destroying
the CRA in retaliation
for his exposure for
fake comments as he
sold his OneWest to
CIT
Group.
Again, a pending CRA
merger challenge
submitted
electronically by FFW
to Northfield Bank -
Victory State Bank
choosing to respond,
cursorily, by snail
mail. Something is
dreadfully wrong at
the OCC. This comment
period on weakening
the CRA must be
indefinitely
extended.
The above is added to
what we can only
interpret as the OCC's
furthering weakening
of CRA by no documents
response to our FOIA
request about this CRA
proposal and the
Comptroller's
schedule, and the
OCC's failure to
inquire into even
branch closings int he
CBNA - Steuban Trust
proposal we comments
on. This is not the
time to be slipping
through an undermining
of CRA."
March
30, 2020
As FDIC Tries To Weaken CRA Fair Finance Watch on Republic Bank and Axos Bank Demands Extension
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN
GATE / SDNY COURT, March 22 – Amid the
Coronavirus crisis, with the FDIC and OCC yet to
confirm they will postpone any closing of the
comment period on their joint attempt to weaken
the Community Reinvestment Act, both try to
rubber stamp mergers even while public hearings
would be prohibited.
Fair
Finance Watch, and Inner City Press with FOIA
requests, have filed a timely comment with the
FDIC against a proposal by predatory lenders
Republic Bank and Trust and Axos Bank: "Dear
Chairman McWilliams, Regional Director Conneely,
Deputy Regional Director
Sabanty: On behalf of Fair
Finance Watch and Inner City Press and in my
personal capacity, this is a timely comment
opposing and demanding an extension of the
comment period on the application by high-cost
lender Republic Bank & Trust to merge with
Axox Bank, including based on the Coronavirus
crisis.
Already,
the IRS had extended the filing deadline for
2019 taxes to July 15, 2020 (as should this
application).
These
are high cost lenders, already underregulated
and under commented on. To try to rubber stamp
this transaction while the effected public is
under shelter in place orders would be
unconscionable.
For the record, for now: "Non-bank payday
lenders try to get in on the action by putting a
bank’s name on the loan, allowing them the
pre-emption protection. One company engaged in
this is Elevate Financial. Its line-of-credit
product, Elastic, uses Republic Bank, which is
chartered in Kentucky, to make the loans.
Elevate supplies the underwriting software and
therefore controls who gets a loan. Republic
Bank holds onto the loans, but then sells a 90
percent “participation interest” to an affiliate
of Elevate. Functionally speaking, Elevate
issues and effectively owns the loans, but it
has a legal fig leaf that enables it to point to
Republic Bank as the actual lender. This enables
Elevate to sell Elastic, which its financial
disclosures say carries an annual percentage
rate of 109 percent, in states like Minnesota,
Montana, and Oregon, which cap interest rates at
36 percent. It also allows Elevate to sell what
is effectively a payday lending/installment loan
product called Rise in states where payday
lending has been banned, like
Arizona."
This
is the application: 20200218 REPUBLIC BANK &
TRUST COMPANY 601 WEST MARKET STREET,
LOUISVILLE, KY Merger
(Regular)
02/18/2020
03/21/2020 Chicago
March
23, 2020
Community Reinvestment Act Credit For Coronavirus Means Comment Period Must Be Extended
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Periscope
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
-
Source
BRONX
/ SDNY, March 20 -- With the Community
Reinvestment Act under attack by US Comptroller
of the Currency Josephy Otting, Fair Finance
Watch and Inner City Press on March 11 submitted
a third comment this time making an obvious
request.
They
ask that in light of Coronavirus / COVID-19 the
comment period on the assault on CRA be extended
for months. See also here.
Now, with
Otting still resisting
postponing his dream of
weakening the CRA, his OCC has
joined not only his sometime
partner in crime the FDIC but
also the Fed in speaking on
the Coronavirus COVID-19
crisis, offering banks CRA
credit for any and everything
they do in any way related to
the virus. Fine - but doesn't
that make it absolutely clear
Otting has to indefinitely
postpone closing the comment
period on his destructive
proposal? Watch this site.
Here
it was: March 11, 2020 Re: Docket ID
OCC-2018-0008 - 3d opposition to OCC/FDIC plan
to weaken CRA - demand that comment period be
extended for months in light of Coronavirus
COVID-19 & OCC inaction
To
whom it may concern at the OCC and
FDIC: On behalf of Fair
Finance Watch, and Inner City Press, and in my
personal capacity, this is a third timely
comment opposing the proposal by Comptroller
Joseph Otting and the FDIC to weaken the
CRA. To be clear: the comment
period must now be extended for months in light
of Coronavirus / COVID-19. This is based on the
Administration's own statements on the topic,
and what we can only interpret at the OCC's
furthering weakening by it, with no response to
our timely comments on Northfield Bank - Victory
State Bank, no documents response to our FOIA
request about this CRA proposal and the
Comptroller's schedule, and the OCC's failure to
inquire into even branch closings int he CBNA -
Steuben Trust proposal we comments on. This is
not the time to be slipping through an
undermining of CRA.
March
16, 2020
Community Reinvestment Act For Coronavirus Must Have Comment Period Extended Fair Finance Watch Says
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
-
Source
BRONX
/ SDNY, March 11 -- With the Community
Reinvestment Act under attack by US Comptroller
of the Currency Josephy Otting, Fair Finance
Watch and Inner City Press on March 11 submitted
a third comment this time making an obvious
request.
They
ask that in light of Coronavirus / COVID-19 the
comment period on the assault on CRA be extended
for months. Confirmation of receipt by
Regulations.gov of the comment and request has
been received. Here it is: March 11, 2020
Re: Docket ID OCC-2018-0008 - 3d opposition to
OCC/FDIC plan to weaken CRA - demand that
comment period be extended for months in light
of Coronavirus COVID-19 & OCC inaction
To
whom it may concern at the OCC and
FDIC: On behalf of Fair
Finance Watch, and Inner City Press, and in my
personal capacity, this is a third timely
comment opposing the proposal by Comptroller
Joseph Otting and the FDIC to weaken the
CRA. To be clear: the comment
period must now be extended for months in light
of Coronavirus / COVID-19. This is based on the
Administration's own statements on the topic,
and what we can only interpret at the OCC's
furthering weakening by it, with no response to
our timely comments on Northfield Bank - Victory
State Bank, no documents response to our FOIA
request about this CRA proposal and the
Comptroller's schedule, and the OCC's failure to
inquire into even branch closings int he CBNA -
Steuben Trust proposal we comments on. This is
not the time to be slipping through an
undermining of CRA.
Note,
simply as examples, that Federal courts have
shut down (see, e.g., the Eastern District of
Washington), whole law firms have, and the
containment of New Rochelle, NY just above The
Bronx. The comment period must be
extended.
Enforcing
the CRA including through commenting to the
Federal Reserve and FDIC, and OCC under previous
Comptrollers, the results have been new bank
branches in the South Bronx, and lending and
consumer protection commitments well
beyond. Now under Otting the OCC is
ignoring, rebuffing and sometimes simply
rejecting such public comments. This as Otting
says he is personally unaware of discrimination.
So, during and in connection with this comment
period on his attempt to more systematically
defang the CRA, Fair Finance Watch has commented
on a proposed acquisition by a national bank
which settled race discrimination charges, Evans
Bank: "Evans had redlined Buffalo’s
predominantly African-American East Side
neighborhoods, intentionally excluding these
neighborhoods from its lending area. Evans
Bank also allegedly developed mortgage products
that it made unavailable to these neighborhoods,
notwithstanding the creditworthiness of the
applicants; and refused to solicit customers,
market mortgages or provide banking facilities
in those neighborhoods. The lawsuit
alleged that by redlining the East Side
neighborhoods, which are home to more than
85,000 people, Evans excluded an area that is
home to the vast majority of Buffalo’s
African-American population from the marketing
and sales of its mortgage products and
services."
This
is a national bank. Its Fairport Savings
application should be denied. And for the
record, the CFPB's elimination of the HMDA
informaiton that has been available on the
FFIEC's and even its own website for 2017 data
is part of the destruction of CRA and HMDA of
which the OCC is a part. Also for
the record, "Nasca says there may be
consolidation of some back office staff." Public
hearings should be held. But Otting routinely
denies such requests.
Aain, since Otting became Comptroller, we have
seen timely comments ignored, and been denied
access to bank merger applications by a
retaliatory imposition of FOIA fees. The Federal
Reserve and other federal agencies, like the OCC
pre-Otting, grant Inner City Press FOIA fee
waivers. Under Otting, the OCC does not. On
Chinatown FSB, the OCC refused to consider a
timely comment. The OCC unilaterally determined
not to accept public comments on a major bank's
charter conversion application, which it rubber
stamped. This has been rogue-like
behavior. As a proud member of
NCRC we join in its comments. The central
point of CRA is ensuring that banks meet local
needs. For agencies to ascertain that, they must
listen carefully to the public. But
Otting has shown that he does not, or does so
only selectively. The proposal must be rejected.
We will have further comments. Matthew R Lee
Fair Finance Watch (and Inner City Press) New
York.
March
9, 2020
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
Bronx
/ SDNY, March 6 – With US
Comptroller of the Currency
Joseph Otting formally
moving along with the FDIC to
undermine the Community
Reinvestment Act, on January
11 Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch filed a
CRA protest
with the OCC to
Community
Bank NA's
application to
acquire Steuben
Trust Company.
The Otting's OCC is
now trying to
intimidate groups with
phone "interviews" of
which the OCC won't show
the target their
write-ups.
On March 6
the Consumer
Financial
Protection
Bureau (CFPB)
announced "plans
to create an
advisory opinion
program which,
if enacted,
would circumvent
the public
notice-and-comment
process, a
pillar of our
government and
democracy. The
intent of the
advisory opinion
program,
according to the
CFPB, would be
to provide clear
guidance to
assist companies
in better
understanding
their legal and
regulatory
obligations
through advisory
opinions. But in
actuality, the
CFPB is
proposing to
sidestep the
usual public
notice-and-comment
rulemaking
process under
the
Administrative
Procedures Act,
and the
congressionally-mandated
process for
providing
interpretations
of the Truth and
Lending
Act.
Worse, once
these
interpretations
are issued, they
could be
entitled to a
level of
deference almost
equal to that of
regular
rulemaking,
outside of the
context of the
original
requester.
Agencies that
issue advisory
opinions usually
end up with a
welter of
contradictory,
mostly
pro-industry
interpretations
that have the
long-term impact
of undermining
the credibility
of the agency
and the
deference
accorded to it." This
is a pattern.
The
CFPB under Kathy Kraninger issued 2018 Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data - with an interface
without any racial or ethnic information unlike
2017 and every previous year, undermining the
entire purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page and this December 16 filing with FDIC,
cc-ed to the CFPB:
December
16, 2019 Via e-mail
Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation Attn: John Vogel,
Regional Director and Doreen R. Eberley, Jim
Watkins, Robert P. Cordeiro, Scott D. Strockoz
350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200 New York, NY
10118-0110
Re:
Timely First Comment on Applications by Flushing
Bank to Acquire Empire National Bank
Dear
Regional Director Vogel and others at the
FDIC:
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FDIC's public
comment period on the Applications by Flushing
Bank to Acquire Empire National
Bank.
Flushing
Bank in 2018, for race specified loans, made six
times more loans to whites than to African
Americans, entirely out of keeping with the
demographics of its market.
Compare
the demographics of its lending to the
geography: 68 loans to Queens, 35 in Manhattan,
27 in The Bronx, 35 in Manhattan, five on Staten
Island and 24 in Westchester
County.
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch would like to
and has a right to submit more detailed HMDA
data. But for the record, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau for 2018 data has unilaterally
removed the ability of the public to view HMDA
data by race on its website, which the FFIEC /
Federal Reserve allowed in previous years and
the CFBP did even in 2017.
March
2, 2020
As CFPB Whitewashed Mortgage Data It Proposes Business Lending Timeline in ND CAL
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
Bronx
/ SDNY, Feb 27 – With US
Comptroller of the Currency
Joseph Otting moving along
with the FDIC to undermine
the Community
Reinvestment Act, in February 2020
Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch filed a CRA
protest with the OCC to the application by Community Bank
NA to buy Steuben
Trust, here.
February
24, 2020
Community Reinvestment Act Attack by Otting Continues But With Comments to April 9
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH
BRONX, Feb 19 – The
current US Comptroller of the Currency Joseph
Otting cashed out of his position with OneWest
Bank in California by overseeing fake comments
in favor its acquisition by the CIT Group.
Then, emboldened, he devoted the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency to weakening or
destroying the Community Reinvestment Act which
provides for the public process that he
subverted with fake comments.
Inner City Press, which opposed the merger and
then pursued a Freedom of Information Act
request for all documents about Otting's fraud,
soon found its and Fair Finance Watch's comments
to the OCC being rejected, or ignored, or
returned.
While Inner City Press' FOIA requests get fee
waivers from the Federal Reserve and a range of
agencies in the US and beyond, Otting's OCC
suddenly started denying them, hindering access
to the merger applications on which CRA is
enforced.
Otting
is trying to push through this CRA-killing
proposal on a short comment period, cognizant of
the other CRA, the Congressioal Review Act. But
it is obvious that even banks want more time.
On
January 26, in advance of Otting's belated
January 29 House of Representatives appearance,
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch submitted
a formal comment,
below. It included a demand that Otting recuse
himself (not yet acted on) and a request for an
extension of the comment period.
Now on February 19 from FDIC, this: "FDIC and
OCC Announce 30-day Extension of Comment Period
for Proposed Changes to Community Reinvestment
Act Regulations WASHINGTON – The Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today extended
the public comment period for proposed changes
to the regulations implementing the Community
Reinvestment Act (CRA) until April 8,
2020. On December 12, 2019, the FDIC and
OCC announced a proposal to modernize the
regulations under the CRA and provided for a
60-day comment period following formal
publication on January 9, 2020 in the Federal
Register (85 FR 1204). The FDIC and OCC have now
determined that a 30-day extension of the
comment period is appropriate."
February
17, 2020
Community Reinvestment Act Attack by Otting Questioned In FOIA For Bank Meetings By Inner City Press
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH
BRONX, Feb 12 – The current US
Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting cashed
out of his position with OneWest Bank in
California by overseeing fake comments in favor
its acquisition by the CIT Group.
Then, emboldened, he devoted the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency to weakening or
destroying the Community Reinvestment Act which
provides for the public process that he
subverted with fake comments.
On February 12, Inner City Press submitted a
FOIA request: "Dear OCC FOIA Officer: On behalf
of Inner City Press, Fair Finance Watch and in
my personal capacity this request for records
pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act
(“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, and OCC regulations.
On an expedited basis, this is a request for all
record regarding the OCC's January 30, 2020
Meeting with Consumer Bankers Association (CBA)
bankers [including
Yvonne
Blumenthal, US Bank (Chair) Lloyd Brown,
Citigroup (Vice Chair) Kelli Arnold,
KeyBank Reza Aghamirzadeh, Citizens
Financial Group Nathalia Artus, Atlantic
Union Bank Jan Bergeson, Ally Tonya
Billings, Independent Bank Norm Bliss,
Bank of the West Len Bolton, Rockland
Trust Melissa Borino, BMO Harris
Sunada Brookins, Hancock Whitney Bank Doug
Craycraft, Chase Jennifer Creger, Crescent
Bank & Trust Christina Cudney, United
Bank Jon Davies, Regions Brad
Dossinger, M&T Bank Scott Fujii, Bank
of Hawaii Alberto Garofalo, Bank of
America Staci Glenn Short,
Huntington Emmanuel Glover, TCF Seth
Goodall, Santander Joseph Hernandez,
TIAA Amy Howcroft, PNC Angela
Hudson, Bank OZK Sharon Jeffries-Jones,
Truist Matthew Joy, Mechanics Bank
Lori-Anne Lawton, Webster Bank Christine
Lloyd, HSBC Robert Manuel, Wells Fargo
Bank Jim Matthews, Capital One
Roddell McCollough, First Financial Bank
Chris McGillis, BBVA Compass Beverly Meek,
Flagstar Kapil Narang, Ameriprise
Cathy Niederberger, PNC Bank Donna
Normandin, Frost
Bank
, Rey Ocanas, Byron Reed, CIT Karl Renney,
Eastern Bank Julius Robinson, MUFG Union
Bank, N.A. Kathleen Robinson, TD
Bank Bobbie Salgado, MUFG Union Bank,
N.A Doug Schaeffer, WoodForest
Camino Smith, Banner Bank Natalie Smith
Parker, Synovus Christopher Stelma, First
Commonwealth Beth Trotter,
IBERIABANK Alan Urie, Synchrony Paul
Vicente, Fifth Third Amy Walls, Discover
February
10, 2020
As Otting's
OCC continues
its assault on
the CRA, even
as Otting was
outed in
another House
hearing last
week for his
fake comments
on OneWest -
CIT, the OCC
stands poised
to reward with
an approval to
buy Fairport
Savings none
other than
Evans Bank,
which settled
redlining
charges.
Otting, of
course, has
never himself
seen any
discrimination,
only heard
about it from
his family...
February
3, 2020
As House Sees OCC Attacks on CRA Otting Contempt For Protest to Steuben Trust Bid By Community Bank NA
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
The
Source - The
Root - etc
Bronx
/ DC, Feb 1 – With US
Comptroller of the Currency
Joseph Otting on December 12
formally moving along with the
FDIC to undermine the
Community Reinvestment Act, now
with comment period to March 9, two hearings have been held in the House
Financial Services Committee. And see our comment here.
January
27, 2020
To Kill Community Reinvestment Act Otting Vows No Delay As His Staff Intimidate Groups
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
Bronx
/ SDNY, Jan 23 – With US
Comptroller of the Currency
Joseph Otting, himself shown to have
use fake
comments to get paid for
selling OneWest to CIT,
trying to manipulate the comment
period on his proposal
to further weaken
the Community
Reinvestment Act, on January 22 he bragged
that nothing will stop him.
And in fact, he has
deployed OCC staffers once
viewed as benign
to try
to intimidate
community groups
which have opposed his plan.
Inner City
Press, denied
documents by Otting
under FOIA,
has been
contacted by dozens
of groups. They
say they have
received
"weird" calls
from OCC
staff, who grill
them about
their views
and say they will
not provide
the notes of
the conversations
to them.
The OCC
staffers range
from NIMBY Barry
Wides to Tim
Herwig, Denise
Kirk-Murray and
Norma
Polanco-Boyd, among
others. Even
moderate
groups are
expressing
disgust. But
Otting is racing to
beat the CRA -
not only the
Community Reinvestment
Act, which he
has hated
since his OneWest
days, but the
Congressional
Review Act.
This is
shameful.
Inner City
Press will
have more on
this.
January
20, 2020
On OCC Attack on CRA Even Bankers Say More Analysis Needed As Gramm Chimes In
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
The
Source - The
Root - etc
Bronx
/ DC, Jan 15 – With US
Comptroller of the Currency
Joseph Otting on December 12
formally moving along with the
FDIC to undermine the
Community Reinvestment Act, now
with comment period to March 9, on January 14 a hearing
was held in the House
Financial Services Committee
- about but without Otting,
a regulator not only rogue
but also reclusive. He will
appear, it is said, later in
the month.
And in
advance of that, even the
bankers' trade group Consumer
Bankers
Association
has written to the
House that "More
analysis must be
undertaken by
stakeholders to better
understand the impact
the new metrics that
will be used to
measure CRA
activity for
individual
institutions and the
communities they can
serve.
It is crucial that the
OCC and FDIC engage
with
stakeholders to
carefully analyze the
real impact of the
proposed changes on
CRA deserts and
hot spots, to make
sure that sufficient
incentives are
provided to induce
banks to serve
the
hard-to-reach areas
that are most in need
of investment."
Perhaps that's
why OCC has
taken to contacting
some groups
outside of the
too-short
formal
commenting
process. Will
such contacts
- some say
intimidation -
be subject to
FOIA, unless
Otting
undermines it
by imposing
outrageous
fees?
Former Senator
Phil Gramm has
chimed
in in the Wall
Street
Journal, linking
Otting's
proposal to a
movement to
free banks
to lend to
payday
lenders.
Indeed.
At the January 14
hearing, Rep.
Pressley of Massachusetts, for
example, pointed out
that under Otting's and the
FDIC's proposal, a
bank could get CRA
credit for funding a
stadium and jumbotron
in
low or
moderate income
area, and other
forms of gentrification.
Too little,
however, was
said of
Otting's
attacks since
he took office
on the
enforcement
mechanism of
CRA: the
public comment
process on
proposed
mergers.
Otting has
denied access
to merger
application by
imposing
unheard of
fees, and has
refused to
consider
timely comments.
We'll have
more on this -
including in connection
with merger
comments just
filed, see,
below.
January
13, 2020
Now FDIC and Otting Attack on CRA March 9 Deadline As Wells Fargo Tries To Censor
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
Bronx
/ SDNY, Jan 9 – With US
Comptroller of the Currency
Joseph Otting on January 9 formally
publishing notice in
the Federal Register
along with the FDIC to
undermine the Community
Reinvestment Act, the
too-short comment period is
set: to March 9. Notice here.
Meanwhile Wells Fargo, one of the less than a handful of banks which dominate the industry in the United States, is asking a federal court to shut down a website.
Wells Fargo's motion, filed on January 8, complains that "Defendants have re-posted the very website that defames and threatens Wells Fargo and its employees, agents, attorneys, and vendors involved in this litigation. See Exhibit A, http://www.wwshrimp.com, Website Screen Shots captured 1/7/20. Defendants should now be immediately ordered to take down the Website and should be permanently enjoined from re-posting any of its content again in any public forum." More on Patreon here.
While describing a bank or its lawyers as prostitutes is not nice - and may as to the bank reverse the analysis - Inner City Press finds it highly problematic that a mega-bank, particularly one so recently bailed out by the public, should be trying to shut down a website.
January
6, 2020
In SDNY Schwab - TD Bank Proposed Tie Up Faces Antitrust Suit by Asian American Firm
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
BBC
- The
Times UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Dec 31 – A major proposed merger in
the brokerage and banking fields was announced
on the morning of November 25: Charles Schwab
proposes to buy TD Ameritrade in an
approximately $26-billion US all-stock deal. The
deal would see Toronto-Dominion Bank, which
holds approximately 43 per cent of TD
Ameritrade's stock, own a roughly 13 per cent
stake in the combined company.
Inner City Press has reported that fraud scheme
OneCoin publicly represented that it had a
banking relationship with TD Bank. When action
was belatedly (and begrudgingly) taken,
questions arise and will be raised as to what TD
Bank knew, and when.
And now in late December Schwab has been sued
about the deal, on antitrust grounds under Sections 1 and 2
of the Sherman Act and Section
7 of the Clayton Act.
Reports on the suit to date have omitted a key
element: the plaintiff, BlackCrown Inc.,
describes itself in the amendment complaint
filed on December 30 as "an independent minority
(Asian American) owned and operated SEC
registered independent wealth management firm
(CRD #298140 / SEC # 801-113929)."
Antitrust
meets fair lending, or fair dealing. The
amendment should have been seen to be coming, as
the complaint said the proposed merger would
“disenfranchise a great segment of the industry
by effectively establishing a caste
system.” Ordering TD Ameritrade’s
custodial business sold to BlackCrown would
“dissipate the anti-competitive effects” of the
planned merger, the suit says. Alongside
following the states' suit against the proposed
T-Mobile / Sprint merger, Inner City Press will
be following this (even) longer-shot private
antitrust case - watch this site.
As Inner City Press covered the OneCoin trial
last month, a number of names of indicted
co-conspirators emerged on which we are now
following up.
One of them was Amer Abdulaziz Salman. From his
Phoenix Thoroughbred's, Inner City Press is
informed that Dermot Farrington has left.
December
30, 2019
Community Reinvestment Act Assault By OCC Joined In By Federal Reserve Hiding Mergers CFPB Hiding Data
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SDNY
/ BRONX, Dec 28 – The assault against the U.S.
Community Reinvestment Act, begun by Comptroller
of the Currency Joseph Otting then joined in by
the FDIC and the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau withholding mortgage data, has reached
the Federal Reserve.
For
months the Federal Reserve has first slowed down
its disclosure of pending merger applications on
which the public can comment under CRA, and now
outright hide them, such that on its website no
proposed mergers have open comment periods. Call
it the death, or attempted murder, of the
Community Reinvestment Act.
Alongside comments to the OCC and FDIC, Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch on December 28
filed comments with the Federal Reserve: Dear
Chair Powell, Secretary Misback, others in
FRB: On behalf of Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch and in my personal capacity,
this is questionlessly tiemly protest to one
sample application, a complaint about the FRB's
failure update its H2A, and on the withholding
of 2018 HMDA data in online form by CFPB and
other FFIEC regulators including the FRB - and a
demand for actions.
Currently as of December 28, the most recent
application on the FRB's online H2A has a
comment period ending December 20 - that is,
already closed. This negligence, or intentional
exclusion of the public, has been the case at
the FRB for months. All comment periods must be
re-opened.
Here
is a timely protest to one sample application
that (only) the Federal Register tells us has a
comment period expiring "not later than December
30, 2019.A. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
(Colette A. Fried, Assistant Vice President) 230
South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois
60690-1414:1. Bosshard Financial Group, Inc., La
Crosse, Wisconsin; to merge with Northern
Bankshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire
Mc Farland State Bank, both of McFarland,
Wisconsin.Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, November 25,
2019."
Second
and more systematic problem, that must be solved
or all comment periods extended: the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau for 2018 data has
unilaterally removed the ability of the public
to view HMDA data by race on its website, which
the FFIEC / Federal Reserve allowed in previous
years and the CFBP did even in 2017. Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch contends that the
CFPB's move is both anti-public and
illegal.
Given
this situation, which must be addressed, for now
Inner City Press timely submitted the two
attached photos from the CFPB's disturbingly and
intentionally stripped down site. In 2018 in
Wisconsin, McFarland made 206 loans to white,
and only three to African Americans. This is an
interim protest; the comment period(s) must be
extended.
Here
are some more applications not in the FRB's H2A,
requiring explanation and extension of comment
periods:
not
later than December 20, 2019. A. Federal
Reserve Bank of Atlanta (Kathryn Haney,
Assistant Vice President) 1000 Peachtree Street
NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. 1. BCI Financial
Group, Inc., Miami, Florida; to merge with
Executive Banking Corporation, and thereby
indirectly acquire Executive National Bank, both
of Miami, Florida. In connection with this
proposal, Bci Financial Group, Inc.'s parent
companies, Empresas Juan Yarur SpA and Banco de
Credito e Inversiones S.A., both of Santiago,
Chile, to indirectly acquire Executive Banking
Corporation and Executive National
Bank. not later than December 20,
2019. A. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
(David L. Hubbard, Senior Manager) P.O. Box 442,
St. Louis, Missouri 63166-2034. 1. Citizens
Union Bancorp of Shelbyville, Inc., Shelbyville,
Kentucky; to merge with Owenton Bancorp, Inc.,
and thereby indirectly acquire Peoples Bank
& Trust Company, both of Owenton,
Kentucky.
not
later than January 23, 2020. A. Federal
Reserve Bank of St. Louis (David L. Hubbard,
Senior Manager) P.O. Box 442, St. Louis,
Missouri 63166-20341. Comments can also be sent
electronically to
Comments.applications@stls.frb.org:
First Horizon National Corporation, Memphis,
Tennessee; to acquire IBERIABANK Corporation and
thereby indirectly acquire IBERIABANK, both of
Lafayette, Louisiana.
B.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Ivan Hurwitz,
Senior Vice President) 33 Liberty Street, New
York, New York 10045-0001. . Barclays US
Holdings Limited, New York, New York; a company
organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands,
to become a bank holding company by acquiring
Barclays US LLC, also of New York, New York, and
thereby indirectly acquire Barclays Bank
Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware. In addition,
Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC, both of
London, England, to retain Barclays US Holdings
Limited and thereby indirectly acquire Barclays
US LLC and Barclays Bank Delaware.
not
later than January 9, 2020. A. Federal
Reserve Bank of New York (Ivan Hurwitz, Senior
Vice President) 33 Liberty Street, New York, New
York 10045 1. First Bancorp, San Juan,
Puerto Rico; to acquire Santander BanCorp and
thereby indirectly acquire Banco Santander
Puerto Rico, both of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In
addition, FirstBank Puerto Rico, San Juan,
Puerto Rico, to become a bank holding company
for a moment in time by acquiring Santander
BanCorp and thereby indirectly acquiring Banco
Santander Puerto Rico.
In this context, Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch is demanding an extension of all comment
periods by the FRB, its intervention with the
CFPB to restore access on the website itself to
2018 HMDA data, and on the current record the
denial by the FRB of these application(s). Thank
you for your prompt attention, Matthew R. Lee
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
Watch this site.
December
23, 2019
Protest to Flushing Bank Empire After FDIC Joins Otting Assault on CRA Amid Whitewash of Mortgage Data
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Honduras
- The
Source - The
Root - etc
Bronx
/ SDNY, Dec 16 – With US
Comptroller of the Currency
Joseph Otting on December 12
formally moving along with the
FDIC to undermine the
Community Reinvestment Act, on
December 16 Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch filed a CRA
protest with the FDIC to
Flushing Bank's application to
acquire Empire National Bank,
see below.
On December 12 in a badly-webcast FDIC meeting
Director Jelena McWilliams said that where she
was born there is a phrase about if you can't go
to the Hill, the Hill comes to you - the
reference was to Rep. Maxine Waters - the FDIC
sold its credibility to Otting. And why then are
the regulators like the FDIC, now with the
connivance now only of the OCC but also CFPB,
making it harder for the public to enforce CRA?
The
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Kathy
Kraninger issued 2018 Home Mortgage Disclosure
Act data - with an interface without any racial
or ethnic information unlike 2017 and every
previous year, undermining the entire purpose of
the HMDA law. See this
page and this December 16 filing with FDIC,
cc-ed to the CFPB:
December
16, 2019 Via e-mail
Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation Attn: John Vogel,
Regional Director and Doreen R. Eberley, Jim
Watkins, Robert P. Cordeiro, Scott D. Strockoz
350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200 New York, NY
10118-0110
Re:
Timely First Comment on Applications by Flushing
Bank to Acquire Empire National Bank
Dear
Regional Director Vogel and others at the
FDIC:
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FDIC's public
comment period on the Applications by Flushing
Bank to Acquire Empire National
Bank.
Flushing
Bank in 2018, for race specified loans, made six
times more loans to whites than to African
Americans, entirely out of keeping with the
demographics of its market.
Compare
the demographics of its lending to the
geography: 68 loans to Queens, 35 in Manhattan,
27 in The Bronx, 35 in Manhattan, five on Staten
Island and 24 in Westchester
County.
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch would like to
and has a right to submit more detailed HMDA
data. But for the record, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau for 2018 data has unilaterally
removed the ability of the public to view HMDA
data by race on its website, which the FFIEC /
Federal Reserve allowed in previous years and
the CFBP did even in 2017.
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch contends that
the CFPB's move is both anti-public and
illegal.
For
further context, last week the FDIC opted in a
party line vote to go with the OCC of ex-banker
Otting which is trying to further weaken the
CRA, and has already in rogue-like fashion
barred the public from comment on charter
conversion and even merger applications like
that involving Chinatown FSB earlier this
year.
December
16, 2019
FDIC
Joins Otting
To Deregulate
Banks As CFPB
Hides Mortgage
Data
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Dec 12 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, one of his moves
this year has been to refuse to consider a
timely CRA protest to People's United Bank by
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
on December 12 the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation has joined Otting's assault on CRA.
In a badly webcast FDIC meeting Director Jelana
McWilliams said that where she was born there is
a phrase about if you can't go to the Hill, the
Hill comes to you - the reference was to Rep.
Maxine Waters - the FDIC sold its credibility to
Otting. Can the Federal Reserve be far
behind? And why then are the regulators
like the OCC, now with the connivance of the
CFPB, making it harder for the public to enforce
CRA?
With
the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for the
law, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
under Kathy Kraninger issued 2018 Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act data - with an interface without
any racial or ethnic information unlike 2017 and
every previous year, undermining the entire
purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page and see below.
Now with this CFPB abuse still unaddressed,
including in an evasive response from CFPB this
week, from Capitol Hill, this: "United States
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), member of
the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Committee, and Representative Jesús “Chuy”
García (D-Ill.), member of the House of
Representatives Committee on Financial Services,
today announced the introduction of the Bank
Merger Review Modernization Act. The legislation
would restrict harmful consolidation in the
banking industry and protect consumers and the
financial system from “Too Big to Fail”
institutions, like those that caused the 2008
financial crisis. The upcoming merger between
SunTrust Banks, Inc. (SunTrust) and BB&T
Corporation (BB&T) will create the
sixth-largest U.S. bank and first new Too Big to
Fail bank since the financial crisis.
Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and
Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) are original House
cosponsors of the bill. “Nearly two years
ago, Chairman Powell confirmed my worst
suspicions that the Fed has not declined a
single merger request since before the financial
crisis,” said Senator Warren. “The bill
Congressman García and I are announcing today
would ensure that regulators do their jobs by
stopping mergers that deprive communities of the
banking services they need, reward banks that
cheat or discriminate against their customers,
and risk another financial
crisis. “When big banks
get bigger, consumers and taxpayers usually
lose. We must protect our financial system by
slowing down bank consolidation. This bill will
help address this, taking the Fed and FDIC off
autopilot and giving consumers a voice in
reviewing bank mergers,” said Congressman
García." This is one of the steps that is
needed.
After various attempts to get CFPB to
acknowledge its outrageous move in
disenfranchising grassroots groups from the data
meant to benefit them, which we will leave
UNdescribed for now, Inner City Press on
November 7 submitted a FOIA request see below.
The CFPB has acknowledged receipt, but says it
has a unspecified backlog and has denied the
request for expedited processing because it does
not think redlined communities defending their
rights and lives with the CRA is urgent.
December
9, 2019
FDIC
Backsliding
With Otting To
Deregulate
Banks Raised
in DC As CFPB
Hides Mortgage
Data
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Dec 5 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, one of his moves
this year has been to refuse to consider a
timely CRA protest to People's United Bank by
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is
sliding toward joining Otting's assault on CRA,
but was questioned this week in the US Senate:
Q:
the FDIC could give the smaller banks that
regulates the choice of opting into this new OCC
led CRA regulatory framework or continuing to be
examined under the current system. That could
lead to a situation where banks themselves
choose to participate in the model that gives
them the best grade and not the one that best
measures whether their activities are
effectively addressing the needs of their
communities.
If adopted, do you know what percentage of FDIC
regulated banks would the choice to opt into the
OCC
approach?
JELENA
MCWILLIAMS: So, the -- the proposal is
still being worked. One of the options we
considered was the opt-out for small banks --
I'm sorry, opt-in, opting into the new regime or
keeping the existing regime. The main reason for
the opt-in opportunity would be to provide an
ability for small banks not to have to change
their reporting requirements and their -- how
they go through the analysis of what qualifies
for the CRA. Small banks - the number of small
banks will - if they decide to opt in would
depend on what threshold we pick for the cut
off.
MENENDEZ:
So you don't know yet what number because you
haven't decided on the
threshold?
MCWILLIAMS:
It's not - it's not firm. We are looking at
numbers and making
sure...
MENENDEZ:
But I hope that other than - we want small
banks, yes, to have less response - less
necessity in terms of paperwork but we don't
want them to have less necessity or obligation
in terms of creating a portal of opportunity
under the CRA. If most FDIC-regulated banks
would be able to opt in, then aren't you - if
that's what happens, then aren't you simply
making a political calculation that best
protects the interest of the banks you're
charged with regulating over those who stand to
benefit from a strong CRA rule. Isn't in essence
the threshold going to determine whether that's
the reality or
not?
December
2, 2019
TD Bank Seeks To Own 13% of Schwab After OneCoin Bragged Of TD Bank Relationship
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
BBC
- The
Times UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Nov 25 – A major proposed merger in
the brokerage and banking fields has been
announced on the morning of November 25: Charles
Schwab proposes to buy TD Ameritrade in an
approximately $26-billion US all-stock deal. The
deal would see Toronto-Dominion Bank, which
holds approximately 43 per cent of TD
Ameritrade's stock, own a roughly 13 per cent
stake in the combined company. "This
transaction will deliver significant value for
TD and provide us with an ownership stake in one
of the most innovative and highly regarded
investment firms in the U.S.," TD Bank chief
executive Bharat Masrani said.
Inner City Press has reported that crypo
currency scheme OneCoin publicly represented
that it had a banking relationship with TD Bank.
When action was belatedly (and begrudgingly)
taken, questions arise and will be raised as to
what TD Bank knew, and when. Watch this site.
As Inner City Press covered the OneCoin trial
this month, a number of names of indicted
co-conspirators emerged on which we are now
following up.
One of them was Amer Abdulaziz Salman. From his
Phoenix Thoroughbred's, Inner City Press is
informed that Dermot Farrington has left.
As Inner City Press exclusively reported on
November 6, surprise cooperating witness
Konstantin Ignatov brought up Amer Abdulaziz
during his testimony, live-tweeted
@InnerCityPress, and see here.
On November 24 those tweets were used without
any credit in a derivative article by the Racing
Post's Peter Scargill - apparently dodginess
pervades this part of the industry.
Inner City Press has been contacted from Dubai
of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, from
Amer Abdulaziz's native Bahrain and elsewhere by
whistleblowers in the horse racing industry,
with extensive information about Amer
Abdulaziz's previous schemes and sudden windfall
with OneCoin money.
November
25, 2019
Rogue
Regulator
Otting of OCC
Moves to
Launder
Predatory
Loans As Valid
When Made
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Nov 8 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
has been to move to laundering high-cost loans
by calling them "valid when made." See legal
analysis here.
The FDIC is poised to follow suit; the issue is
on the FDIC board meeting agenda for November
19.
Now
with the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for
the law, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger has launched a no
action letter process for fintech, giving
assurances without any public notice or comment
that activities can be undertaken with no
concern about enforcement. See here.
In
September Kraninger's CFPB issued 2018 Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data - with an interface
without any racial or ethnic information unlike
2017 and every previous year, undermining the
entire purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page.
Now after various attempts to get CFPB to
acknowledge its outrageous move in
disenfranchising grassroots groups from the data
meant to benefit them, which we will leave
UNdescribed for now, Inner City Press on
November 7 submitted a FOIA request see below.
The CFPB has acknowledged receipt, but says it
has a unspecified backlog and has denied the
request for expedited processing because it does
not think redlined communities defending their
rights and lives with the CRA is urgent.
"Dear
Mr. Lee: This letter is to inform you that on
November 8, 2019, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) received your Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) request dated November
7, 2019. Your request sought: [a]ll
records regarding the CFPB's decision / action
to make the 2018 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
data only available for download (the so-called
data filter) rather then searchable and viewable
in reports on the CFPB website as was the case
for the 2017 data. Please be advised that the
CFPB FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA
requests. We are diligently working to
process each request in the order in which it
was received. Your patience is greatly
appreciated. The CFPB FOIA regulations
found at 12 C.F.R. Part 1070 specifically define
“representative of the news media” as “any
person or entity that gathers information of
potential interest to a segment of the public,
uses its editorial skills to turn the raw
materials into a distinct work, and distributes
that work to an audience.” Based on the
information contained in your request, the CFPB
has granted your request to be considered a
“representative of the news media"... Your
request for expedited processing is Denied
because you failed to demonstrate a particular
urgency to inform the public about the
government activity involved in the request
beyond the public’s right to know about
government activity generally." Really?
The
request: "Dear CFPB Chief FOIA Officer:
Pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information
Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, I request from the CFPB any
and all records as that term is defined in FOIA
regarding the CFPB's decision / action to make
the 2018 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data only
available for download (the so-called data
filter) rather then searchable and viewable in
reports on the CFPB website as was the case for
the 2017 data.
To assist you in rapidly providing the requested
information - this is a request for expedited
treatment given that the withholding in
accessible format of the 2018 data each day
hinders low income community groups from
commenting on bank mergers, the only enforcement
mechanism of the Community Reinvestment Act to
prevent bank redlining - be aware that the issue
has been raised to CFPB staff in a number of
conference calls including most recently to,
inter alia Brenda Muniz, Tim Lambert [some
names redacted in this format.]
November
18, 2019
Deutsche
Bank RMBS
Fraud Leads To
$500,000 Civil
Penalty
Against Former
Exec In EDNY
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Video,
Q&A,
HK here
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, Nov 14 – Deutsche Bank, which
profited as trustee from predatory mortgage
lending, has also been raided for money
laundering, see below. In the SDNY trial OneCoin
trial Inner City Press has been covering daily
since November 4, here, Deutsche Bank keeps
coming up in connection with money laundering
for Ruja Ignatova. Now on November 14 from
across the East River in Brooklyn, this: "The
United States has reached agreement with Paul
Mangione, a former Deutsche Bank executive, to
settle a civil action filed in September 2017 in
which the United States sought civil penalties
for Mangione’s conduct in connection with
Deutsche Bank’s marketing and sale of two
residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in
2007. The agreement provides for payment of
$500,000 in civil penalties in exchange for
dismissal of the complaint. Richard P. Donoghue,
United States Attorney for the Eastern District
of New York, announced the settlement. “This
Office’s settlement with a bank executive in
connection with RMBS fraud reflects our
commitment to holding individuals accountable
for their role in corporate fraud,” stated
United States Attorney Donoghue. Mr. Donoghue
thanked the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s
Office of the Inspector General for its
assistance in conducting the investigation in
this matter. The complaint in the action, United
States v. Paul Mangione, alleged that Mangione,
a former Managing Director and head of subprime
trading at Deutsche Bank, engaged in a scheme to
defraud investors in two Deutsche Bank RMBS, ACE
2007-HE4 and ACE 2007-HE5, by misrepresenting
the characteristics of the loans backing the two
securities and misleading potential investors
about the loan origination practices of Deutsche
Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, DB Home Lending
LLC (f/k/a Chapel Funding, LLC), which
originated a number of the loans backing the two
RMBS. The complaint stated claims for relief
under the Financial Institutions Reform,
Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA),
based on mail fraud and wire fraud."
November
11, 2019
CFPB
Takes 2017
Mortgage Data
Down Days
After 2018
Complaint and
FOIA by Inner
City Press
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Nov 9 – The US Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, days after complaints about
withholding 2018 mortgage data by race and a
FOIA request from Inner City Press responded by
taking the 2017 data offline. Photo here. This
bureaucratic retaliation and/or criminal
negligence should be the subject of
Congressional hearings and then firings.
Eric Blankenstein while working at the
increasingly rogue Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau was kept on despite openly racist blog
posts. (The CFPB is now withholding from
impacted comments the 2018 mortgage lending data
by race, see below). Now Blackenstein has been
promoted by HUD to VP at GinnieMae. This is a
pattern.
With
Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting moving
to undermine the US Community Reinvestment Act,
his latest move has been to refuse to consider a
timely CRA protest to People's United Bank by
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
with the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for
the law, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger has launched a no
action letter process for fintech, giving
assurances without any public notice or comment
that activities can be undertaken with no
concern about enforcement. See here.
In
September Kraninger's CFPB issued 2018 Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data - with an interface
without any racial or ethnic information unlike
2017 and every previous year, undermining the
entire purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page.
Now after various attempts to get CFPB to
acknowledge its outrageous move in
disenfranchising grassroots groups from the data
meant to benefit them, which we will leave
UNdescribed for now, Inner City Press on
November 7 submitted a FOIA request see below.
The CFPB has acknowledged receipt, but says it
has a unspecified backlog and has denied the
request for expedited processing because it does
not think redlined communities defending their
rights and lives with the CRA is urgent.
"Dear
Mr. Lee: This letter is to inform you that on
November 8, 2019, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) received your Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) request dated November
7, 2019. Your request sought: [a]ll
records regarding the CFPB's decision / action
to make the 2018 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
data only available for download (the so-called
data filter) rather then searchable and viewable
in reports on the CFPB website as was the case
for the 2017 data. Please be advised that the
CFPB FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA
requests. We are diligently working to
process each request in the order in which it
was received. Your patience is greatly
appreciated. The CFPB FOIA regulations
found at 12 C.F.R. Part 1070 specifically define
“representative of the news media” as “any
person or entity that gathers information of
potential interest to a segment of the public,
uses its editorial skills to turn the raw
materials into a distinct work, and distributes
that work to an audience.” Based on the
information contained in your request, the CFPB
has granted your request to be considered a
“representative of the news media"... Your
request for expedited processing is Denied
because you failed to demonstrate a particular
urgency to inform the public about the
government activity involved in the request
beyond the public’s right to know about
government activity generally." Really?
The
request: "Dear CFPB Chief FOIA Officer:
Pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information
Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, I request from the CFPB any
and all records as that term is defined in FOIA
regarding the CFPB's decision / action to make
the 2018 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data only
available for download (the so-called data
filter) rather then searchable and viewable in
reports on the CFPB website as was the case for
the 2017 data.
To assist you in rapidly providing the requested
information - this is a request for expedited
treatment given that the withholding in
accessible format of the 2018 data each day
hinders low income community groups from
commenting on bank mergers, the only enforcement
mechanism of the Community Reinvestment Act to
prevent bank redlining - be aware that the issue
has been raised to CFPB staff in a number of
conference calls including most recently to,
inter alia Brenda Muniz, Tim Lambert [some
names redacted in this format.]
November
4, 2019
While the CFPB continues to withhold basic mortgage lending data, we note that a spokesperson for disparate LendingClub is quoted: “We are completely committed to fair lending practices. Researchers at the Philadelphia Fed have analyzed our data and concluded that we’re lending in more areas where banks are closing their branches, we’re improving pricing and the quality of credit decisioning, and increasing financial inclusion.” Wait - so now the Federal Reserve has handing out fair lending cover up fig leafs to disparate fintechs?
October
28, 2019
As
Rogue
Regulator
Otting Tries
To Kill CRA
His Staff
Tries To Coopt
#TreasureCRA
No Answers
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Oct 24 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, on August 21 he
engaged in a cynical tour of Jamaica, Queens
with Rep. Gregory Meeks while his OCC was also
refusing to consider a CRA protest filed less
than 30 days after People's Bank's application
was filed and that, later, available. See below.
October
21, 2019
CFPB
Whitewashes
2018 Home
Mortgage Data
Despite NYAG
Opposing
Disclosure
Tables Gone
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Oct 19 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
has been to refuse to consider a timely CRA
protest to People's United Bank by Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
with the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for
the law, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger has launched a no
action letter process for fintech, giving
assurances without any public notice or comment
that activities can be undertaken with no
concern about enforcement. See here.
Last
month Kraninger's CFPB issued 2018 Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act data - with an interface without
any racial or ethnic information unlike 2017 and
every previous year, undermining the entire
purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page.
Now
on October 19 Inner City Press reports on
push-back from New York, beyond the obvious need
to make the disclosure tables available online
again, this: "Dear Director Kraninger: The New
York State Attorney General (“NYAG”) submits the
following comments on the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau’s (the “CFPB”) Advance Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking on the efficacy of
certain data points and coverage of the Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”) (Docket No.
CFPB-2019-0020/RIN 3170-AA97) (“Advance
Notice”). HMDA is an important tool in ending
the scourge of mortgage lending discrimination
that has long plagued our country. Designed to
provide public detailed mortgage lending data,
HMDA ensures that the public and state
regulators have the means necessary to enforce
federal and state fair lending laws and to
guarantee that the lending needs of their
communities are being met. In 2010, in the wake
of the 2008 financial crisis, Congress amended
HMDA to make certain that our economy would
never again be brought down by predatory
mortgage lending. Congress statutorily added
more required data fields and then gave the CFPB
the authority to add additional fields to
achieve the objective of greater transparency.
In 2015, after five years of research, outreach
and various notice and comment periods, the CFPB
added 14 additional data points and revised
certain others (“2015 HMDA Amendments”). The
2015 HMDA Amendments went into effect on January
1, 2018 and the 2018 HMDA data is the first data
set that contains these new fields. Most of
these new fields request data that mortgage
lenders already collect for the purpose of
underwriting and for selling these loans to
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or other
investors. The CFPB is now asking whether
it should reverse course and reduce the
transparency provided by its current HMDA
reporting requirements. The answer is a
resounding no. Reducing HMDA reporting
requirements would undermine the ability of
local public officials to investigate unfair and
discriminatory mortgage lending practices, such
as the predatory practices that led to the
housing market crash in 2008. "
On
October 12 Inner City Press reported a flood of
identical
comments *supporting* Kraninger and the CFPB
like this one on HMDA: "Comment Submitted by
Anonymous Sonnenburg, I appreciate the CFPB's
recent willingness to reconsider and revise its
prior rulemakings." This while CFPB is still
withhold the basis race and ethic information
from display on its website, raw data download
only unlike previous years. This is an outrage -
and its having impacts. The Federal Reserve,
citing the CFPB, rubber stamped Hancock Whitney
- MidSouth Bank, and is prepared to close its
comment periods on Simmons - Landrum and other
proposed mergers while the CFPB on September 7
is still saying this: "We will retire HMDA
Explorer and its API Our tool for exploring HMDA
data—and the Public Data Platform API that
powers it—will be shut down in the coming
months. We will post additional details as they
become available. The 2018 HMDA data
include a number of new data points and, as a
result, are not compatible with the multi-year
functionality provided by the Public Data
Platform. The Federal
Financial Institutions Examination Council
(FFIEC) will publish a query tool for the 2018
data in the coming months, which will be
available at ffiec.cfpb.gov. After the new
query tool becomes available, the Bureau will
retire the current HMDA Explorer tool and the
Public Data Platform API that powers
it." In the coming months? The CFPB has
months to do this. They are intentionally making
it more difficult for the public to access basic
fair lending information.
This
is confirmed in a blithe "request
for comments" that includes "the HMDA Platform
allows users to produce and export custom data
sets rather than relying on numerous static
reports that few previously accessed. To enable
external software developers to access some of
the key services offered by the HMDA Platform,
the Bureau publishes Application Programming
Interfaces (APIs) that can be integrated into
external websites, analytical tools, and
industry software. The Bureau has innovated in
other areas as well."
October
14, 2019
CFPB
Whitewashes
2018 Home
Mortgage Data
Now Slew of
Identical
Letters
Appreciating
It
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Oct 12 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
has been to refuse to consider a timely CRA
protest to People's United Bank by Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
with the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for
the law, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger has launched a no
action letter process for fintech, giving
assurances without any public notice or comment
that activities can be undertaken with no
concern about enforcement. See here.
N
Last
month Kraninger's CFPB issued 2018 Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act data - with an interface without
any racial or ethnic information unlike 2017 and
every previous year, undermining the entire
purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page.
October
7, 2019
Rogue
Regulator
Otting
Withholds
Merger Notices
Since August
17 So All
Comment
Periods Close
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Oct 5 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, on August 21 he
engaged in a cynical tour of Jamaica, Queens
with Rep. Gregory Meeks while his OCC was also
refusing to consider a CRA protest filed less
than 30 days after People's Bank's application
was filed and that, later, available. See below.
Now on October 5, 2019, on Otting's OCC website
the most recently Weekly Bulletin of pending
mergers, each with a 30 day comment periods is
dated August 17. That is to say, all of the
merger of which Otting's OCC is providing public
have comment period which are closed. Those with
open comment periods are not disclosed. This is
criminal.
On September 3, Otting rang up another death
knell to accountability and judicial review,
getting the CSBS' lawsuit about his sure to be
ghoulish fintech charter dismissed as not ripe.
A D.C. federal judge has again shot down a
lawsuit that seeks to block the federal
government from granting specialized national
bank charters to fintech firms, saying the
Conference of State Bank Supervisors is still
jumping the gun by suing over a charter that no
one has even applied for. In a ruling
Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich
dismissed because the "claims remain unripe.”
This is four months after U.S. District Judge
Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New
York allowed the New York Department of
Financial Services to proceed with its challenge
to the fintech charter. In her ruling on
Tuesday, Judge Friedrich said she “respectfully”
disagrees with Judge Marrero’s decision to the
extent it conflicts with either of her dismissal
decisions in the CSBS cases. Inner City
Press goes with the SDNY. In DC the OCC is
represented in-house by Jonathan V. Gould, Bao
Nguyen, Gregory F. Taylor, Hannah Hicks, Peter
C. Koch, Ashley W. Walker, Gabriel A. Hindin and
Michael K. Morelli -- some of these are involved
in trying to exempt the OCC from FOIA by denying
fee waivers, even for merger applications.
Otting is destroying the OCC, and wants to
destroy the CRA.
September
30, 2019
CFPB
Whitewashes
2018 Home
Mortgage Data
Calling It
Static Report
And Excluding
Public With
Tech Sprints
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Sept 28 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
has been to refuse to consider a timely CRA
protest to People's United Bank by Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
with the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for
the law, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger has launched a no
action letter process for fintech, giving
assurances without any public notice or comment
that activities can be undertaken with no
concern about enforcement. See here.
This is a sandbox like Saudi Arabia, which
killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi and now hired
Instagram "micro-influencers," like the UN's
Antonio Guterres, to whitewash its image.
Last
month Kraninger's CFPB issued 2018 Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act data - with an interface without
any racial or ethnic information unlike 2017 and
every previous year, undermining the entire
purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page. This is an outrage - and its having
impacts. The Federal Reserve, citing the CFPB,
rubber stamped Hancock Whitney - MidSouth Bank,
and is prepared to close its comment periods on
Simmons - Landrum and other proposed mergers
while the CFPB on September 7 is still saying
this: "We will retire HMDA Explorer and its API
Our tool for exploring HMDA data—and the Public
Data Platform API that powers it—will be shut
down in the coming months. We will post
additional details as they become
available. The 2018 HMDA data include a
number of new data points and, as a result, are
not compatible with the multi-year functionality
provided by the Public Data
Platform. The Federal
Financial Institutions Examination Council
(FFIEC) will publish a query tool for the 2018
data in the coming months, which will be
available at ffiec.cfpb.gov. After the new
query tool becomes available, the Bureau will
retire the current HMDA Explorer tool and the
Public Data Platform API that powers
it." In the coming months? The CFPB has
months to do this. They are intentionally making
it more difficult for the public to access basic
fair lending information.
This
is confirmed in a blithe "request
for comments" that includes "the HMDA Platform
allows users to produce and export custom data
sets rather than relying on numerous static
reports that few previously accessed. To enable
external software developers to access some of
the key services offered by the HMDA Platform,
the Bureau publishes Application Programming
Interfaces (APIs) that can be integrated into
external websites, analytical tools, and
industry software. The Bureau has innovated in
other areas as well."
September
23, 2019
CFPB
Brags About
Complaint
Database While
Whitewashing
2018 Home
Mortgage Data
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Sept 18 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
has been to refuse to consider a timely CRA
protest to People's United Bank by Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
with the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for
the law, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger has launched a no
action letter process for fintech, giving
assurances without any public notice or comment
that activities can be undertaken with no
concern about enforcement. See here.
This is a sandbox like Saudi Arabia, which
killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi and now hired
Instagram "micro-influencers," like the UN's
Antonio Guterres, to whitewash its image.
Earlier
in the month Kraninger's CFPB issued 2018 Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data - with an interface
without any racial or ethnic information unlike
2017 and every previous year, undermining the
entire purpose of the HMDA law. See this
page. This is an outrage - and its having
impacts, see below.
September
16, 2019
CFPB
Launches Saudi
Like Sandbox
for
Deregulation
After
Whitewashing
2018 Home
Mortgage Data
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Sept 11 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
has been to refuse to consider a timely CRA
protest to People's United Bank by Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
with the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for
the law, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger has launched a no
action letter process for fintech, giving
assurances without any public notice or comment
that activities can be undertaken with no
concern about enforcement. See here.
This is a sandbox like Saudi Arabia, which
killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi and now hired
Instagram "micro-influencers," like the UN's
Antonio Guterres, to whitewash its image.
September
9, 2019
Amid
Otting Rogue
Show OCC Gets
DC Court To
Shoot Down
CSBS Fintech
Suit Using
Anti FOIA
Lawyers
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, Sept 4 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, on August 21 he
engaged in a cynical tour of Jamaica, Queens
with Rep. Gregory Meeks while his OCC was also
refusing to consider a CRA protest filed less
than 30 days after People's Bank's application
was filed and that, later, available. See below.
September
2, 2019
CFPB
Puts Out 2018
Home Mortgage
Data With No
Racial or
Ethnic Info
Lawless
Whitewash
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, June 3 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
has been to refuse to consider a timely CRA
protest to People's United Bank by Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch.
Now
with the OCC yet to be sued for its contempt for
the law, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger has issued 2018
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data - with an
interface without any racial or ethnic
information unlike 2017 and every previous year,
undermining the entire purpose of the HMDA law.
See this
page. This is an outrage, on which Inner City
Press will have more.
Previously
CFPB issued a rule relieving payday lenders of
the duty to comply with the ability-to-repay
standard for the CFPB’s short term lending rule
of November 2017.
August
26, 2019
Amid
Otting Rogue
Show in NYC
His OCC
Protects
People's
United Bid For
United Bank
Refusing
Timely Comment
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, August 21 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, on August 21 he
engaged in a cynical tour of Jamaica, Queens
with Rep. Gregory Meeks while his OCC was also
refusing to consider a CRA protest filed less
than 30 days after People's Bank's application
was filed and that, later, available. See below.
Mere hours after refusing to consider an actual
CRA comment, Otting issued this: "Comptroller of
the Currency Joseph Otting today participated in
a tour of New York neighborhoods to see
firsthand the success of Community Reinvestment
Act (CRA) activity and discuss how CRA
regulations can promote more lending,
investment, and services, where they are needed
most. 'Here in New York, we saw great
examples of community and bank partnerships to
conduct CRA activity that helps meet important
needs of underserved neighborhoods,' Comptroller
Otting said following the tour. 'We also
discussed challenges communities, advocates, and
bankers face in lending, investing, and
providing services that can be addressed in part
by modernizing CRA regulations.'" This is fraud.
In
June 2019 Otting denied access to documents
about whom he meets with which Inner City Press
requested back in January 2019. This while he
had made the OCC start rejecting timely CRA
comments on mergers and on Fifth Third's lateral
move to the less regulated OCC charter,
asserting that he has unfettered discretion to
consider such comments.
Now it gets worse - Otting is citing a 30 day
comment period as a basis to refuse to consider
comments even when by his own OCC's letter it
was timely, less than thirty said. Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch was sent this by the
OCC on August 21: "People’s United Bank,
National Association, Bridgeport, Connecticut
filed its Application with the CCC on July 18,
2019, and published its first public notice of
the application on July 17, 2019. The 30-day
public comment period ended on August 15, 2019.
The 0CC made information concerning the
application publicly available in the July 20,
2019 Weekly Bulletin and, on July 23, 2019,
posted the public portion of the application to
the OCC’s Freedom of Information Act Electronic
Reading Room. Your comment was submitted on
August l6, following the close of the comment
period on August 1 As a result, the comment was
not timely and the OCC will not consider this
comment in its review of the pending
application." Do the math. Then impeach Otting.
On
August 15-16, Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch, less than 30 days after the application
was filed, submitted this to the OCC including
its Barry Wides in DC: "August 15-16,
2019
Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency
Northeastern District Office Deputy
Comptroller, Kristin Kiefer Acting
Director for District Licensing, Marva V.
Cummings 340 Madison Avenue, Fifth
Floor New York, NY 10173-0002 and
Barry Wides, DC
Re: Timely Initial Comment on Application of
People's United Bank to acquire United
Bank Dear Deputy
Comptroller Kiefer, Ms. Cummings, Mr. Wides and
others in the OCC:
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the Application by People's
United Bank to acquire United
Bank. The
OCC states that "when a public notice is
published, the public has 30 days to submit a
written comment to the OCC." See here.
This comment is timely. While the "public"
notice in the Hartford Courant is behind paywall
- we are noting that for the record, to be acted
on by the OCC like its now routine late updating
of its online Weekly Bulletins - dispositively,
the OCC web site says "Filing
Status: Action Date
Receipt 2019-07-18." July 18 plus 30 days is
August 17. Even if one ignores the filing date
for comment period start date, July 17, plus 30
days is August 16. This comment is
timely.
Add
to the above, for the record, that the OCC under
Comptroller Otting has reversed years of OCC
precedent and refused FOIA fee waivers for
copies of the application to comment on. This
comment is timely,and the lawless policy
reversal(s) must be
reversed.
People's
United is getting worse and
worse.
In the the New York City MSA in 2017, the most
recent year for which HMDA data is publicly
available - the comment period should be
extended until the delayed 2018 data is
available - People's United made 83 home
purchase loans to whites, only seven to Latinos
and only FOUR to African Americans. Its denial
rate for African Americans was 2.81 times higher
than for whites - worse than its peers, by far.
This comment is timely, an evidentiary hearing
is needed; on the current record the application
should be denied. For
refinance loans in the New York City MSA in
2017, People's United made 85 loans to whites,
only five to Latinos and only six to African
Americans. This is systematic redlining;
this proposed acquisition could not legitimately
be approved and People's United should be
referred for prosecution for redlining by the
Department of Justice and
CFPB. People's United
record is hardly sufficient in the Hartford MSA
where it now proposes to acquire United Bank. In
2017 in the Hartford MSA, People's United made
139 home purchase loans to whites and only 10 to
African Americans and only five to Latinos. Its
denial rate for African Americans was a whopping
4.71 times higher than for whites - worse than
its peers, by far. Again, this
is systematic redlining; this proposed
acquisition could not legitimately be approved
and People's United should be referred for
prosecution for redlining by the Department of
Justice and
CFPB.
See
also, for the record, "People’s United Bank is
growing, but at the expense of branches and
possibly jobs. The Bridgeport-based
subsidiary of People’s United Financial is
looking to acquire the parent company to United
Bank in Hartford for roughly $759 million by the
end of the year, and executives have confirmed
that the merger would result in cuts.
“There is a lot of overlap, and we’ve done quite
a bit of homework and due diligence already, but
we will finish that work with the United (Bank)
team and we will make decisions about which will
close,” People’s United CEO Jack Barnes
said.
In this context, the comment period should be
extended so that public evidentiary hearings can
be held, and the application should be denied."
Watch this site.
Now in a promotional brochure about his attack
on CRA, Otting has misstated what the CRA
statute says, and significantly so. His brochure
said that the law requires the regulators to
"consider the CRA RATING in connection with
certain licensing applications." Uploaded by
Inner City Press on Scribd here.
August
19, 2019
As OCC
Of Otting
Attacks CRA
People's
United Bid For
United Bank
Challenged On
Lending and
Cuts
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, August 18 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, in June 2019 he
denied access to documents about whom he meets
with which Inner City Press requested back in
January 2019. This while he had made the OCC
start rejecting timely CRA comments on mergers
and on Fifth Third's lateral move to the less
regulated OCC charter, asserting that he has
unfettered discretion to consider such comments.
And so, this test. On August 15-16, Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch, less than 30 days
after the application was filed, submitted this
to the OCC including its Barry Wides in DC:
"August 15-16, 2019
Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency
Northeastern District Office Deputy
Comptroller, Kristin Kiefer Acting
Director for District Licensing, Marva V.
Cummings 340 Madison Avenue, Fifth
Floor New York, NY 10173-0002 and
Barry Wides, DC
Re: Timely Initial Comment on Application of
People's United Bank to acquire United
Bank Dear Deputy
Comptroller Kiefer, Ms. Cummings, Mr. Wides and
others in the OCC:
This
is a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the Application by People's
United Bank to acquire United
Bank. The
OCC states that "when a public notice is
published, the public has 30 days to submit a
written comment to the OCC." See here.
This comment is timely. While the "public"
notice in the Hartford Courant is behind paywall
- we are noting that for the record, to be acted
on by the OCC like its now routine late updating
of its online Weekly Bulletins - dispositively,
the OCC web site says "Filing
Status: Action Date
Receipt 2019-07-18." July 18 plus 30 days is
August 17. Even if one ignores the filing date
for comment period start date, July 17, plus 30
days is August 16. This comment is
timely.
Add
to the above, for the record, that the OCC under
Comptroller Otting has reversed years of OCC
precedent and refused FOIA fee waivers for
copies of the application to comment on. This
comment is timely,and the lawless policy
reversal(s) must be
reversed.
People's
United is getting worse and
worse.
In the the New York City MSA in 2017, the most
recent year for which HMDA data is publicly
available - the comment period should be
extended until the delayed 2018 data is
available - People's United made 83 home
purchase loans to whites, only seven to Latinos
and only FOUR to African Americans. Its denial
rate for African Americans was 2.81 times higher
than for whites - worse than its peers, by far.
This comment is timely, an evidentiary hearing
is needed; on the current record the application
should be denied. For
refinance loans in the New York City MSA in
2017, People's United made 85 loans to whites,
only five to Latinos and only six to African
Americans. This is systematic redlining;
this proposed acquisition could not legitimately
be approved and People's United should be
referred for prosecution for redlining by the
Department of Justice and
CFPB. People's United
record is hardly sufficient in the Hartford MSA
where it now proposes to acquire United Bank. In
2017 in the Hartford MSA, People's United made
139 home purchase loans to whites and only 10 to
African Americans and only five to Latinos. Its
denial rate for African Americans was a whopping
4.71 times higher than for whites - worse than
its peers, by far. Again, this
is systematic redlining; this proposed
acquisition could not legitimately be approved
and People's United should be referred for
prosecution for redlining by the Department of
Justice and
CFPB.
See
also, for the record, "People’s United Bank is
growing, but at the expense of branches and
possibly jobs. The Bridgeport-based
subsidiary of People’s United Financial is
looking to acquire the parent company to United
Bank in Hartford for roughly $759 million by the
end of the year, and executives have confirmed
that the merger would result in cuts.
“There is a lot of overlap, and we’ve done quite
a bit of homework and due diligence already, but
we will finish that work with the United (Bank)
team and we will make decisions about which will
close,” People’s United CEO Jack Barnes
said.
In this context, the comment period should be
extended so that public evidentiary hearings can
be held, and the application should be denied."
Watch this site.
Now in a promotional brochure about his attack
on CRA, Otting has misstated what the CRA
statute says, and significantly so. His brochure
said that the law requires the regulators to
"consider the CRA RATING in connection with
certain licensing applications." Uploaded by
Inner City Press on Scribd here.
In fact, the
process is that CRA issues are
considered on merger and
charter conversion and other
applications, not just
ratings. That
is a safe harbor, something repeatedly
considered, fought off and rejected. Now
fraudulent comment generator Otting is simply
changing the law. We'll have more on this. And
on this:
August
12, 2019
Amid
attacks on the
U.S. Community
Reinvestment
Act this month
Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch
has filed
comments under
the CRA
opposing Banco
Bradesco's
application to
acquire BAC
Florida.
Here's some of
it: "This is a
timely first
comment
opposing and
requesting
documents
about and an
extension of
the FRB's
public comment
period on the
Application by
Banco Bradesco
to acquire BAC
Florida.
This is a
proposal by a
bank in Brazil
where
authorities
are reviewing
the bank for
corruption, to
buy a US bank
with a
disparate
lending record
in order to
use it to
serve
disproportionately
the affluent.
There is no
public
benefit; the
application
should be
denied.
Fair Finance
Watch has been
reviewing the
Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act
(HMDA) data
for 2017 for
BAC Florida
and finds,
troublingly,
that for home
purchase loans
in the New
York City MSA
it made 13
such loans to
Asians, and
none to
African
Americans or
Latinos. For
Latinos it
hada 100%
denial
rate.
In the Miama
MSA in 2017,
BAC Florida
made 68 home
puchase loans
to whites and
none to
African
Americans.
Now see,
for the
record,
"Brazil's
Bradesco to
buy Florida
bank to focus
on wealthy
individuals" -
"Banco
Bradesco SA
has embarked
on its
first-ever
international
acquisition by
paying
approximately
$500 million
to buy BAC
Florida Bank,
which focuses
on
high-net-worth
individuals in
a move
intended to
close the gap
with Brazilian
rivals.
Based in Coral
Gables, BAC
Florida is
controlled by
Grupo Pellas,
which was
founded in
1877 in
Nicaragua.
After the deal
closes,
Bradesco said
its main goal
is to provide
a wide range
of financial
services in
the United
States to
Bradesco
clients and
lure new
customers to
BAC
Florida.
Bradesco Chief
Executive
Officer
Octavio de
Lazari said on
a call with
journalists
that the
Brazilian
bank’s private
banking
clients have
increasingly
demanded
diversification
and greater
access to
global
products.
“This move
underscores
our expansion
not only in
the U.S., but
also in Latin
America as a
whole, as BAC
has clients
all over the
region,” he
said. Around
20 percent of
BAC Florida’s
clients are
Brazilian and
9 percent are
American.
Still, Lazari
said Bradesco
is not seeking
to build a
retail base
outside
Brazil, but
wants to boost
its private
banking
business."
Where is the
CRA?
Now
see
this, on managerial resources, also for the
record and the request for an evidentiary
hearing: "Brazilian anti-graft prosecutors mull
lawsuit against Bradesco" - " Brazilian
prosecutors are considering a civil lawsuit
against Banco Bradesco SA , as they believe the
country’s second-largest private-sector bank may
have failed to prevent corruption schemes, Valor
Econômico reported on Thursday. Earlier
this week, prosecutors asked a court to issue an
arrest warrant for two Bradesco bank managers,
saying they had been part of a complex scheme
involving shell companies, fraudulent checks and
bank slips that helped launder nearly 1 billion
reais ($252 million). Eduardo El Hage, the
prosecutor heading the Rio de Janeiro part of
the massive “Car Wash” corruption investigation,
told the Brazilian newspaper he believes
Bradesco should have caught on to those
financial transactions. Bradesco declined
to comment on the
matter." On
the current record, Banco Bradesco's
applications should be denied." We'll have more
on this.
August
5, 2019
Capital
One Exposed
140000 Social
Security
Numbers While
Abusing
Consumers
Regulators
Defanged
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, July 30 – Three years
after Capital One Bank was sued for its
overdraft fees on debit card transactions for
which there were sufficient funds available in
the customers' accounts, on June 25 the bank's
motion for summary judgment was denied by U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New
York Judge Lorna G. Schofield.
Now on July 29 Capital One belatedly disclosed
that it was "compromised," including 140,000
social security numbers, 80,000 linked bank
account numbers, and “personal information” from
credit card applications from 2005 through early
2019. And where were and are the regulators, who
approved Capital One's mergers rebuffing
detailed Press comments? We'll have more on
this.
Back on June 25, Judge Schofield after her
ruling joked that it felt like the case began in
last century. She gave the lawyers for named
plaintiff Tawanna M. Roberts two weeks to file a
letter presaging their motion for class
certification.
The case has already seen one appeal to the
Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which partially
reversed
Judge Schofield's granting
of Capital One's motion to dismiss Roberts'
causes of action for breach of contract and
violation of New York General Business Law §
349.
The case has attracted interest as an example,
consumer advocates say, of predatory practice,
citing a Capital One account agreement which
states that an overdraft occurs when it “elects
to pay” a transaction that exceeds a customer’s
available balance.
July
29, 2019
Japanese
FinTech
Rakuten Lines
Up For Utah
Evasion Of
Community
Reinvestment
Act
By
Matthew R. Lee
July
22, 2019
Predatory
Real Estate
Lawyer
Maddiwar Gets
5 Years As
SDNY Judge
Ramos Says He
Lied
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, July 19 – Real estate and lending
fraud got their day in court on July 19 and it
wasn't pretty. Lawyer Rajesh Maddiwar who was
convicted for his role in the theft of 30 homes
in The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queen where he had
his office, was up for sentencing. But he
repeated, as he had at trial, that he was the
victim and that he never knew that the people he
told to just sign on the dotted line were losing
their homes.
In
the gallery of Courtroom 618 in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New
York, a man vigorously shook his
head.
Inner City Press, which has long covered the
bank side of predatory lending, from
CitiFinancial to Wells Fargo and beyond, waited
to hear the victim impact statements. But they
never came.
After
Maddiwar's defiant speech, SDNY Judge Edgardo
Ramos sentenced him to 60 months in jail,
stating flatly that Maddiwar had lied at trial:
"He lied again and again." The case is USA
v. Maddiwar, part of USA v. Alvarenga
et al., 15-cr-00627
(Ramos).
July
15, 2019
Melrose Credit Union CEO Bailed For $500000 and Drug Testing As Georgiton Turns In Greek Passport
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Video, Alamy
photos
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, July 11 – The CEO of Melrose Credit
Union Alan Kaufman was arrested at 6 am on July
11 and presented on bribery charges before U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Magistrate
Judge Henry B.
Pitman at 4
pm. Wearing a
red polo shirt, he
pled not
guilty.
He
agreed to a
bail package
of a $500,00
bond to be
signed by his wife
and his son,
flying in on July 23
and, among
other things,
drug testing
and treatment
if
needed. His
co-defendant Tony
Georgiton must
post a $1
million bond
and turn in
not only his
US but also
his Greek
passport. The
next hearing is not
until
September 4
before SDNY
District Judge
Lewis A.
Kaufman. It's
good to be a
banker.
July
8, 2019
Community
Reinvestment
Act Challenge
to Hancock
Whitney Bid
For MidSouth
Bank
By
Matthew R. Lee, Exclusive
July
1, 2019
Capital
One Motion For
Summary
Judgment In
Overdraft Fees
Case Denied In
SDNY
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, June 25 – Three years
after Capital One Bank was sued for its
overdraft fees on debit card transactions for
which there were sufficient funds available in
the customers' accounts, on June 25 the bank's
motion for summary judgment was denied by U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New
York Judge Lorna G. Schofield.
Judge Schofield after her ruling joked that it
felt like the case began in last century. She
gave the lawyers for named plaintiff Tawanna M.
Roberts two weeks to file a letter presaging
their motion for class
certification.
The case has already seen one appeal to the
Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which partially
reversed
Judge Schofield's granting
of Capital One's motion to dismiss Roberts'
causes of action for breach of contract and
violation of New York General Business Law §
349.
The case has attracted interest as an example,
consumer advocates say, of predatory practice,
citing a Capital One account agreement which
states that an overdraft occurs when it “elects
to pay” a transaction that exceeds a customer’s
available balance.
The advocates say that by charging overdraft
fees on transactions that the bank elected to
pay when the available balance was sufficient,
but that later settled against negative funds,
Capital One led consumers to believe it would do
one thing while doing the opposite, inflicting
significant financial hardship - that is,
overdraft fees - on affected customers in the
process.
June
24, 2019
OCC
Denies Access
To Otting
Calendar Inner
City Press
Requested Five
Months Ago As
Regulator Goes
Rogue
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, June 21 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
is to deny access to documents about whom he
meets with which Inner City Press requested back
in January 2019. After first denying a Freedom
of Information Act fee waiver for these
documents, and now for all bank merger
applications is obvious retaliation, on June 20
the OCC wrote to Inner City Press:
"Dear
Mr.Lee: This is in response to your letter dated
January 16, 2019, which was received in my
office on January 17, 2019 for processing under
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C.
552. You requested copies of records sufficient
to show all of Comptroller Otting's scheduled
meetings, appointments, and scheduled events
from the date he became Comptroller to the date
of your response including but not limited to
Outlook calendar entries and daily briefing
books for Comptroller Otting on those dates. You
seek records of any kind, including paper
records, electronic records, audiotapes,
videotapes, photographs, data, and graphical
material. Our determination concerning your
request is as follows:
1.
Mr. Otting’s Calendar is published on the OCC’s
Website in the Electronic Reading Room located
at www.occ.gov. Certain entries have been
deleted under the authority of 5 U.S.C.
552(b)(2) and 12 C.F.R. (b)(2), related solely
to the internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency which covers confirmation numbers,
ticket numbers, dialin numbers and PIN codes for
telephone conferences; 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5) and 12
C.F.R. 4.12(b)(5) inter-agency or intra-agency
memorandums or letters which would not be
available by law to a party other than an agency
in litigation with the agency which are
considered deliberative in nature; 5 U.S.C.
552(b)(6) and 12 C.F.R. 4.12(b)(6), personnel
and medical files and similar files the
disclosure of which would constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy which
covers personal, non-government issued telephone
cell phone numbers; and, 5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(8) and
12 C.F.R. 4.12(b)(8), contained in or related to
examination, operating, or condition reports
prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an
agency responsible for the regulation or
supervision of financial institutions;.
2. Briefing books or materials submitted to the
Comptroller in preparation for meetings
appearing on his calendar and are marked
“MATERIALS ATTACHED” are withheld under the
authority of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5) and 12 C.F.R.
4.12(b)(5) inter-agency or intraagency
memorandums or letters which would not be
available by law to a party other than an agency
in litigation with the agency, which is
consistent with Department of Justice policy.
3. The OCC does not capture audiotapes or
videotapes of meetings.
4. Telephone messages made to the Comptroller
are also not captured.
5. The OCC does not maintain transcripts.
6. Handwritten notes are not maintained by the
Comptroller or the OCC. 7. The OCC does not
sweep the personal email accounts of its
employees.
8. A Vaughan index is not required to be
produced at the administrative level of
processing FOIA requests.
Once
you have reviewed the calendars for Mr. Otting
and have identified specific topics you you’d
like to review, please submit a targeted FOIA
request and we will once again search our
records. Please note that you requested a fee
waiver that I denied. This was because the
basis for your fee waiver did not constitute an
official reason as set forth in our regulations
to justify a fee waiver. Upon receive a
request for possibly vast amounts of data, you
need to adequately justify any such request for
a fee waiver. Due to the volume of
requests the OCC is now receiving, each request
for a fee waiver is being scrutinized very
closely and such waivers are not
automatic. Additionally, keep
in mind that the less targeted a FOIA request
is, and the possible large amount of data that
must be gathered and reviewed, the less likely a
request for expedited processing will be
granted. It is just physically
impossible."
June
17, 2019
OCC
of Otting
Delayed Notice
of Mergers
Like FOIA Fee
Waiver Final
Denial to
Inner City
Press
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, June 15 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
is to deny access to documents about the
application to the OCC for WSFS to acquire
Beneficial Bank and close 25 branches. Inner
City Press requested the records months ago,
along with a request for a waiver of fees as the
other Federal bank regulators grant it and as
the OCC has until now.
But Otting is different. First he denied a fee
waiver on Inner City Press' request for his
calendar. Then he relented on that, after Inner
City Press citing case law and precedent. But
seemingly in retaliation, he has denied access
to a merger application subject to public
comment. Denial here
on Scribd.
And now, dated June 11 but e-mailed later, a
final denial, after putting Inner City Press
through three rounds of more and more detailed
argumentation - just to waste its time until
long after Otting rubber stamped the merger -
accusing Inner City Press of not "explaining how
the application submitted by WSFS would
contribute significantly to the public’s
understanding of the operations or activities of
the OCC. As such, your request for a fee waiver
is denied. Until you contact the OCC Disclosure
Services office with assurance that you will pay
associated fees, FOIA request # 2019-00206 will
not be processed."
So the OCC thinks it can hinder public review
and public comment by changing the law and its
own pre-Otting practice.
June
10, 2019
OCC
Decides No
Public
Comments On
Fifth Third
Application
For Conversion
Lawless Otting
Rules
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, June 8 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
has been to deny access to documents about the
application to the OCC for WSFS to acquire
Beneficial Bank and close 25 branches, see
below. Otting's pro-bank capitulation is not
lost on the industry: now Fifth Third, a long
time state chartered member bank regulated by
the Federal Reserve, says it has applied for
Otting's rogue-like national charter.
First
Otting left his Weekly Bulletin web page
unchanged for week, making it impossible for the
public to know of the application in order to
comment.
Now, with Fifth Third's application belatedly
noticed on the OCC's website, there's more.
Otting has decided to thumb his nose at the
public and at the law and refuse to list any
public comment period, or to accept comment, on
the application by a large bank, Fifth Third, to
convert to a national charter and pre-empt a
slew of consumer protection laws.
See
notice here,
with no comment period listed; the OCC has said
while it acknowledges such applications have
include public comment periods in the past, now
under Otting they won't.
Prior
to this the Otting's New York OCC office told
Inner City Press it simply wouldn't take its
comment on the takeover of Chinatown FSB. This
is lawless deregulation by a former bad banker
mad that he got caught. Any other agency, FDIC
or Federal Reserve, that work with him is
colluding. We'll have more on this.
Meanwhile the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau under Kathy Kraninger is thumbing its
nose at the US Administrative Procedures Act and
proposing to undermine the Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act.
CFPB
is trying three separate but inter-related
attacks. The first is to raise the threshold for
reporting HMDA data, to exempt wither 36% or 53%
of banks and credit unions, a proposal on which
the comment period runs only to June 12, here.
(Comments are going
in from such banks as Village Bank and
Hamilton Bank and even, incongruously, Brenda
Muniz OF the CFPB.)
Second is to weaken the "data points" which will
be reported by those still required to under
HMDA. The CFPB wants to drop such information as
"reason for denial" and "debt to income ratio" -
the very information that banks so often cite in
response to CRA challenged by Fair Finance Watch
and others, as justifying their disparities. Now
the CFPB wants to not collect this supposed
justification of disparities. Just trust us, is
the message. Well, no. This comment period runs
to July 8, here.
June
3, 2019
OCC
of Otting
Delays Notice
of Mergers
Until Comment
Period Closes
Like FOIA Fee
Waiver Sleaze
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, June 1 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
is to deny access to documents about the
application to the OCC for WSFS to acquire
Beneficial Bank and close 25 branches. Inner
City Press requested the records months ago,
along with a request for a waiver of fees as the
other Federal bank regulators grant it and as
the OCC has until now.
But Otting is different. First he denied a fee
waiver on Inner City Press' request for his
calendar. Then he relented on that, after Inner
City Press citing case law and precedent. But
seemingly in retaliation, he has denied access
to a merger application subject to public
comment. Denial here
on Scribd.
May
27, 2019
After Banker Calk Pled Not Guilty Inner City Press Puts Fraud Q to OCC Where Banker Otting Delays
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Video, Alamy
photos
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, May 24 – Steven M. Calk of
FDIC-regulated Federal Savings Bank was
presented and arraigned on May 23 for financial
institution bribery for corruptly using his
position with FSB to issue $16 million in
high-risk loans to Paul Manafort in a bid to
obtain a senior position with the Trump
administration, namely Secretary of the Army.
Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New
York accepted the government's proposal of $5
million bond with no co-signer (although that is
usually required for moral suasion) and travel
allowed throughout the United States (though
more defendants are usually confined to the
Soutern and Eastern District of NY and one other
district). Money talks.
Afterward in front of the SDNY courthouse Inner
City Press asked Calk's lawyers Daniel Stein and
Jeremy Margoles about Manafort saying he had
misstated his financial situation to get the FSB
loans. When did Calk know? They did not answer.
Video here,
Facebook video here.
Inner City Press' Alamy photos here.
On May 23, still from the SDNY courthouse
covering other cases including one involving the
death
penalty, Inner City Press reported
finding no U.S. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
data for "Federal Savings Bank." But there's
more.
The
Federal Savings Bank's website,
while providing a generic link to the FDIC, and
a statement "Member FDIC," has no link for the
U.S. Community Reinvestment Act. (Nor does it
mention the indictment of Stephen Calk, simply
listing his brother John Calk now as CEO and
Vice Chairman. Who is the chairman?)
It lists a loan production office on Avenue J in
Brooklyn, and two deposit taking braches in
Illinois. Did it see some exemption from the CRA
and other consumer protection laws? From fair
lending laws?
Earlier on the morning of May 24 Inner City
Press asked the FDIC, "Having covered
yesterday's arraignment of the Chairman of The
Federal Savings Bank in the SDNY courthouse,
including the FDIC's involvement, I checked the
bank's website and found "Member FDIC" but no
mention of the Community Reinvestment Act."
The FDIC's spokesperson David Barr, to his
credit, responded quickly, writing to Inner City
Press: "The Federal Savings Bank, Chicago, is
regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency. They would be responsible for CRA
and regulatory oversight. You should contact the
OCC for more information."
Now the OCC under Comptroller Joseph Otting has
done everything possible to block the release of
information, denying FOIA fees waivers and
expedited treatment, refusing comments. But for
now online the OCC has said this about The
Federal Savings Bank: "While TFSB originated a
substantial majority of its loans outside of its
AAs; the bank’s business strategy is to operate
as a mortgage banking entity with a nationwide
presence and market place. Taking the bank’s
business strategy into consideration the bank’s
performance under this lending criterion is
deemed reasonable." Reasonable? Bribery, too,
seems to have been part of its business
strategy, right under the nose of the OCC of
Otting.
Before 2 pm on May 24 Inner City Press in
writing asked Otting's OCC: "This is a Press
question for the OCC, from Inner City Press...
Please confirm that The Federal Savings Bank is
subject to HMDA, and/or if it is below a
threshold, as I can find no data in its name on
FFIEC.gov. Also, please today provide as an OCC
response to the Press this OCC-regulated bank's
CRA public file and other information in the
OCC's possession concerning the bank's CRA and
fair lending performance. Is it
normal for a bank not to mention these things on
its website, nor to provide any link to its
actual regulator, the OCC, but only to the
FDIC? Please explain
what steps the OCC is taking beyond Stephen Calk
no longer being the CEO. What about his
brother?"
More than three hours later, even to the
questions at the end, the OCC had only provided
this: "We are reviewing your questions,
but we may not be able to respond by your
deadline. Regards,
Stephanie
Stephanie Collins Manager, Media
Relations Public Affairs Operations
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency." This
is the same OCC which has delayed FOR MONTHS
providing basic information about a merger it
has now already rubber stamped. We'll have more
on this.
Stephen Calk was quoted,
at least in 2012, opposing regulation: "As Mr.
Stephen Calk writes in the September 7, 2012
edition of Origination News: “Basel III is
designed to level the playing field among major
banking institutions that operate
internationally. Force-feeding these same rules
to community banks in the United States is
unnecessary and in fact counter-productive,
particularly in the current economic
environment.” Basel III is one thing. But no
Community Reinvestment Act?
The
Federal Savings Bank lists locations - and
bankers - in
Arizona - Scottsdale California - Irvine
Colorado - Fort Collins Delaware - Selbyville
Florida - Sarasota Illinois - Chicago Illinois -
Lake Forest Illinois - Oak Brook Illinois - Park
Ridge Indiana - Bloomington Indiana -
Indianapolis Kansas - Overland Park Louisiana -
Laplace Maryland - Annapolis Maryland - Timonium
CD Massachusetts - Lawrence New Jersey -
Hackensack New Jersey - Lakewood New York -
Brooklyn New York - Melville New York - New York
New York - Queens North Carolina - Raleigh Ohio
- Columbus Rhode Island - South Kingstown
Tennessee - Nashville Virginia - Alexandria
Virginia - Fredericksburg Virginia - Newport
News Virginia - Richmond Virginia - Vienna
Virginia - Warrenton... We'll have more on
this.
May
20, 2019
OCC of
Otting Told
ETRADE It Is
Exempt From
CRA Inner City
Press Finds
Under FOIA
By
Matthew R. Lee, Exclusive
SOUTH
BRONX, May 18 – The US Treasury Department is in
a process to try to weaken and take the
community out of the 1977 Community Reinvestment
Act. Docket file here.
The protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt when he
was at the US Environmental Protection Agency,
is Comptroller of the Current Joseph Otting. On
September 12 Fair Finance Watch (and on FOIA,
Inner City Press) commented to the OCC, here.
Now on October 11, more on Otting's assault on
the CRA has become known. In April 2018 his OCC
approved
an application by E-Trade Saving Bank which Fair
Finance Watch had challenged
based on the bank having no fewer than six
states rare "Needs to Improve" CRA ratings. FFW
noted
rare Needs to Improve ratings for the entire
states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia,
Michigan and Oregon, and an undeserved
“Satisfactory” for New York. Otting's OCC, after
the approval, helpfully contacted E-Trade Bank
to tell it that upon (Otting's) reflection, it
was no longer even subject to the Community
Reinvestment Act.
May
13, 2019
FOIA
Fee Waiver
Appeal To OCC
Otting By
Inner City
Press For His
Secret WSFS
Bank Merger
Docs
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
FOIA
fee denial
SOUTH
BRONX, SDNY, May 11 – With Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting moving to undermine the
US Community Reinvestment Act, his latest move
is to deny access to documents about the
application to the OCC for WSFS to acquire
Beneficial Bank and close 25 branches. Inner
City Press requested the records months ago,
along with a request for a waiver of fees as the
other Federal bank regulators grant it and as
the OCC has until now.
But Otting is different. First he denied a fee
waiver on Inner City Press' request for his
calendar. Then he relented on that, after Inner
City Press citing case law and precedent. But
seemingly in retaliation, he has denied access
to a merger application subject to public
comment. Denial here
on Scribd.
Ironically the grounds cited is that releasing
this information about a merger subject to
public comment would not increase the public's
understanding. This shows Otting contempt for
CRA - and for the public. Inner City Press has
filed this appeal with Otting, et al.:
"Dear
Comptroller Otting:
Inner
City Press traditionally has received fee
waivers from the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency under 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii)
and 12 C.F.R. § 4.17. Waivers were granted on
the basis of similar or identical language
contained in the instant Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) request, which is now the subject of
OCC’s waiver rejection. Outrageously, on Inner
City Press' FOIA request for the portions of the
WSFS - Beneficial merger application that the
applicants unilaterally requested confidential
treatment for, your FOIA Manager Frank Vance
writes:
"Concerning
the third consideration, contribution to public
understanding, we examined whether or not
disclosure of the requested records would
contribute to the understanding of the public at
large, as opposed to the understanding of the
requester or a small number of interested
persons. In other words, we considered
whether or not you demonstrated how contribution
to public understanding outweighs personal
benefit to you. I find that you did not
demonstrate this component; therefore, you did
not satisfy the regulatory requirement of 12
C.F.R. 4.17(b)(4)(i). In light of this,
there is no need to analyze your justification
with respect to 12 C.F.R. 4.17(b)(4)(ii).
"
So
you are claiming that the public is not
interested in, and should be constrained in
access, the bank merger applications on which
the public has a right to comment. You are
claiming that to get any OCC review of the often
outrageously overbroad requests for confidential
treatment of the banks you supervise, the public
has to pay untold fees. This is a new low, and
Inner City Press is
appealing. Inner City
Press Is Eligible for a Fee
Waiver In accordance
with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii) and 12 C.F.R.
§ 4.17, Inner City Press is eligible for, and
requests, a waiver of fees associated with
processing its request for records. The subject
of this request—the review of a merger to close
at least 25 bank branches -- concerns the
operations of the federal government, and the
disclosures will likely contribute to a better
understanding of relevant government procedures
by the general public in a significant way.
Moreover, the request is primarily and
fundamentally for non-commercial
purposes. Inner City
Press requests a waiver of fees because
disclosure of the requested information is “in
the public interest because the disclosure . . .
[i]s likely to contribute significantly to
public understanding” of government operations
or activities.
Specifically,
the disclosure of the information sought under
this request will document and reveal the
activities of the federal government, including
how your OCC reviews the CRA and branch closing
aspects of the
merger. As
discussed below, Inner City Press has both the
ability and the intention to effectively convey
the information it receives to the
public. Inner City Press
does not have a commercial interest in the
requested information. This request is primarily
and fundamentally for non-commercial purposes.
Inner City Press does not have a commercial
purpose and the release of the information
requested is not in its financial interest.
Inner City Press’s mission is to engage in
cutting-edge investigative reporting focused,
fair lending, development, and government
accountability advocacy. Core to its mission is
to educate the public about government
activities and to ensure the accountability of
government officials. Inner City Press uses the
information gathered, and its analysis of it, to
educate the public through reports, press
releases, or other media. It also makes
materials it gathers available on its public
website and promotes their availability on
social media platforms. Inner City Press has
demonstrated its commitment to the public
disclosure of documents and creation of
editorial content. For example, Inner City
Press’s website contains dozens of articles
describing the operations of the federal
government from a unique perspective, including
about the OCC:
In
SDNY FreddieMac Via FHFA of Otting Says Its
Negligent Late Objection Is Fine As Otting
Lawless
And
this.
Inner City Press’s website contains many more
examples demonstrating its ability and intention
to inform the public about government
activities, including specifically related to
how the subject of the instant FOIA request
spent his time at OCC.
Accordingly, Inner City Press qualifies for a
fee waiver.
Significantly,
well before this outrageous denial which now
longer keeps secret the requested documents,
even the OCC wrote "your correspondence of March
8 is more robust and sets forth with reasonable
specificity the grounds to justify the OCC's
granting of the fee waiver. Therefore, your
request for a fee waiver with respect to FOLA
request 2019-00104 is granted. The OCC's
Disclosure Services office will remove the
matter from "Hold" status and proceed to process
the request."
Of
course, even in that case [about your / Otting's
schedule] in the two month since our letter we
have not received a single document from your
OCC.
There
can be no doubt that Inner City Press qualifies
for a waiver based on the foregoing. Moreover,
Inner City Press’s long track record of fee
waivers is further evidence of our current
eligibility. In particular, we have demonstrated
repeatedly our intent and ability to inform the
public about government operations and that our
requests for information are not primarily in
our commercial
interest.
May
6, 2019
On Money Laundering After Federal Reserve Withholds 133 Pages On BB&T Inner City Press Comments
By
Matthew R. Lee, FOIA
docs, BB&T
denial
NEW
YORK CITY, May 4 – When BB&T
announced a $66 billion proposal to
take over Suntrust Bank, which would
close a still
undisclosed number
of branches and
extend BB&T
disparate lending
patterns, many
linked it to
deregulatory
moves in
Washington. Then two
days after
Federal
Reserve Governor
Lael Brainard
was asked
by Inner
City Press
about the
Fed's lax
review of previous
mergers,
including WSFS
on which the
Fed still
hasn't ruled
on the bank's
withholding of
information
after rubber
stamping the
deal, the Fed
announced
public
hearings. But
the fix it
seems it still
in. On
April 18,
conveniently,
the Fed "announce[d]
termination of
enforcement
action with
BB&T
Corporation" for
money
laundering. So
there's a
public comment
period on the
merger, but
none on the
Fed's dubious
move while the
application is
pending. Meanwhile
as Inner City
Press has
exclusively reported,
BB&T has
been named in
connection
with sleazy
debt
collections in
a case
in the SDNY
- more on all
this to come.
On April 29,
Inner City
Press
submitted a
FOIA request
about the
dubious termination of
enforcement
action, and a
comment to the
Fed and
FDIC, below.
On the
afternoon of
May 2, before
seeking to
close the comment
period on
BB&T - Suntrust
on May 3, the
Federal
Reserve wrote
to Inner City
Press that
only ONE PAGE
about its
BB&T money
laundering enforcement
termination
would be
provided, and
133 pages withheld in
full, no even
subject to the
type of
partial
redaction that
is required
under FOIA. FRB 99%
denial letter
here.
April
29, 2019
In SDNY Predatory Lending Defendants Get Free Lawyers Sullivan and Cromwell $2000 a Week
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive, Periscope
April
22, 2019
As
Otting Targets
CRA He Changed
FOIA Fee
Policy To
Hinder
Coverage
Reversed on
Appeal Still
No Docs
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
April
15, 2019
As
Otting Targets
CRA He Refused
Inner City
Press
Chinatown
Comment Now
Rep Katie
Porter Letter
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
NEW
YORK CITY, April 10 – The US Treasury
Department is the next stage
of a process to try to weaken
and take the community out of
the 1977 Community
Reinvestment Act. Docket file
here.
The protagonist, akin to Scott
Pruitt when he was at the US
Environmental Protection
Agency or Ryan Zinke at
Interior, is the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency's
(OCC's) Joseph Otting. He has gone beyond
overall attempts to
underling the CRA to refusing public
comment on
the type of business combination
applications on
which comment has in the
past been
accepted and
considered.
Photo here.
In fact, his OCC's
refusal comes
on
application
for which a
public comment
period was
specifically
listed on the
agency's
website.
So
Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch wrote
to the OCC,
including
Stephen Lybarger, as
follows:
"Thanks for
emailing this
letter but I
must say,
Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch
it deeply
concerned by,
and hereby
opposes
it.
Heretofore our
comment on
just such
Business
Combination
proposals HAVE
been
considered by
the OCC. If
under
Comptroller
Otting the OCC
is changing
its longtime
practice it
needs to do a
notice and
comment
process under
the APA. This
is
lawless.
In this case,
the proposal
we commented
on
specifically
provides for a
comment
period: Please
retract your
letter and
consider
appropriately
our comment,
or explain in
writing
why.
Please confirm
receipt of
these
requests."
April
8, 2019
After
Fair Finance
Watch Protest
to Ameris Bank
Takeover Of
Fidelity Fed
Has Questions
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
April
1, 2019
Wells
Fargo Now Goes
On Without Tim
Sloan After
Dropping CRA 2
Levels by OCC
Whose Otting
Apologized
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK, March 28 – Seven months after Wells Fargo Bank's Community Reinvestment Act rating was dropped two levels to "Needs to Improve," barring it from acquisitions, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of Joseph Otting quietly said, in a footnote to a Bulletin issued on 12 October 2017, that "The OCC’s policy is not to lower a bank’s CRA composite or component rating by more than one rating level." See here, footnote 8. So when did this become the OCC's policy, after it dropped Wells by two levels? Call it a stealth sop to Wells Fargo - and seemingly a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act, one in what has become a series by Otting at the OCC. Now on 28 March 2018, Tim Sloan is abuptly out at Wells Fargo, leaving general counsel Allen Parker as interim CEO pending a search. Could Otting's obsequiousness be a try-out? Would communities be worse off with him as head of a bank, again, or as regulators of most of the largest banks? We'll have more on this. In July it emerged that over 800,000 people who took car loans from Wells were charged for needless auto insurance, pushing 274,000 Wells Fargo customers into delinquency and triggering nearly 25,000 wrongful vehicle repossessions. So much for the industry having cleaned itself up after the predatory lending meltdown. New York City announced it will not enter any new relationships with the bank, also suspending Wells Fargo's role as a senior book-running manager for NYC General Obligation and Transactional Finance Authority bond sales. A statement by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Controller Scott Stringer noted that "Currently, Wells Fargo holds contracts with the City to provide banking services, including to operate 'Lock Box' services that hold taxes and fees collected by the City. There is approximately $227 million of City dollars held in Wells Fargo accounts." Bu will they get involved in opposing Sterling National Bank, which Inner City Press and Fair Finance Watch have exposed as having "unreliable" CRA data, notwithstanding the OCC's scam "Satisfactory" rating on May 30? Click here. We'll have more on this.March
25, 2019
Federal
Reserve Board
Is Already
Rubber
Stamping
Mergers Now
Anti CRA
Stephen Moore
Nominated
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
March
18, 2019
As
BB&T Tries
Taking Over
Suntrust Fed
Sets Public
Hearings After
Brainard
Quizzed on
FOIA By Inner
City Press
By
Matthew R. Lee, FOIA
docs
NEW
YORK CITY, March 14 – When BB&T
announced a $66 billion proposal to
take over Suntrust Bank, which would
close a still
undisclosed number
of branches and
extend BB&T
disparate lending
patterns, many
linked it to
deregulatory
moves in
Washington.
Now two days
after Federal
Reserve Governor
Lael Brainard
was asked
by Inner
City Press
about the
Fed's lax
review of previous
mergers,
including WSFS
on which the
Fed still
hasn't ruled
on the bank's
withholding of
information
after rubber
stamping the
deal, the Fed
has announced
this: "The
Federal
Reserve Board
and the
Federal
Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
(FDIC) on
Thursday
announced that
they will
jointly hold
two public
meetings on
the proposed
merger of
BB&T
Corporation,
Winston-Salem,
North
Carolina, with
SunTrust
Banks, Inc.,
Atlanta,
Georgia. As
part of the
proposal,
BB&T would
merge SunTrust
Bank with and
into its
subsidiary
state
non-member
bank, Branch
Banking and
Trust Company,
Winston-Salem,
North
Carolina.
The purpose of
the meetings
is to collect
information
relating to
the
convenience
and needs of
the
communities to
be served,
including a
review of the
insured
depository
institutions'
performance
under the
Community
Reinvestment
Act. The
agencies also
will consider
and collect
information on
other factors
relevant to
making a
decision on
the
application,
including the
effects of the
proposal on
the stability
of the U.S.
banking or
financial
system, the
financial and
managerial
resources and
future
prospects of
the companies,
and
competition in
the relevant
markets.
The first
public meeting
will be
held:
Thursday,
April 25 at
8:30 a.m., EDT
Charlotte
Branch of the
Federal
Reserve Bank
of Richmond
530 East Trade
Street,
Charlotte,
North Carolina
The second
public meeting
will be
held:
Friday, May 3,
at 8:30 a.m.,
EDT Federal
Reserve Bank
of Atlanta
1000 Peachtree
Street N.E.,
Atlanta,
Georgia. All
persons
wishing to
testify at the
public meeting
in Charlotte
should submit
a written
request no
later than
5:00 p.m. EDT
on Monday,
April 15,
2019. A
request to
testify at the
Charlotte
public meeting
may be sent by
mail to:
Matthew
Martin, Vice
President,
Research
Department,
Microeconomics
and Research
Communications,
Federal
Reserve Bank
of Richmond,
530 East Trade
Street,
Charlotte,
North
Carolina,
28202; by
online form
at: the
Charlotte
Public Meeting
Request Form;
by e-mail to:
publicmeeting.charlotte@rich.frb.org;
or by
facsimile:
704-358-2300.
All persons
wishing to
testify at the
public meeting
in Atlanta
should submit
a written
request no
later than
5:00 p.m. EDT
on Tuesday,
April 23,
2019. A
request to
testify at the
Atlanta public
meeting may be
sent by mail
to: Karen
Leone de Nie,
Vice President
Community and
Economic
Development,
Federal
Reserve Bank
of Atlanta,
1000 Peachtree
Street N.E.,
Atlanta,
Georgia,
30309; by
online form
at: Atlanta
Public Meeting
Request Form;
by e-mail to:
atlfedcomdev@atl.frb.org."
Game on. The deregulatory moves
include an
assault on the
Community
Reinvestment Act, being
led by Comptroller of the
Currency Joseph Otting, who while at OneWest Bank led a false
commenting process to
push through a merger
with CIT Group. (Otting
is trying to change the
OCC's practices on FOIA
fee waivers and is
even refusing to
consider comments on some Business
Combinations. But
this BB&T
proposal will go
to
the Fed whose
Jerome Powell
has vowed,
credibly or
not, to
conduct a full
review.
And so consider
this:
BB&T has
been ordered to
return $5.2
million to
investors,
according to
the Securities
and Exchange
Commission,
over charges it
it acquired
misled clients
about the cost
of advisory
services.
The SEC said
the firm that
BB&T
acquired with
Susquehanna
Bancshares, known
then as Valley
Forge Asset
Management,
misled about
1,200 clients
into believing
they were
receiving full
service
brokerage
services at a
discount.
We'll have
more on this.
March
11, 2019
As
Otting Targets
CRA and
Changes FOIA
Policy For
Mergers Inner
City Press
Legal Response
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
NEW
YORK CITY, March 8 – The US Treasury
Department is the next stage
of a process to try to weaken
and take the community out of
the 1977 Community
Reinvestment Act. Docket file
here.
The protagonist, akin to Scott
Pruitt when he was at the US
Environmental Protection
Agency or Ryan Zinke at
Interior, is the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency's
(OCC's) Joseph Otting. Now
Otting, in order to hinder
Press coverage of how many
banks he meets with by changing the
OCC's long standing FOIA
fee waiver
policy, is saying he will make it
harder to get CRA
information
too. This is the
"new" OCC - see its
letter on new
policies,
below. And his OCC has said
it will not consider
public comments on
"Business Combination"
applications on which public
comments
have
always in the past
been
considered, for
example this one
on a Long Island
bank
trying to take
over Chinatown
FSB, here.
Now
they write again, to pretend
that it is not a new policy, and that the US
Administrative Procedure Act
does not apply to
changes of agency
policy,
particularly to
protect and
censor for a
new head of agency.
These
people are
lawless. Inner
City Press has
again timely
replied, this
time also
to the OCC's
Stephen
Lybarger and
Barry Wides:
"Good
afternoon.
Having not
received a
single page or
day of the
Comptroller's
calendar which
Inner City
Press
requested in
January, in an
abundance of
caution and to
ensure prompt
receipt, we
submit the
below by your
deadline,
please confirm
receipt:
Dear Ms.
Merritt:
Inner City
Press
traditionally
has received
fee waivers
from the
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency
under 5 U.S.C.
§
552(a)(4)(A)(iii)
and 12 C.F.R.
§ 4.17.
Waivers were
granted on the
basis of
similar or
identical
language
contained in
the instant
Freedom of
Information
Act (FOIA)
request, which
is now the
subject of
OCC’s waiver
rejection. I
understand
from your
correspondence
that you are
not
questioning
Inner City
Press’s
eligibility
for a waiver
in this
instance;
rather, it
appears you
are requiring
a more
thorough
enunciation of
our
eligibility
than under
prior
requests.
Inner City
Press
maintains its
objection to
OCC’s original
determination,
which has
caused undue
delay and
prejudice to
Inner City
Press based on
a previously
unstated
requirement to
provide
unprecedented
detail in our
waiver
request.
Nevertheless,
below we
provide
additional
detail to
support our
eligibility
for a
waiver.
Inner City
Press Is
Eligible for a
Fee
Waiver
In accordance
with 5 U.S.C.
§
552(a)(4)(A)(iii)
and 12 C.F.R.
§ 4.17, Inner
City Press is
eligible for,
and requests,
a waiver of
fees
associated
with
processing its
request for
records. The
subject of
this
request—calendars
of an OCC
senior
official—concerns
the operations
of the federal
government,
and the
disclosures
will likely
contribute to
a better
understanding
of relevant
government
procedures by
the general
public in a
significant
way. Moreover,
the request is
primarily and
fundamentally
for
non-commercial
purposes.
Inner City
Press requests
a waiver of
fees because
disclosure of
the requested
information is
“in the public
interest
because the
disclosure . .
. [i]s likely
to contribute
significantly
to public
understanding”
of government
operations or
activities.[1]
Specifically,
the disclosure
of the
information
sought under
this request
will document
and reveal the
activities of
the federal
government,
including how
high-ranking
agency
personnel are
using their
official time,
with whom they
are meeting to
discuss
official
agency
business, and
whether and to
what extent
external
interests are
influencing
administration
policy
decisions. The
manner in
which a senior
official
spends his
time reveals
agency
priorities,
enables the
public to
evaluate
whether the
official is
abiding by
ethical
constraints on
meeting with
prior
employers or
clients, and
reveals to
degree of
industry
influence of
political
donor access
to the agency.
The value of
such
information
speaks for
itself. In
addition, its
value has been
widely
recognized.
For example,
in 2017, the
New York Times
identified an
article based
on then-EPA
Administrator
Scott Pruitt’s
calendars as
one of its
most important
stories of the
year. See
2017: Our
Reporters
Reflect on
Covering
Washington and
Politics, N.Y.
Times, Dec.
29, 2017,
available at
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/us/politics/covering-washington-politics.html
(citing E.P.A.
Chief’s
Calendar: A
Stream of
Industry
Meetings and
Trips Home,
Eric Lipton,
N.Y. Times,
Oct. 3,
2017).
As discussed
below, Inner
City Press has
both the
ability and
the intention
to effectively
convey the
information it
receives to
the
public.
Inner City
Press does not
have a
commercial
interest in
the requested
information.
This request
is primarily
and
fundamentally
for
non-commercial
purposes. As a
501(c)(3)
nonprofit,
Inner City
Press does not
have a
commercial
purpose and
the release of
the
information
requested is
not in its
financial
interest.
Inner City
Press’s
mission is to
engage in
cutting-edge
investigative
reporting
focused, fair
lending,
development,
and government
accountability
advocacy. Core
to its mission
is to educate
the public
about
government
activities and
to ensure the
accountability
of government
officials.
Inner City
Press uses the
information
gathered, and
its analysis
of it, to
educate the
public through
reports, press
releases, or
other media.
It also makes
materials it
gathers
available on
its public
website and
promotes their
availability
on social
media
platforms.
Inner City
Press has
demonstrated
its commitment
to the public
disclosure of
documents and
creation of
editorial
content. For
example, Inner
City Press’s
website
contains
dozens of
articles
describing the
operations of
the federal
government
from a unique
perspective,
including
about the
OCC:
·
In SDNY
FreddieMac Via
FHFA of Otting
Says Its
Negligent Late
Objection Is
Fine As Otting
Lawless:
http://www.innercitypress.com/sdny1fhfahera030719.html.
https://theintercept.com/2018/09/29/joseph-otting-occ-onewest-bank-merger-cit/
Inner City
Press’s
website
contains many
more examples
demonstrating
its ability
and intention
to inform the
public about
government
activities,
including
specifically
related to how
the subject of
the instant
FOIA request
spent his time
at
OCC.
Accordingly,
Inner City
Press
qualifies for
a fee
waiver.
Conclusion
Without
withdrawing
Inner City
Press’s
previously
articulated
objection to
our original
waiver denial,
we submit the
above
information to
satisfy the
OCC’s
newly-stringent
standard for
satisfying the
waiver
provisions of
your
regulations
and the FOIA
statute. There
can be no
doubt that
Inner City
Press
qualifies for
a waiver based
on the
foregoing.
Moreover,
Inner City
Press’s long
track record
of fee waivers
is further
evidence of
our current
eligibility.
In particular,
we have
demonstrated
repeatedly our
intent and
ability to
inform the
public about
government
operations and
that our
requests for
information
are not
primarily in
our commercial
interest." So far,
only this, from the
OCC's Kristin
Merritt: "Mr.
Lee. I
have received.
Thank you."
Watch this
site. Here was
their
letter, dated
March 5: "Dear
Mr. Lee
:
I sent you the
following
information in
an email on
2/19/2019, and
have not
received a
response.
Please respond
as soon as
possible, and
by Friday,
3/8/2019 at
the
latest.
Good afternoon
Mr.
Lee.
I am writing
to you
regarding your
correspondence
of February
11, 2019, as
it relates to
your January
17, 2019 FOIA
request number
2019-00104.
Although you
request a fee
waiver in
connection
with your FOIA
request, you
do not provide
a sufficient
justification
for the
granting of
the waiver in
either your
January 17 or
your February
11
correspondence.
I understand
that in the
past, the OCC
has granted
you fee
waivers based
on the same or
similar
language used
in your most
recent
request, and
that you may
not have
received an
adequate
explanation as
to why your
recent request
was not being
handled in a
similar manner
as past
requests.
Please be
aware that
going forward,
with respect
to your case
number
2019-00104 and
all other
requests made
by any
requester for
any
information,
the OCC will
only grant fee
waivers on a
case-by case
basis when a
requester has
affirmatively
demonstrated
entitlement to
a fee waiver
in accordance
with the
requirements
of the FOIA at
5 U.S.C.
552(a)(4)(A)(iii).
This approach
is in
accordance
with the FOIA
statute and
DOJ
guidance.
In applicable
guidance, DOJ
has
stated:
“The
Department of
Justice stands
committed to
encouraging
agencies to
waive fees
under the FOIA
whenever the
statutory fee
waiver
standard is
met. By the
same token, of
course,
agencies also
are expected
to respect the
balance drawn
in the
statute,
safeguarding
federal funds
by granting
waivers or
reductions
only where it
is determined
that the
statutory
standard is
satisfied.”
see FOIA
Update, Vol.
VIII, No. 1
(“OIP
Guidance: New
Fee Waiver
Policy
Guidance”)
(emphasis
added).
Moreover, the
OCC’s approach
is consistent
with case law,
which provides
that each fee
waiver request
is considered
on a
case-by-case
basis because
each request
involves
varied
information.
See Media
Access Project
v. FCC, 883
F.2d 1063
(D.C. Cir
1989).
Additionally,
the OCC is not
bound to grant
a fee waiver
to a requester
in a
particular
case just
because it has
granted the
requester
waivers in the
past.
See e.g.,
Judicial Watch
Inc., v. DOJ,
No. 99-2315,
2000 WL
33724693 at
*5
(D.D.C. Aug.
17, 2000);
Judicial
Watch, Inc.,
v. DOJ, No.
97-2089, Slip
op. at 14
(D.D.C. July
14,
1998).
The burden for
establishing
that a fee
waiver is
justified is
on the
requester.
See Friends of
the Coast Fork
v. U.S. Dep’t
of the
Interior, 110
F.3d 53, 55
(9th Cir.
1997).
Thus, in order
for the OCC to
determine
whether your
request meets
the
requirements
for a fee
waiver, you
must
demonstrate
that the OCC’s
disclosure in
response to
your request
meets the
standard set
forth in
Section
552(a)(4)(A)(iii).
You may wish
to consult
DOJ’s guidance
at
https://www.justice.gov/oip/blog/foia-update-new-fee-waiver-policy-guidance
in formulating
your
justification.
Until these
issues are
resolved with
respect to
your fee
waiver, the
clock is
stopped on
your FOIA
request.
Thank you for
your prompt
attention to
this
matter.
Best,
Kristin
Merritt
Special
Counsel
Administrative
& Internal
Law
Office of the
Comptroller of
the
Currency
400 7th St.,
S.W.
Washington,
D.C.
20219" Under
Otting, who is throwing up
roadblocks to the release of
his calendar under the Freedom
of Information
Act (see
below), "the
OCC is
instructing
examiners to
investigate some
of the claims
separately,
rather than
addressing them
within the
merger-approval
process.
“We require a
certain level of
detail and
specificity in
comments,”
Comptroller of
the Currency
Joseph Otting
said in a
written
statement. 'The
changes ensure
that concerns
are validated by
exam staff who
are best
positioned to
review [their]
merits.'"
March
4, 2019
As
Otting Targets
Community
Reinvestment
Act He Refuses
To Consider
Public Comment
on Chinatown
Acquisition
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
NEW
YORK CITY, March 2 – The US Treasury
Department is the next stage
of a process to try to weaken
and take the community out of
the 1977 Community
Reinvestment Act. Docket file
here.
The protagonist, akin to Scott
Pruitt when he was at the US
Environmental Protection
Agency or Ryan Zinke at
Interior, is the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency's
(OCC's) Joseph Otting. He has gone beyond
overall attempts to
underling the CRA to refusing public
comment on
the type of business combination
applications on
which comment has in the
past been
accepted and
considered.
Photo here.
His OCC in a
February 26, 2019
letter to
Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch
concerning its
timely comment
opposing the
application to
the OCC by
Long
Island-based
Hanover
Community Bank
to acquire
Chinatown
Federal
Savings Bank,
stated that
"the business
combination
application
filed with the
OCC in
connection
with Hanover's
acquisition,
referenced
above, is not
subject
to public
comment."
Photo of
letter here.
This is a
direct attack on
the CRA and on public
participation
more
generally.
Here's from
the Fair
Finance Watch
comment Otting
is refusing to
consider:
"February 18,
2019 Via
e-mail
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency
Northeastern
District
Office Acting
Director for
District
Licensing,
Marva V.
Cummings 340
Madison
Avenue, Fifth
Floor New
York, NY
10173-0002
Re: Timely
First Comment
on OCC
2019-NE-Combination-307316,
re
Applications
by Hanover to
acquire
Chinatown FSB
Dear Ms.
Cummings and
others in the
OCC:
This is a
timely first
comment
opposing and
requesting an
extension of
the OCC's
public comment
period on the
Applications
by Hanover to
acquire
Chinatown
FSB.
The applicant
Hanover in the
New York City
MSA in 2017
made 269 home
purchase loans
to Asians --
and NONE to
African
Americans.
Note that
Hanover's CRA
assessment
area includes
The Bronx, and
Brooklyn.
Note that when
Hanover opened
a deposit
taking branch
in NYC, in
Forest Hills,
its press
release said
nothing about
a focus on
Chinese
Americans or
Asians or any
limitations or
restrictions
on lending, here.
Hanover does
not even
appear to
offer any FHA,
FSA/RHS, and
VA
home-purchase
loans. This is
not
acceptable.... The
comment period
should be
extended;
evidentiary
hearings
should be
held; and on
the current
record, the
application
should not be
approved." Then
Otting says, we
don't care, we
won't listen.
Otting, in order to hinder
Press coverage of how many
banks he meets with by changing the
OCC's long standing FOIA
fee waiver
policy, is saying he will make it
harder to get CRA
information
too. This is the
"new" OCC - see its
letter on new
policies,
below.
Under Otting,
who is throwing up
roadblocks to the release of
his calendar under the Freedom
of Information
Act (see
below), "the
OCC is
instructing
examiners to
investigate some
of the claims
separately,
rather than
addressing them
within the
merger-approval
process.
“We require a
certain level of
detail and
specificity in
comments,”
Comptroller of
the Currency
Joseph Otting
said in a
written
statement. 'The
changes ensure
that concerns
are validated by
exam staff who
are best
positioned to
review [their]
merits.'"
February
25, 2019
Amid
Targeting of
Community
Reinvestment
Act Fed Asks
WSFS About
Branch
Closings
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
February
18, 2019
As
Otting Targets
Community
Reinvestment
Act His OCC
Starts Safe
Harbor Relying
On Bogus
Ratings
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
NEW
YORK CITY, February 13 – The US Treasury
Department is the next stage
of a process to try to weaken
and take the community out of
the 1977 Community
Reinvestment Act. Docket file
here.
The protagonist, akin to Scott
Pruitt when he was at the US
Environmental Protection
Agency or Ryan Zinke at
Interior, is the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency's
(OCC's) Joseph Otting. Now under Otting,
who is throwing up
roadblocks to the release of
his calendar under the Freedom
of Information
Act (see
below), "the
OCC is
instructing
examiners to
investigate some
of the claims
separately,
rather than
addressing them
within the
merger-approval
process.
“We require a
certain level of
detail and
specificity in
comments,”
Comptroller of
the Currency
Joseph Otting
said in a
written
statement. 'The
changes ensure
that concerns
are validated by
exam staff who
are best
positioned to
review [their]
merits.'"
February
11, 2019
As
Otting Targets
Community
Reinvestment
Act Denies
FOIA Fee
Waiver For
Inner City
Press Request
For His
Calendar For
1st Time
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
February
4, 2019
US
Settlement Without
Fine For
Predatory
Lending From
Malta Needs SDNY
Approval
Comparative
Crime
By
Matthew Russell Lee
NEW
YORK CITY, February 1 – A dubious settlement of
predatory lending claims by the US Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau is coming for
approval to the US District Court for the
Southern District of New York, CFBP announced on
Friday afternoon.
The
facts of the case are extreme: a lender
pretending to be based off-shore in Malta
charging interest rates of 700%. But CFPB is
settling out the case with no penalties, no
restitution, nothing - and asking the SDNY to
sign off on it. Will it? The case is
No. 15cv5211 (CM)(RWL) of which the CFPB says
"The proposed settlement covers NDG Financial
Corp., E-Care Contact Centers, Ltd., Blizzard
Interactive Corp., New World Consolidated
Lending Corp., New World Lenders Corp., Payroll
Loans First Lenders Corp., New World RRSP
Lenders Corp., Northway Financial Corp., Ltd.,
and Northway Broker, Ltd and corporate officials
Kimberly DeThomas, Jeremy Sabourin, and William
Wrixon. The defendants were not fined."
These days Inner City Press is covering a range
of cases in the SDNY. Not only Michael
Cohen, and the back to back UN bribery
cases of Ng
Lap Seng then Patrick
Ho, but also this week's sentencings for
the NYPD's guns
for cash scandal (18 months in prison) and
conspiracy to commit arson in The Bronx (28
months, see below). So what is system predatory
lending worth? Doesn't it, too, ravage
communities? Compare and contrast... A Bronx man
who pled guilty to conspiracy leading to the
burning down of a convenience store in the Bronx
on 11 September 2016 was sentenced to 28 months
in prison on February 1 by Judge William H.
Pauley III in the US District Court for the
Southern District of New York.
Arson and The Bronx were for a time synonymous,
though few of the perpetrators were caught much
less sentenced. Times have changed. Present at
Friday afternoon's sentencing on the 20th floor
of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse
were only the defendant Richard Sanchez and his
lawyer, a lone prosecutor, three family members
and Inner City Press. Yet the tale was
heartbreaking, in its way.
Sanchez' lawyer Patrick Brackley recounted that
he had prior run-ins with the law, citing an
incident with a dirt bike. But, he said, Sanchez
had used his time out free on bail to re-build
his life. Sanchez himself read what he called an
open letter to Judge Pawley, speaking about his
ten year old daughter, a business he was
starting and his brand.
Judge Pauley said he took note of these but
found it inexplicable that someone would, for
$500, agree to find people to burn down a store
in their own neighborhood. Sanchez was
contracted by the owner of one deli to burn
down a nearly-open competitor; both stores
were across the street from where Sanchez lived.
Judge Pauley told Sanchez he was lucky no one
had been injured or killed, alluding to the
felony murder rule which would have held Sanchez
liable.
While the prosecution via Assistant U.S.
Attorney Adam S. Hobson sought a sentence of
from 46 to 57 months, Pauley imposed 28 months
in prison to be followed by three years of
supervised release, at a prison as near to New
York City as possible.
Restitution of $50,000 was ordered, and the same
standard $100 mandatory special assessment that
SDNY Judge Edgar Ramos had imposed the day
before on former NYPD Lieutenant Paul Dean for
his admitted role in gun permits for cash scam
(see Inner City Press' story here).
That sentencing drew a gaggle; that of Richard
Sanchez for his role in the arson of a store in
the Bronx did not. Pauley said to his mostly
empty courtroom, The public must understand that
people can't be going around burning down stores
in their own neighborhood.
The
case: United States v. Richard Sanchez,
18 Cr. 26 (WHP)
January
28, 2019
Amid
Targeting of
Community
Reinvestment
Act
Centerstate
Bank NCC
Challenge
Yields Fed Qs
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
NEW YORK CITY,
January 11 – The US Treasury Department is the
next stage of a process to try to weaken and
take the community out of the 1977 Community
Reinvestment Act. Docket file here.
On January 7,
Fair Finance Watch and Inner
City Press filed comments and
a Freedom of Information Act
request with the Federal
Reserve on Centerstate Bank's
application to acquire
National Bank of Commerce,
despite Centerstate's
disparate lending record, see below. On
January 25, the Federal
Reserve belatedly sent
questions to CenterState,
with a copy to Inner City
Press: "This letter concerns
the application filed under
section 3 of the Bank
Holding Company Act by
CenterState Bank Corporation
(“CenterState”), Winter
Haven, Florida, to merge
with National Commerce
Corporation (“NCC”) and
thereby acquire National
Bank of Commerce (“Bank of
Commerce”), both of
Birmingham, Alabama. Based
on staff’s review of the
current record, the
following additional
information is requested.
Respond to all requests,
including those in the
confidential annex.
Supporting documentation, as
appropriate, should be
provided. 1. Indicate
whether CenterState will
discontinue or reduce any
products or services of Bank
of Commerce after
consummation of the
proposal. If so, discuss any
efforts to mitigate the
effects of such
discontinuance or reduction.
2. Provide
the address of any branches
of Bank of Commerce that
CenterState intends to close
or consolidate after
consummation of the
proposal. Discuss any
efforts to mitigate the
effects of any such
closing(s) or
consolidation(s).
3. Discuss
the efforts that CenterState
will take to ensure a smooth
transition for customers of
Bank of Commerce to
CenterState Bank, NA, Winter
Haven, Florida. Your
response should further
elaborate on how CenterState
will seek to avoid the types
of issues alleged in the
public comment concerning
customer experiences during
transitioning service to
CenterState Bank, NA.
Discuss also how CenterState
will ensure a successful
integration of others
systems of NCC and Bank of
Commerce with those of
CenterState and CenterState
Bank, NA.
4.
Indicate to what extent
CenterState Bank’s CRA and
consumer compliance,
including fair lending,
programs would be
implemented at Bank of
Commerce. In addition,
indicate the key individuals
who would be responsible for
these programs, as well as
their qualifications and
experience. Please submit
your response to the Federal
Reserve Bank of Atlanta
within eight business days.
In addition, in accordance
with the Board’s procedures
regarding ex parte
communications, provide a
copy of the public portion
of your response, together
with any attachments,
directly to the commenter.
Any information for which
you desire confidential
treatment should be so
labeled and separately bound
in accordance with section
261.15 of the Board’s Rules
Regarding Availability of
Information." We'll have
more on this. On January 11,
having been sent documents showing that
Centerstate is trying to
withhold most of its
exhibits,
Inner City Press filed
"This is a second timely
comment on the
over-withheld
Applications of
Centerstate Bank
Corporation, Winter
Haven, Florida to merge
with National Commerce
Corporation, and thereby
indirectly acquire
National Bank of
Commerce.
On January 7 Inner City
Press / Fair Finance
Watch submitted an
initial comment and
requested a copy of the
full Application, under
FOIA and through the
Reserve Bank. So far,
what has been sent to
Inner City Press has no
portion at all of the
only substantive
Exhibits, B, C and D.
The only Exhibits
provided are the merger
agreements and the form
of newspaper
notice. This is an
abuse, and the comment
period must be extended
so that comment on the
wrongfully withheld
exhibits can be made. It
is impossible to believe
that there are no
segregable non exempt
portions of those
exhibits. Inner City
Press already has a FOIA
request pending and so
is not confusing the
matter by submitting
another FOIA
request. The FRB
should not countenance
such strategic secrecy
by this applicant. This
is a specific timely
request that the comment
period be extended and
the information
provided.
Fair
Finance Watch has been tracking
Centerstate Bank:
In
2017 in the Orlando, Florida MSA for home
purchase loans, Centerstate made 108 such
loans to whites - and only TWO to African
Americans, and only ten to Latinos. Its
denial rate for Latinos was 3.6 times
higher than for whites, and for African
Americans 2.66 times higher than for
whites, both most disparate that the
industry as a whole.
In
2017 in the Miami, Florida MSA for home
purchase loans, Centerstate made 14 such
loans to whites - and only three to
African Americans.
In 2017 in the Tampa,
Florida MSA for conventional home purchase
loans, Centerstate made 130 such loans to
whites - and only 1 each to African
Americans and to Latinos.
In 2017 in the
Jacksonville, Florida MSA for conventional
home purchase loans, Centerstate made 18
such loans to whites - and none to African
Americans and to Latinos (it denied the
only application which, based on its
disparate outreach, it received from
people of color, a Latino applicant.)
In 2017 in the
Lakeland - Winter Haven, Florida MSA for
conventional home purchase loans,
Centerstate made 160 such loans to whites
- and only four to African Americans and
only eight to Latinos (it denied Latino
applicants 2.7 time more frequently than
whites.)
This
should also be address in this proceeding,
including at the requested evidentiary
hearing - CenterState has a history of
mishandling mergers, and arrogantly
ignoring consumer complaints, standing
behind excuses rebutted by the consumers..
On
Otting, there is and
will be fight-back, under
NCRC's TreasureCRA
campaign and upcoming conference.
Watch this site - including
on actual enforcement of
CRA.
January
21, 2019
As
Otting Targets
Community
Reinvestment
Act Inner City
Press Requests
His Calendar
Under FOIA
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
January
14, 2019
Amid
Targeting of
Community
Reinvestment
Act
Centerstate
Bank Takeover
of NCC
Challenged on
Disparate
Lending
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
ORLANDO,
January 7 – The US Treasury Department is the
next stage of a process to try to weaken and
take the community out of the 1977 Community
Reinvestment Act. Docket file here.
On January 7,
Fair Finance Watch and Inner
City Press filed comments and
a Freedom of Information Act
request with the Federal
Reserve on Centerstate Bank's
application to acquire
National Bank of Commerce,
despite Centerstate's
disparate lending record: "
This
is a request for a full copy of, and a
timely first comment on, the Applications
of Centerstate Bank Corporation, Winter
Haven, Florida to merge with National
Commerce Corporation, and thereby
indirectly acquire National Bank of
Commerce.
As
an initial matter, this is a request that
the FRS immediately send by email to Inner
City Press all non-exempt portions of the
applications / notices for which the
Applicants have requested confidential
treatment.
Fair
Finance Watch has been tracking
Centerstate Bank:
In
2017 in the Orlando, Florida MSA for home
purchase loans, Centerstate made 108 such
loans to whites - and only TWO to African
Americans, and only ten to Latinos. Its
denial rate for Latinos was 3.6 times
higher than for whites, and for African
Americans 2.66 times higher than for
whites, both most disparate that the
industry as a whole.
In
2017 in the Miami, Florida MSA for home
purchase loans, Centerstate made 14 such
loans to whites - and only three to
African Americans.
In 2017 in the Tampa,
Florida MSA for conventional home purchase
loans, Centerstate made 130 such loans to
whites - and only 1 each to African
Americans and to Latinos.
In 2017 in the
Jacksonville, Florida MSA for conventional
home purchase loans, Centerstate made 18
such loans to whites - and none to African
Americans and to Latinos (it denied the
only application which, based on its
disparate outreach, it received from
people of color, a Latino applicant.)
In 2017 in the
Lakeland - Winter Haven, Florida MSA for
conventional home purchase loans,
Centerstate made 160 such loans to whites
- and only four to African Americans and
only eight to Latinos (it denied Latino
applicants 2.7 time more frequently than
whites.)
This
should also be address in this proceeding,
including at the requested evidentiary
hearing - CenterState has a history of
mishandling mergers, and arrogantly
ignoring consumer complaints, standing
behind excuses rebutted by the consumers,
for example:
"For over a day,
I haven't been able to access money in my
account because CenterState is having issues
transferring ********* accounts in their
system I was a customer
of**********************, which was recently
acquired by CenterState Bank.
As of May 18th,
I haven't been able to access my account
online. I called customer services, and they
told me that I would have access by May 19.
I was also told that they could not provide
me any information about my balance. I still
didn't have any access on May 19, so I
called again and was told to wait longer and
then they rudely hung up on me. I still have
no information on my account and cannot
withdraw my money. I searched for the
nearest branch so that I can visit it, get
my money and close my account, but they are
all closed until Monday. I am concerned
because I rely on this money for emergencies
and to pay for mine and my children's food,
bills, and more.
I expect
CenterState bank to comply with their
obligations to their customers by 1)
providing me access to my account and my
money, 2) allowing me to close my account
immediately upon visiting their branch next
Monday, 4) apologize for the inconvenience
and mistreatment from their customer service
employee.
CenterState Bank
of Florida, N.A. Response 05/25/2018 CenterState
Bank sincerely appreciates the account
relationship that Ms.******* had established
with**********************. Leading up to
and during the conversion process, the two
banks worked closely together to make sure
the conversion process went as smoothly as
possible. Customer communication regarding
products, services, online banking and debit
cards was mailed to the address on file
with********************** to all of their
customers within the required thirty day
timeframe before the conversion weekend, the
systems were transferring files between the
two banks, which resulted in certain
services (such as a account balance
information) being unavailable.
Communication sent to
all********************** customers in at
least two mailings prior to the conversion
date specifically addressed that account
balances would not be available until the
conversion process was complete sometime
over the weekend or possibly the Monday
morning of the 21st. Additional staff was
added to our Customer Care call center to
handle anticipated call volume over the
weekend and into this week. The Bank
sincerely apologizes for the alleged
treatment received by our Customer Care team
when Ms.******* called on Saturday, May 19th
to inquire about her balance. It is never
our intention to be rude to any of our
customers. In an effort to answer as many
calls as efficiently as possible, the team
was perhaps less likely to encourage
additional conversation than normal. Please
be advised that account balances and all
other functions were working as intended on
Monday morning, May 21st. It has been noted
that Ms.******* did close her account with
our Bank on Monday, May 21st. We would like
to extend the invitation to her to consider
CenterState Bank for any additional banking
needs that she might have in the future.
Customer
Response 06/07/2018 (The
consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the
response from the business.) CenterState
Bank stated that "account balances and all
other functions were working as intended on
Monday morning, May 21st;" but it was not.
Before closing my account, I was still
unable to log in to my account. ... They
also claim that "additional staff was added
to their Customer Care call center to handle
anticipated call volume over the weekend and
into this week." However, their website
stated that customer service were
unavailable, and only branches or electronic
forms were available. Please see attachment.
As their response above indicates, I closed
my account thereafter, but am disappointed
with their service and lack of effort to try
to make up for this inconvenience.
Therefore, I have NO intention of
recommending them or doing business with
them in the future.
CenterState Bank
of Florida, N.A. Response CenterState Bank
submitted a response in reference to
*************'s complaint on May 25, 2018.
We feel we have addressed her
dissatisfaction and apologized for her
inconvenience. We stand by our original
response."
This
is indicative of the approach that would
be taken to the new customers Centerstate
is trying to acquire. Inner City Press is
also concerned about the potential for
branch closing(s), and loss of local
accountability.
ICP is requesting evidentiary hearings and that this proposed acquisition, on the current record, not be approved. There is no public benefit."
January
7, 2019
Amid
Targeting of
Community
Reinvestment
Act Fed Delays
on FOIA for
WSFS CRA
Program
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
December
31, 2018
Mnuchin
Calls Big Six
Banks and
Monday
Convenes
Powell and
Otting Amid
Targeting of
Community
Reinvestment
Act
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
December
24, 2018
Amid
Targeting of
Community
Reinvestment
Act FFW
Protest of
WSFS Leads to
CRA Questions
Here
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
SOUTH
BRONX, December 18 – The US Treasury Department
is the next stage of a process to try to weaken
and take the community out of the 1977 Community
Reinvestment Act. Docket file here.
The protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt when he
was at the US Environmental Protection Agency or
Ryan Zinke at Interior, is Comptroller of the
Current Joseph Otting. On September 12 Fair
Finance Watch (and on FOIA, Inner City Press)
commented to the OCC, here.
At the November 19 deadline, not yet posted was
Inner City Press' November 17 fourth comment,
just as Otting's OCC absurdly waited 13 days to
try to rule it does not have to consider Fair
Finance Watch's comments on WSFS Bank's
application to acquire Beneficial. Now, after
the OCC gleefully closed its comment period on
that, WSFS on December 13 announced it will
close 25 branches. One would think Otting would
have to re-open the comment period. But that's
not how Otting rolls. Here now from the Federal
Reserve, to which FFW also commented, are the
Fed's Additional Information questions sent
December 18 to WSFS and FFW: "This request
refers to the application by WSFS Financial
Corporation (“WSFS”),
Wilmington, Delaware, to acquire Beneficial
Bancorp, Inc. (“Beneficial”), and thereby
indirectly acquire Beneficial Bank (“Beneficial
Bank”), both of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, pursuant to section 10(e) of the
Home Owners’ Loan Act following the
conversion of Beneficial from a bank holding
company to a savings and loan holding
company. Following the proposed acquisition,
WSFS plans to merge Beneficial Bank
into its subsidiary, Wilmington Savings Fund
Society, FSB (“WSFS Bank”),
Wilmington, Delaware. Based on our review of the
current record, the following
information, including the information in the
Confidential Appendix, is requested.
Please provide relevant supporting
documentation, as appropriate.
1. Provide a description of WSFS’s current
non-banking activities, including any
commercial activities referenced in Item
210.50(a), and identify the authority
upon which WSFS relies to engage in such
activities, as well as any supportive
analysis.
2. Provide the following required components of
the H(e)-3 Application:
a. Confidential disclosure memoranda to the
Merger Agreement, required as
part of Item 110.10(b)
b. Evidence of shareholder approval of the
transaction, required as part of
Item 110.10(d)
c. Parent company (unconsolidated) cash flows
statements, referenced in
Item 330.10(d)
d. The ages of WSFS’s and Beneficial’s directors
and senior executive
officers, referenced in Item 410.10(c)-1
e. An amended charter and/or amended by-laws, if
either will be revised as
a result of the proposed mergers, referenced in
Exhibit B.1
December
17, 2018
At CFPB
Kraninger
Sworn In
Without Press
But Texas
Bankers
Present Now
Electronic
Media Out in 5
Minutes
By
Matthew R. Lee, IMF
Coverage
December
10, 2018
Cadence
Bank Urged OCC
To Speed
Regulatory
Approvals And
Gets It From
The Fed
Despite
Jumping the
Gun
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
7/31
story
December
3, 2018
Targeting
of Community
Reinvestment
Act by Otting
Included Favor
to WSFS Now
Fed Protest by
Fair Finance
Watch
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
November
26, 2018
Targeting
of Community
Reinvestment
Act by Otting
Includes Favor
to WSFS Which
Disses LMI
Focus
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
SOUTH
BRONX, November 19 – The US Treasury Department
is in a process to try to weaken and take the
community out of the 1977 Community Reinvestment
Act. Docket file here.
The protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt when he
was at the US Environmental Protection Agency,
is Comptroller of the Current Joseph Otting. On
September 12 Fair Finance Watch (and on FOIA,
Inner City Press) commented to the OCC, here.
Now at the November 19 deadline, as of 4 pm,
there was 773 comments online, but 802 listed.
Among those not (yet?) posted is Inner City
Press' November 17 fourth comment, just as
Otting's OCC absurdly waited 13 days to try to
rule it does not have to consider Fair Finance
Watch's comments on WSFS Bank. So, a fifth
comment just submitted including that "the OCC
is already undermining CRA. Our comments to the
OCC on WSFS - Beneficial have yet to be acted
on. That comment was submitted on November 6.
Now on November 19, two weeks later, the OCC has
tellingly said it will not consider it - despite
a Federal Reserve Board comment period on the
same transaction remaining open until at least
November 27. The OCC's attempt to ignore
substantive criticism of some banks'
performance, while Comptroller Otting previously
solicited false comments support his OneWest
Bank, are a symbol all what is wrong with this
process, and today's OCC.
While if the past is any guide the
OCC will forwarded ICP's comment to the FRB by
the FRB, we note in this connection that WSFS'
comments on the ANPR favor, as Otting clearly
does, dulling the LMI focus of CRA to make it
easier for banks. We oppose all of this.
Since October 11 the OCC has denied
expedited process to our FOIA request(s) for
records essential in order to comment on this
proposal. OCC Deputy Chief Counsel Charles
Steele on November 7 wrote on that “merger
between One West Bank and CIT Bank. You do not
demonstrate how your request concerns a matter
of current exigency to the American public or
how a delay in the OCC's response to your
request would compromise a significant
recognized interest.” Given the false commenting
issues in the OneWest - CIT proceeding, and the
importance of CRA to our communities, this
denial is insulting and further makes this ANPR
commenting process, ostensibly closing now on
November 19, illegitimate." Among them, as
reviewed by Inner City Press: Fulton Financial,
on which ICP has previously
comment, perhaps
understandably given its
lending record urges
“De-couple CRA from Fair
Lending... CRA and Fair
Lending have complementary but
different social and policy
objectives. CRA ratings should
not be downgraded based on the
results of a bank's fair
lending performance and exam
results.” FFW disagrees:
racial discrimination in
lending means a bank is NOT
meeting the credit needs of
its entire community.
The ABA writes that “'needs to improve' CRA rating and should clarify that such a rating will not be a de facto bar to opening new branches or engaging in other activities requiring regulatory approval.” FFW disagrees: a bank with a rare NTI (or Substantial Non-compliance) record should be barred from merging or expanding. This is the enforcement mechanism of CRA.
Th Association of Military Banks of America urges, “Because the financial challenges military communities face are less dependent on income distinctions than in geographically-defined communities, we recommend that all financial services to the military community should be presumed to qualify for CRA credit, regardless of whether the recipient fits within a classic LMI category.” FFW disagrees with this blurring of the lines. Loans to five star generals are not CRA loans.
Heartland Tri State Bank says “Any bank with assets less than One Billion Dollars should not be subject to CRA examinations.” FFW disagrees, precisely because such banks play (or don't play) such a role in the economies of some communities.
Meanwhile the OCC is already undermining CRA. The OCC has denied expedited process to our FOIA request(s) for records essential in order to comment on this proposal. OCC Deputy Chief Counsel Charles Steele on November 7 wrote on that “merger between One West Bank and CIT Bank. You do not demonstrate how your request concerns a matter of current exigency to the American public or how a delay in the OCC's response to your request would compromise a significant recognized interest.” Given the false commenting issues in the OneWest - CIT proceeding, and the importance of CRA to our communities, this denial is insulting and further makes this ANPR commenting process, ostensibly closing on November 19, illegitimate, we contend - while joining in NCRC's comments, see below. On November 6 at 5 pm, before any midterm elections results came in, Fair Finance Watch filed comments at deadline with Otting's OCC, on Wilmington Savings Fund Society (WSFS) Bank's application to acquire Beneficial Bank in Philadelphia and closed 30 branches, despite WSFS' disparate lending record: "This is a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Application by WSFS Bank to Acquire Beneficial Bank. In the the Wilmington MSA in 2017, WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB (WSFS Bank) had a denial rate for the home purchase loan applications of African Americans that was 5.48 times higher than for whites - an outrage, significantly more disparate that other banks in the market. For Latinos, WSFS Bank was and is worse, with a denial rate for home purchase loans 7.43 times higher for Latinos than for whites.November
19, 2018
Community
Reinvestment
Act Targeting
by Otting
Urged On By
ABA Fulton and
Military Banks
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
SOUTH BRONX, November 17 – The US Treasury Department is in a process to try to weaken and take the community out of the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act. Docket file here. The protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt when he was at the US Environmental Protection Agency, is Comptroller of the Current Joseph Otting. On September 12 Fair Finance Watch (and on FOIA, Inner City Press) commented to the OCC, here. Now just before the November 19 deadline, in a single hour on November 17 the reported number of comment suddenly dropped from 677 to 609. Among them, as reviewed by Inner City Press: Fulton Financial, on which ICP has previously comment, perhaps understandably given its lending record urges “De-couple CRA from Fair Lending... CRA and Fair Lending have complementary but different social and policy objectives. CRA ratings should not be downgraded based on the results of a bank's fair lending performance and exam results.” FFW disagrees: racial discrimination in lending means a bank is NOT meeting the credit needs of its entire community.
The ABA writes that “'needs to improve' CRA rating and should clarify that such a rating will not be a de facto bar to opening new branches or engaging in other activities requiring regulatory approval.” FFW disagrees: a bank with a rare NTI (or Substantial Non-compliance) record should be barred from merging or expanding. This is the enforcement mechanism of CRA.
Th Association of Military Banks of America urges, “Because the financial challenges military communities face are less dependent on income distinctions than in geographically-defined communities, we recommend that all financial services to the military community should be presumed to qualify for CRA credit, regardless of whether the recipient fits within a classic LMI category.” FFW disagrees with this blurring of the lines. Loans to five star generals are not CRA loans.
Heartland Tri State Bank says “Any bank with assets less than One Billion Dollars should not be subject to CRA examinations.” FFW disagrees, precisely because such banks play (or don't play) such a role in the economies of some communities.
Meanwhile the OCC is already undermining CRA. The OCC has denied expedited process to our FOIA request(s) for records essential in order to comment on this proposal. OCC Deputy Chief Counsel Charles Steele on November 7 wrote on that “merger between One West Bank and CIT Bank. You do not demonstrate how your request concerns a matter of current exigency to the American public or how a delay in the OCC's response to your request would compromise a significant recognized interest.” Given the false commenting issues in the OneWest - CIT proceeding, and the importance of CRA to our communities, this denial is insulting and further makes this ANPR commenting process, ostensibly closing on November 19, illegitimate, we contend - while joining in NCRC's comments, see below. On November 6 at 5 pm, before any midterm elections results came in, Fair Finance Watch filed comments at deadline with Otting's OCC, on Wilmington Savings Fund Society (WSFS) Bank's application to acquire Beneficial Bank in Philadelphia and closed 30 branches, despite WSFS' disparate lending record:November
12, 2018
As
Community
Reinvestment
Act Is
Targeted by
Otting Inner
City Press
FOIA Appeal
Denied Nov 19
Scam
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
November
5, 2018
Cadence
Bancorporation,
who
application to
acquire State
Bank in
Georgia Fair
Finance Watch
challenged,
has as its
defense that
the banks it
chose to buy
were
"problematic."
But Cadence
chose to buy
them. And if
it hasn't
fixed them
yet, why
though they
get an
approval to
buy yet
another bank?
We'll have
more on this.
October
29, 2018
As
Community
Reinvestment
Act Is
Targeted by
Otting Murky
Meeting With
Citigroup TIAA
Wells
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
October
22, 2018
As
Community
Reinvestment
Act Is
Targeted by
Otting He
Devalues
Comments He
Earlier Gamed
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
October
15, 2018
As
Community
Reinvestment
Act Is
Targeted by
Otting Inner
City Press Raises His Bid
to Free
E-Trade From
CRA
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
October
8, 2018
As Community
Reinvestment Act Is
Targeted by Otting He Back
Pedals in Senate As Inner
City Press Urges Recusal
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
SOUTH
BRONX, October 2 – The US Treasury Department
has begun a process to weaken and take the
community out of the 1977 Community Reinvestment
Act. Docket file here.
The protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt when he
was at the US Environmental Protection Agency,
is Comptroller of the Current Joseph Otting. On
September 12 Fair Finance Watch (and on FOIA,
Inner City Press) commented to the OCC, here.
On September 29 The
Intercept has dug into it, citing FFW's
formal request that Otting recuse himself - and
so here
now are some of the Freedom of Information Act
documents. On October 2 in the Senate Banking
Committee, Otting insisted he is not trying to
weaken the CRA; he called the ANPR an "Advanced
Notice of Public Rulemaking" instead of
Proposed. He said he met with 1100 individuals -
still undisclosed - and expects five to ten
thousand comments on the ANPR. (So far there are
33 listed but only 29 visible). Senator Sherrod
Brown began by asking him indirectly about the
blogs at CFPB of Eric Blankenstein. We'll have
more on this. And this - as obtained by Inner
City Press and fellow NCRC
member CRC, here are more
of the documents, for (this time) free
download on Patreon.
October 1, 2018
As
Community
Reinvestment
Act Is
Targeted by
Otting The
Intercept
Notes Inner
City Press
Urging Recusal
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
story,
FOIA
docs
SOUTH
BRONX, September 29 – The US Treasury Department
has begun a process to weaken and take the
community out of the 1977 Community Reinvestment
Act. The protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt when
he was at the US Environmental Protection
Agency, is Comptroller of the Current Joseph
Otting. On September 12 Fair Finance Watch (and
on FOIA, Inner City Press) commented to the OCC,
here.
And now on September 29 The
Intercept has dug into it, citing FFW's
formal request that Otting recuse himself - and
so here
now are some of the FOIA documents, obtained by
Inner City Press and fellow NCRC
member CRC, and pro bono lawyer Lindsey Krause
of Nichols Kaster. Here are more
of the documents, for (this time) free
download on Patreon.
One
of the issues raised, that of Otting's role in
previous fraudulent commenting to the OCC in
support of his own bank OneWest's merger with
CIT in 2015 has come to the fore. Relatedly, the
FOIA document as provided by the OCC and US
Department of Justice reflect that the OCC never
follow up on its lone (and wan) question to
Otting's counsel as Sullivan & Cromwell to
explain the fraudulent comments. Nor did this
counsel respond to questions from The
Intercept's David Dayen, who reports: "AFTER A
YEARLONG effort to obtain the information, which
included ongoing litigation, the OCC made
available 15 pages. They contain emails to and
from David Finnegan, an OCC senior licensing
analyst who was a point of contact for public
comment on the merger.
Four individuals contended in emails to Finnegan
that they never sent the comment letters
supporting the merger. “This is to bring to your
attention that I received an email from the
office of OCC regarding a subject I am
completely unaware of,” wrote one individual
(the OCC redacted the emailers’ identifying
information). “I DID NOT send the email below
that you responded to. This is a fraudulent use
of my email account.” The other three sent
similar complaints.
The letter of support attributed to these
individuals was identical to the letter posted
at the OneWest Bank website.
Matthew Lee of Inner City Press expressed
outrage at the fake comments. “There’s nothing
more offensive of speech rights than
artificially presenting someone as saying
something you don’t believe,” Lee said. “You
have the right to be silent. It’s so beyond the
pale.”
FOIA Finds: OneWest CIT Ban... by on Scribd
September
24, 2018
As
Community
Reinvestment
Act Is
Targeted by
Otting Net
Neutrality
Echo FFW Urges
Recusal to OCC
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
7/31
story
SOUTH
BRONX, September 17 – The US Treasury Department
has begun a process to weaken and take the
community out of the 1977 Community Reinvestment
Act. The protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt until
recently at the US Environmental Protection
Agency, is Comptroller of the Current Joseph
Otting. On September 12 Fair Finance Watch (and
on FOIA, Inner City Press) commented to the OCC,
the 14th comment so far, here.
But one of the issues raised, that of Otting's
role in previous fraudulent commenting to the
OCC in support of his own bank OneWest's merger
with CIT in 2015 has come to the fore. Why
didn't the OCC more seriously look into this
fraud? What has been improved since? Shouldn't
Otting be recused, as Fair Finance Watch has
already timely requested? One analogy is to the
gaming of the FCC's process on net neutrality,
when even Senator Jeff Merkley and Pat Toomey's
identities were borrowed, as reported
by the Washington Post's Hamza Shaban.
Unlike Otting to date, at least the FCC's Ajit
Pai responded, if only to blame David Bray, as reported
by Adam Jacobson in RBR. Otting simple refuses
to answer - for now. From the Fair Finance Watch
/ Inner City Press comment: "Fair Finance Watch
(and where applicable Inner City Press)
appreciate the opportunity to comment on the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currencys (OCC)
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)
regarding the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
CRA has leveraged significant amounts of loans
and investments for low- and moderate-income
communities.
We began enforcing the CRA in the South Bronx
then beyond starting in 1994, in connection with
the applications for mergers or expansions on
which banks' records are considered. Numerous
banks excluded the South Bronx and Upper
Manhattan from their CRA assessment areas even
though, as we proved, they collected substantial
deposits from area residents. We got six banks
to open branches and make lending commitments,
in the Bronx and beyond.
We concerned that the OCC's proposal threatens
to weaken CRA, see below. As as relevant here,
we commented along with others on the CIT -
OneWest proceeding, and were concerned both by
OneWest's record under now-Comptroller Otting
and by what emerged as the gaming of the system
with pre-fabricated comments Otting openly
solicited. We may comment in more detail on this
later in his ANPR proceeding.
For now we wish raise particular concern about
the approach signaled by Questions 21 and 15 and
to emphasize that public participate is key to
CRA, on performance evaluations and crucially on
bank merger and expansion applications. Inner
City Press, which often submits FOIA requests to
the OCC (which is, frankly, slow), the Federal
Reserve, FDIC and even non-USA regulators many
of whom are faster than the OCC, emphasizes that
comment periods should never close while
information that is not specifically exempt from
disclosure under FOIA is being withheld. Inner
City Press has pending with the OCC, but not yet
responded to, FOIA requests related to this
proceeding / process, that should be responded
to in full, including any necessary appeal,
during this proceeding.
If the OCC proceeds to significantly diminish
the importance of assessment areas on CRA exams,
the progress in increasing lending to low- and
moderate-income neighborhoods will be halted.
NCRC estimates that low- and moderate-income
neighborhoods could lose up to $105 billion in
home and small business lending nationally over
a five year time period. We join in the comments
of NCRC, of which we are members... We urge the
OCC to go back to the drawing board and develop
reform proposals with the Federal Reserve Board
and the FDIC.
And, for the reasons above and yet to be
submitted, we contend Comptroller Otting should
be recused from this process. Thank you for your
attention to this."
While
Reuters blandly
noted that he is "a former banker," the bank he
headed, OneWest, was accused of predatory
lending and when its acquisition by the CIT
Group was challenged
by Fair Finance Watch, CRC and others Otting
arranged for seemingly counterfeit or compelled
comments supporting the merger. In this light,
Question 11 of his "Advanced Notice of Proposal
Rulemaking" or ANPR
is noteworthy: "11. How can community
involvement be included in an evaluation process
that uses a
metric-based framework?" How, indeed. Here's
what Otting wrote as a banker, already long
public, in support of his merger:
"From: Otting,
Joseph M [at] owb.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2015 5:00 PM
Cc: Haas, Alesia Jeanne; Tran, Cindy; Kim,
Glenn
Subject: Support For OneWest Bank
Dear Friends,
We were excited to announce on July 21,
2014, that IMB HoldCo LLC, the parent
company of OneWest Bank entered into a
merger agreement with CIT Group Inc. As
part of the applications for regulatory
approval of the transaction, our
regulators are interested in the
perspectives of the public. We are writing
you to seek your support of the Bank and
pending merger. This merger, if approved,
would create the largest bank
headquartered in Southern California with
a full suite of banking products and
services, which will allow us to better
serve our customers. We would retain and
grow jobs and are committed to continuing
and expanding our efforts to serve the
economic and development needs of our
community. I would like to ask you to take
a moment to click on the link below and
submit a letter of support adding any of
your own words or thoughts.
Please submit your letter by clicking
here, or by visiting our website at www.OneWestBank.com/merger-support (if
the link isn't clickable or part of the
link is cut off, please copy and paste the
entire URL into your browser's address bar
and press Enter)
Thank you for your support. Best
wishes for a successful 2015 and please
call on me if I can ever be of assistance.
Joseph M. Otting
President and CEO
OneWest Bank N.A.
888 East Walnut Street
Pasadena, CA 91101"
September
17, 2018
As
Community
Reinvestment
Act Is
Targeted by
Otting Fair
Finance Watch
Urges Recusal
to OCC
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
7/31
story
SOUTH
BRONX, September 12 – The US Treasury Department
has begun a process to weaken and take the
community out of the 1977 Community Reinvestment
Act. The protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt until
recently at the US Environmental Protection
Agency, is Comptroller of the Current Joseph
Otting. On September 12 Fair Finance Watch (and
on FOIA, Inner City Press) commented to the OCC,
the 14th comment so far, here.
From the comment: "Fair Finance Watch (and where
applicable Inner City Press) appreciate the
opportunity to comment on the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currencys (OCC) Advance
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) regarding
the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). CRA has
leveraged significant amounts of loans and
investments for low- and moderate-income
communities.
We began enforcing the CRA in the South Bronx
then beyond starting in 1994, in connection with
the applications for mergers or expansions on
which banks' records are considered. Numerous
banks excluded the South Bronx and Upper
Manhattan from their CRA assessment areas even
though, as we proved, they collected substantial
deposits from area residents. We got six banks
to open branches and make lending commitments,
in the Bronx and beyond.
We concerned that the OCC's proposal threatens
to weaken CRA, see below. As as relevant here,
we commented along with others on the CIT -
OneWest proceeding, and were concerned both by
OneWest's record under now-Comptroller Otting
and by what emerged as the gaming of the system
with pre-fabricated comments Otting openly
solicited. We may comment in more detail on this
later in his ANPR proceeding.
For now we wish raise particular concern about
the approach signaled by Questions 21 and 15 and
to emphasize that public participate is key to
CRA, on performance evaluations and crucially on
bank merger and expansion applications. Inner
City Press, which often submits FOIA requests to
the OCC (which is, frankly, slow), the Federal
Reserve, FDIC and even non-USA regulators many
of whom are faster than the OCC, emphasizes that
comment periods should never close while
information that is not specifically exempt from
disclosure under FOIA is being withheld. Inner
City Press has pending with the OCC, but not yet
responded to, FOIA requests related to this
proceeding / process, that should be responded
to in full, including any necessary appeal,
during this proceeding.
If the OCC proceeds to significantly diminish
the importance of assessment areas on CRA exams,
the progress in increasing lending to low- and
moderate-income neighborhoods will be halted.
NCRC estimates that low- and moderate-income
neighborhoods could lose up to $105 billion in
home and small business lending nationally over
a five year time period. We join in the comments
of NCRC, of which we are members... We urge the
OCC to go back to the drawing board and develop
reform proposals with the Federal Reserve Board
and the FDIC.
And, for the reasons above and yet to be
submitted, we contend Comptroller Otting should
be recused from this process. Thank you for your
attention to this."
While
Reuters blandly
noted that he is "a former banker," the bank he
headed, OneWest, was accused of predatory
lending and when its acquisition by the CIT
Group was challenged
by Fair Finance Watch, CRC and others Otting
arranged for seemingly counterfeit or compelled
comments supporting the merger. In this light,
Question 11 of his "Advanced Notice of Proposal
Rulemaking" or ANPR
is noteworthy: "11. How can community
involvement be included in an evaluation process
that uses a
metric-based framework?" How, indeed. Here's
what Otting wrote as a banker, already long
public, in support of his merger:
"From: Otting,
Joseph M [at] owb.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2015 5:00 PM
Cc: Haas, Alesia Jeanne; Tran, Cindy; Kim,
Glenn
Subject: Support For OneWest Bank
Dear Friends,
We were excited to announce on July 21,
2014, that IMB HoldCo LLC, the parent
company of OneWest Bank entered into a
merger agreement with CIT Group Inc. As
part of the applications for regulatory
approval of the transaction, our
regulators are interested in the
perspectives of the public. We are writing
you to seek your support of the Bank and
pending merger. This merger, if approved,
would create the largest bank
headquartered in Southern California with
a full suite of banking products and
services, which will allow us to better
serve our customers. We would retain and
grow jobs and are committed to continuing
and expanding our efforts to serve the
economic and development needs of our
community. I would like to ask you to take
a moment to click on the link below and
submit a letter of support adding any of
your own words or thoughts.
Please submit your letter by clicking
here, or by visiting our website at www.OneWestBank.com/merger-support (if
the link isn't clickable or part of the
link is cut off, please copy and paste the
entire URL into your browser's address bar
and press Enter)
Thank you for your support. Best
wishes for a successful 2015 and please
call on me if I can ever be of assistance.
Joseph M. Otting
President and CEO
OneWest Bank N.A.
888 East Walnut Street
Pasadena, CA 91101"
September
10, 2018
Mulvaney's
Moves Against
Disparate
Impact At CFPB
Opposed As CRA
Targeted by
Otting at OCC
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
7/31
story
September
3, 2018
As
Community
Reinvestment
Act Is
Targeted by
Otting His
OCC's Notice
to Community
Is Silent As
Banks Cheer
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
7/31
story
SOUTH
BRONX, August 29 – The US Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting on
August 28 began a process to weaken and take the
community out of the 1977 Community Reinvestment
Act. But on August 29 when the OCC purported to
solicit public comments for the CRA evaluation
of banks in the fourth quarter of 2018 and even
first quarter of 2019, the OCC's notice did not
even mention or link to Otting's proposal to
change the CRA. Here
is what the OCC e-mailed out on August 29. So
the community is not informed - but the industy
is. Even open sources are full of banks and
their lobbying groups celebrating
and preparing to support Otting's proposal(s).
From Louisiana, there is this:
"GAME FACE ConsumerBankers GC Steve Zeisel is
ready for today’s Membership Call regarding the
@USOCC ANPR on #cra. #intense. #focus." On the
other hands, there's this,
on and of which we'll have more. The
protagonist, akin to Scott Pruitt until recently
at the US Environmental Protection Agency, is
Joe Otting. While Reuters blandly
noted that he is "a former banker," the bank he
headed, OneWest, was accused of predatory
lending and when its acquisition by the CIT
Group was challenged
by Fair Finance Watch, CRC and others Otting
arranged for seemingly counterfeit or compelled
comments supporting the merger. In this light,
Question 11 of his "Advanced Notice of Proposal
Rulemaking" or ANPR
is noteworthy: "11. How can community
involvement be included in an evaluation process
that uses a
metric-based framework?" How, indeed. Here's
what Otting wrote as a banker, already long
public, in support of his merger:
"From: Otting,
Joseph M [at] owb.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2015 5:00 PM
Cc: Haas, Alesia Jeanne; Tran, Cindy; Kim,
Glenn
Subject: Support For OneWest Bank
Dear Friends,
We were excited to announce on July 21,
2014, that IMB HoldCo LLC, the parent
company of OneWest Bank entered into a
merger agreement with CIT Group Inc. As
part of the applications for regulatory
approval of the transaction, our
regulators are interested in the
perspectives of the public. We are writing
you to seek your support of the Bank and
pending merger. This merger, if approved,
would create the largest bank
headquartered in Southern California with
a full suite of banking products and
services, which will allow us to better
serve our customers. We would retain and
grow jobs and are committed to continuing
and expanding our efforts to serve the
economic and development needs of our
community. I would like to ask you to take
a moment to click on the link below and
submit a letter of support adding any of
your own words or thoughts.
Please submit your letter by clicking
here, or by visiting our website at www.OneWestBank.com/merger-support (if
the link isn't clickable or part of the
link is cut off, please copy and paste the
entire URL into your browser's address bar
and press Enter)
Thank you for your support. Best
wishes for a successful 2015 and please
call on me if I can ever be of assistance.
Joseph M. Otting
President and CEO
OneWest Bank N.A.
888 East Walnut Street
Pasadena, CA 91101"
August
27, 2018
Redlining
Klein Bank
Wants to Sell
Out to Old
National But
Fair Finance
Watch
Challenges to
Fed
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
7/31
story
NEW YORK, August 24 – A bank that was sued by the US Justice Department in 2017 for redlining and discrimination is trying to sell itself to Old National, and Fair Finance Watch has formally challenged it under the Community Reinvestment Act in a filing to the Federal Reserve on the last day of the comment period. From the filing: "This is a timely first comment opposing the Applications of Old National Bancorp to merge with Klein Financial, Inc., Chaska, Minnesota, and thereby indirectly acquire KleinBank, also of Chaska, Minnesota.
As an initial matter, this is a request that the FRS immediately send by email to Inner City Press all non-exempt portions of the applications / notices for which the Applicants have requested confidential treatment.
It was only last year that
“the U.S. Justice Department accused
Chaska-based KleinBank of redlining, the illegal
practice of denying mortgage loans to minority
residents. Lawyers from the department's civil
rights division said KleinBank engaged in
discrimination in Minneapolis and St. Paul by
failing to market its services and open bank
branches in areas dominated by minorities.
KleinBank, which operates 21 branches in mostly
outer-ring suburbs of the Twin Cities, is one of
Minnesota's largest community banks.
'KleinBank's discriminatory practices … have
been intentional and willful, and implemented
with reckless disregard for the rights of
individuals on the basis of their race and/or
national origin,' the complaint said.”
August
20, 2018
The
American
Bankers
Association
loves Otting,
this is their
write up, on
which we will
have more,
much more:
"The OCC
yesterday
updated its
policies and
procedures
manual to
clarify its
policy and
methodology
for
determining
how evidence
of
discrimination
or illegal
credit
practices will
affect a
bank’s
Community
Reinvestment
Act rating.
The updated
version
replaces a
previous
edition of the
manual issued
in October
2017.
Importantly,
the updated
manual
maintains the
OCC’s position
that there be
a logical
nexus between
the CRA rating
and evidence
of
discriminatory
or illegal
credit
practices. The
revisions
clarify that
in assigning a
CRA rating,
the OCC first
evaluates a
bank’s CRA
performance
for the
applicable
time period
and then makes
any
adjustments
that are
warranted
based on
evidence of
discriminatory
or other
illegal credit
practices. The
OCC also
clarified that
its general
policy is to
downgrade the
rating by only
one rating
level unless
such illegal
practices are
found to be
particularly
egregious.
The OCC
reiterated
that its
policy is
“generally not
to penalize a
bank by
lowering its
CRA rating
when examiners
have
determined the
bank has taken
appropriate
remedial
actions."
Outrageous.
August
13, 2018
We are following,at the CFPB, the nomination of Kathy Kraninger to continue Mick Mulvaney's deconstruction of the agency now that
August
6, 2018
With
OCC To Hand
Out Fintech
Bank Charters
NY Regulator
Slams It But
Lets First
Republic
Redline
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video,
7/31
story
July
30, 2018
People's
United Bank's
Bid to Buy
Farmington
Challenged by
Fair Finance
Watch on
Lending
Disparities
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video
July
23, 2018
On
July 19, When
asked about
Hurricane
Maria, Kathy
Kraninger
wouldn’t
address her
role in
providing
disaster funds
as part of the
response in
Puerto Rico.
When asked
about the
matter,
Kraninger
responded that
she didn't
"'think it was
appropriate to
characterize…advice'"
she gave to
the
administration...
July
16, 2018
First
Republic Bank
Excluding All
Bronxites But
Slumlords
Wants 9th
Manhattan
Branch,
Opposed
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video
July
9, 2018
Last week Leandra English dropped her lawsuit against Mulvaney at the CFPB and said, “In light of the recent nomination of a new director. I will be stepping down from my position at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau early next week.” But on Kathy Kraninger, see below...
July
2, 2018
Bank
of America
Gets Sued For
Discriminatory
Maintenance
While
Citigroup
Brags At UN
About
Renewables
By
Matthew R. Lee, Video
NEW
YORK, June 27 – Bank of America has been sued
for failure to maintain properties it forecloses
on in communities of color. Nationwide, the
lawsuit contends, 45 percent of the Bank of
America properties in communities of color had
10 or more
maintenance or marketing deficiencies, while
only 11 percent of the Bank of America
properties in predominantly white neighborhoods
had 10 or more maintenance or
marketing deficiencies. 64 percent of the Bank
of America properties in communities of color
had trash or debris visible on the property,
while only 31 percent of the Bank of America
properties in predominantly white neighborhoods
had trash visible on the property. 37 percent of
the Bank of America properties in communities of
color had unsecured or broken doors, while only
16 percent of the Bank of America properties in
predominantly
white neighborhoods had unsecured or broken
doors. 49.6 percent of the Bank of America
properties in communities of color had damaged,
boarded, or unsecured windows, while only 23.5
percent of the Bank of America properties in
white neighborhoods had damaged, boarded or
unsecured windows.
June
25, 2018
In NY
Court CFPB
Deemed
Unconstitutional
and Dropped
from Case,
Hold on
Kraninger
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
June
18, 2018
In DC
to Head CFPB
Mulvaney OMB
Staffer Kathy
Kraninger Is
Nominated,
Experience
Questioned
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
June
11, 2018
In DC
at CFPB
Mulvaney
Disbands
Consumer
Advisory Board
As OCC Cuts
CRA, FOIA
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
June
4, 2018
Weakening
of Volcker
Rule Promoted
By Fed's
Powell and
Quarles
Without Wells
Fargo Recusal
By
Matthew R. Lee, Audio
May
28, 2018
We
note that in
Federal
Reserve
governor
Brainard's speech
on CRA there
is no mention
of enforcement
of CRA, or of
the word
"merger" or
"expansion" or
"application"
-- we'll have
more on this.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/brainard20180518a.htm
May
21, 2018
Payday
Lending
Scrutiny
Survives
Capitol Hill
Review Period,
US Comptroller
Otting Eyes
CRA
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK, May 16 – A regulation against predatory payday lending, which was threatened with Congressional repeal up to today, has survived the threat: the deadline came and went on May 16. The Congressional Review Act resolution (S.J. Res. 56) to repeal it garnered only four sponsors. But threats to the Community Reinvestment Act continue: US Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, who generated fake comments supporting his OneWest Bank's merger with CIT Group, is now seeking to remove the "community" from the US Community Reinvestment Act, eliminating any focus on the areas from which banks draw their insured deposits. Otting told the ABA he wants to make it “easy and simple for banks to understand” the CRA. His OCC spokesperson spuns that "the comptroller has mentioned in numerous public settings that we need to revisit how assessment areas are defined." The WSJ, for now, did not mention Otting's previous history of undermining the CRA. Otting has also been shown to have continued buy and owning bank and insurance company stocks even after he was nominated, confirmed and began at the OCC. The stocks included Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, KeyCorp and Prudential Financial. Now Otting has his eye on further weakening Community Reinvestment Act reviews of mergers. The OCC is still withholding documents requested by Inner City Press and CRC under FOIA including about how Otting's bank's lawyers responded to the fake comment issue. We'll have more on this.May
14, 2018
A
redlining case
against Klein
Bank in
Minnesota was
been dropped
by DOJ in
exchange for
revision in
the bank's CRA
assessment
area. The
suit, filed by
the DOJ in
early 2017,
alleged that
from 2010 to
at least 2015,
KleinBank had
structured its
residential
mortgage
business –
drawing a
“horseshoe-shaped”
assessment
area around
different
census tracts–
that allowed
it to avoid
serving
neighborhoods
with a
predominantly
minority
population.
Allegedly
targeted for
exclusion were
all 37
majority-minority
sections in
Ramsey County
and 39 of the
58
majority-minority
areas in
Hennepin
County.
KleinBank
CEO Doug Hile
spun that "we
have decided
this
compromise
allows us to
channel our
resources into
serving the
community,
specifically
where the
needs are
great and
where our
special
approach to
engagement and
commitment
will have a
profound
impact.”
Under the
settlement
stipulations,
KleinBank –
which runs 21
bank branches
throughout
Minnesota –
must revise
its main
Community
Reinvestment
Act assessment
area. The new
area must
include all of
Hennepin
County, and
the company
will open a
new branch
office within
the county, as
well as
continue to
expand
community
initiatives.
We'll see.
May
7, 2018
US
Comptroller
Otting Moves
To Strip
Community from
CRA, FOIA Docs
Withheld
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
April
30, 2018
US
Comptroller
Otting Bought
Bank Stocks
While
Regulating
Banks, FOIA
Docs Withheld
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
April
23, 2018
Wells
Fargo Fined
$1B By
Otting's OCC
and Mulvaney's
CFPB, End of
An Era?
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
April
16, 2018
US
Payday Lending
Protections
Sued by
Industry
Group, Otting
and ACE
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
April
9, 2018
The
Consumer
Financial
Protection
Bureau is in
the cross
hairs. Now in
its mid-year
report Mick
Mulvaney
requests four
changes: (i)
subject the
Bureau to
Congressional
appropriations;
(ii) require
Congressional
approval for
major rules;
(iii) make the
director
accountable to
the
President’s
exercise of
executive
authority; and
(iv) create an
independent
Inspector
General for
the agency.
Mulvaney
writes that
the cycle of
Congressional
frustration
with the CFPB
will repeat “
ad infinitum
unless
Congress acts
to make [the
Bureau]
accountable to
the American
people.”
Mulvaney is
set to testify
on April 11
before the
full House
Financial
Services
Committee.
Watch this
site.
As
BancorpSouth
Pays $13M To
Shareholders
Misled on
Redlining
& Money
Laundering,
Pay To Play
By Matthew R. Lee
South Bronx, New York, April 3 – The lack of seriousness in US bank regulation, the mechanical repeating of whatever a challenged bank says, has been exemplified by the gambit by BancorpSouth, which Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch challenged on disparities and which settled racial redlining charges, to drop its Federal Reserve charter and evade regulation. Now BancorpSouth is paying $13 million to settle a lawsuit in Federal court by shareholders who say the bank misled them about not only money laundering but also its fair lending record. Pay to continue to play. We'll have more on this. ICP/FFW timely protested that application to the FDIC: "Dear Regional Director Elmquist, Ass't Regional Director Finnegan and others at the FDIC: "This is a first timely comment opposing, requesting hearings and an extension of the comment period on BancorpSouth's cynical application to evade regulation after its redlining and settlement. Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch protested the applications of BancorpSouth to merge with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation and thereby indirectly acquire Ouachita Independent Bank, and with Central Community Corporation, and thereby indirectly acquire First State Bank Central Texas, Austin, Texas. - based on racial discrimination in lending... Now BancorpSouth makes this application, and its CEO Dan Rollins states that it wants to “alleviate... regulatory oversight,” and become the “only state-chartered bank not a part of the Federal Reserve system.” We oppose this cynical evasion, particularly by one of the few banks having settled redlining charges.April
1, 2018
As NY
Fed's Dudley
Calls $250B
Banks Small,
Murky Process
to Replace Him
Called Out
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
March 24, 2018
Payday Lender Invited Back As Banks'
Predatory Partner by OCC's Otting, OneWest Echo
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
March 19, 2018
As US Senate Passes S.2155 Which Serves BOT
Mitsubishi, North Korea Sanctions Evader, Ironic Praise
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
March
12, 2018
Banking
on the Bomb
Are Citi,
Chase, BofA,
Wells and
Goldman Sachs,
ICP Asks Why
In UN Global
Compact?
By
Matthew Russell Lee, photos
March
5, 2018
With
Capital One
now being sued
for racial
discrimination
- closing bank
branches in
communities of
color and
steering
protected
classes
disproportionately
into debit
cards - it's
worth nothing
CapOne is
seeking to
sell over $260
million in
deposits to
Whitney, in an
almost
absurdly
complicated
and murky
transaction.
We hope to
have more on
this.
February
26, 2018
After
ICP Protest to
Ameris Bank
Merger With
Atlantic
Coast, Ameris
Admits
Application
False
By
Matthew R. Lee, Patreon
February
19, 2018
On
CFPB, Mulvaney
Dodges on
Equifax Probe
As Fee Gouger
Ameris Is
Challenged by
FFW
By Matthew R.
Lee
February
12, 2018
FDIC Deems
Challenge
to Ameris Bank
Merger With
Atlantic Coast
A Formal
Protest, Radio
Silence
By
Matthew R. Lee
February
5, 2018
ICP
Challenged E
Trade-Trust Co
of America,
Banks Scoffs
at Needs to
Improve, FINRA
Settlement
By Matthew R. Lee
WASHINGTON, January 29 – On January 12, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency a challenge to the application by E Trade Savings Bank to acquire Trust Company of America. Inner City Press found and wrote: "E Trade Savings Bank's most recent CRA Evaluation, on its website, gives it for example a rare Needs to Improve rating for the entire states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Oregon, and an undeserved “Satisfactory” for New York. How can a bank be “Needs to Improve” in six states - of its only 13 states, including DC - and be moving for this acquisition? Notwithstanding the OCC's recent pronouncement about banks with Needs to Improve ratings, which ICP contends should have been subject to notice and comment, this low performance level militates for the extension of the comment period and hearing(s) ICP is requesting. Also, for the record: “FINRA Fines E*Trade Securities LLC $900,000 for Supervisory Violations Related to Best Execution and Protection of Customer Order Information." Taken together, these violations militate for the extension of the comment period and hearing(s) ICP is requesting - and for the denial of the application. On January 29, Etrade's lawyers at Skadden Arps downplayed the needs to improve CRA ratings (their full filing here, since Scribd often disappears), then argues that even a settlement with FINRA "does not bear on the statutory factors." Juvenile thinking seems to be spreading.January
29, 2018
Bank Of
America To
Raise Fees on
Low Income
People,
Critics Cite
Predatory BofA
By Matthew R. Lee
WASHINGTON, January 23 – Fresh from the tax cut, Bank of America has announced it will charge "low-balance" (low-income) cosumers $12 a month for a checking account unless they have a $1,500 account balance or monthly direct deposits of at least $250. Meanwhile Bank of America is closing branches in low and moderate income census tracts, for example in Dallas and Decatur, Georgia, Worchester, Massachusetts and elsewhere. In New York and elsewhere, Bank of America in being denounced. But what will its regulators including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency do?January
22, 2018
In DC,
Mulvaney
Says CFPB To
Reconsider
Payday Rule,
Critics Cite
Predatory
Lending
By Matthew R. Lee
WASHINGTON, January 16 – In the battle for the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, on January 10 US District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that Leandra English lacks a likelihood of success on the merits in removing Mick Mulvaney as acting director. Meanwhile Mulvaney on January 16 issued this, on the Payday Rule: "January 16, 2018 is the effective date of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s final rule entitled “Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans" ("Payday Rule"). The Bureau intends to engage in a rulemaking process so that the Bureau may reconsider the Payday Rule. Although most provisions of the Payday Rule do not require compliance until August 19, 2019, the effective date marks codification of the Payday Rule in the Code of Federal Regulations. Today’s effective date also establishes April 16, 2018, as the deadline to submit an application for preliminary approval to become a registered information system ("RIS") under the Payday Rule. However, the Bureau may waive this deadline pursuant to 12 C.F.R. 1041.11(c)(3)(iii). Recognizing that this preliminary application deadline might cause some entities to engage in work in preparing an application to become a RIS, the Bureau will entertain waiver requests from any potential applicant." Oppositio came quickly: The rule release was years in the making, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the tirelessJanuary
15, 2018
In DC,
Mulvaney
Still at CFPB,
Fair Finance
Watch
Challenges E
Trade-Trust Co
of America
By Matthew R. Lee
WASHINGTON, January 13 – In the battle for the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, on January 10 US District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that Leandra English lacks a likelihood of success on the merits in removing Mick Mulvaney as acting director. Meanwhile Mulvaney is putting under “strictest review” the CFPB's fund to compensate victims of fraud. And fraud is more and more pervasive. On January 12, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency a challenge to the application by E Trade Savings Bank to acquire Trust Company of America. Inner City Press found and wrote: "E Trade Savings Bank's most recent CRA Evaluation, on its website, gives it for example a rare Needs to Improve rating for the entire states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Oregon, and an undeserved “Satisfactory” for New York. How can a bank be “Needs to Improve” in six states - of its only 13 states, including DC - and be moving for this acquisition? Notwithstanding the OCC's recent pronouncement about banks with Needs to Improve ratings, which ICP contends should have been subject to notice and comment, this low performance level militates for the extension of the comment period and hearing(s) ICP is requesting. Also, for the record: “FINRA Fines E*Trade Securities LLC $900,000 for Supervisory Violations Related to Best Execution and Protection of Customer Order Information." Taken together, these violations militate for the extension of the comment period and hearing(s) ICP is requesting - and for the denial of the application. Earlier in January Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch filed with the Federal Reserve for evidentiary hearings on the application by Charles Schwab Corporation to set up Charles Schwab Trust Bank in Henderson, Nevada. It has been reported that this bank would “focus on Schwab’s workplace benefit plan clients, such as employers who offer 401k plans, and the intermediaries who serve them.” But Schwab has been sued by its own employees, about 401k plans. See, e.g., Severson v. Charles Schwab Corp. , N.D. Cal., No. 3:17-cv-00285-JCS, complaint filed 1/19/17 ). Schwab “larded” its own 401(k) plan with expensive and poorly performing investment funds and services that earned fees for the company at the expense of workers’ retirement savings, according to the new lawsuit, filed Jan. 19. The lawsuit also targets the performance of Schwab’s stable value fund and claims that Schwab executives allowed the plan’s trustee to profit from the unallocated plan assets it held. It is also noteworthy that, Inner City Press wrote to the Fed, despite the issues there, Schwab reportedly held merger talks with SoFi earlier this year. Fair Finance Watch has also reviewed, in Nevada, Charles Schwab Bank's lending in the Reno MSA. For home purchase loans, all of the loans were to whites (none to Latinos or African Americans), all to applicants over 120% of MSA median income. The same is true of refinance lending. On the current record, these applications should not be approved." We'll have more on this.
January
8, 2018
They
call it the
National Law
Review, and
it's signed
by a big
M&A
lawfirm, but
they mistake
HMDA for CRA
in reporting
on a New York
credit union's
CFPB lawsuit:
" People’s
spent
considerable
time arguing
that
Mulvaney’s
decision to
pause
HMDA-related
enforcement
actions was
causing
People’s
concrete harm.
Banks know
that
regulators use
HMDA data to
evaluate
Community
Reinvestment
Act (“CRA”)
compliance.
People’s
claims that,
to satisfy
their CRA
obligations,
Banks often
make deposits
at People’s
that pay no or
low interest.
People’s uses
those deposits
to make loans
in the
community.
People’s
argued that
Mulvaney’s
policy with
respect to
HMDA
enforcement
will give
banks an
incentive to
falsify their
HMDA data to
appear
compliant with
the CRA
without
actually
making the
deposits.
This, People’s
argues, will
have an
adverse
interest on
its bottom
line. To call
the argument
“strained” is
beyond
generous."
Well, no. Such
deposits are
entirely
different than
HMDA data.
We'll have
more on this -
and on recent
applications
for trust
banks and
trust business
and how CRA
should be
considered.
January
1, 2018
After
Covering Up
Sterling Bank
Scam, OCC Withholds
Records, ICP's
FOIA Appeal
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK, December 30 – Amid the ongoing scandal of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency covering up Sterling Bank's unreliable Community Reinvestment Act data by withholding most of 400 pages released to Inner City Press under the Freedom of Information the OCC is now trying to strong-arm Inner City Press into scaling back its request to exclude "internal OCC communications." On November 30 the OCC wrote to Inner City Press, "Since the Federal Reserve Board has already submitted its final response to you regarding your FOIA request to them, would you consider modifying your OCC request to receiving: 1) All communications between the OCC and the Bank minus the Federal Reserve Board application transmittal documents; 2) Bank CRA Data; 3) Public Comments received by OCC on the merger application. Please respond to this email if you concur as soon as practicable." Inner City Press replied, "The problem Inner City Press has with this proposed limitation of FOIA request is we don't know what we are waiving - what beyond this that is responsive to our request are you asking us to waive our request to?" Now on December 5, this response: "OCC internal communications." But this is a purpose of FOIA, to see how government actually works, and for who. On December 27, the OCC provided Inner City Press a "final" response with virtually all information about the CRA data redacted. Inner City Press has submitted a FOIA appeal "of the OCC's December 27, 2017 (and any other) Denials of ICP's FOIA Request regarding the application Sterling to acquire Astoria and in particular Sterling's unreliable CRA data and the [OCC's] awareness of this unreliability." This is UNacceptable.December
25, 2017
After
ICP Bank
Merger
Challenge, Fed
Asked
Associated of
Green Bay
Market, Reply
Here
By
Matthew R. Lee, Associated reply here
NEW
YORK, December 21 – When Associated Banc-Corp to
merge with Bank Mutual Corporation, Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch on October 11 filed
comments with the Federal Reserve on the 36
branch closings and the anti-competitive
effects, also stating that "Fair Finance Watch
has reviewed applicant Associated's home
purchase lending in the just-out 2016 HMDA data
in the Milwaukee MSA and finds serious
disparities militating for evidentiary hearings
and the denial of this application. For
conventional home purchase loans, Associated
denied the applications of African Americans
4.16 times more frequently than those of whites;
it made 807 such loans to whites and only 41 to
African Americans. Even cumulating Table 4-1
loans with Table 4-2, Associated's denial rate
disparity in 2016 was 3.71; it made 861 loans to
whites and only 48 to African Americans." Two
months later, the Federal Reserve asked the
banks (letter online here
on Patreon): "Based on 2017 Summary of Deposits
data, the proposed transaction would exceed the
concentration thresholds under the Board’s Rules
Regarding Delegation of Authority (12 CFR
265.11(c)(11)(v)) and the Department of Justice
Bank Merger Competitive Review Guidelines in the
Green Bay, Wisconsin banking market (the “Green
Bay market”). Specifically, Associated would
control approximately 36.6% of deposits in the
Green Bay market upon consummation of the
proposal. Discuss the effects of the proposed
transaction on competition in the Green Bay
market, including any factors that would
mitigate the potentially adverse competitive
effects of the proposal in the Green Bay
market." A week later, Associated's counsel
submitted a response, citing among others
Denmark Bancshares and a slew of credit unions.
Reply here
on Patreon. The battle for the US Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau is not over. Leandra
English on December 6 asked U.S. District Judge
Timothy J. Kelly of the federal district court
in Washington to issue a preliminary and
permanent injunction against President Trump
that would block his appointment of Office of
Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
Meanwhile, the low percentage of banks being
given less than satisfactory Community
Reinvestment Act rating has become
infinitesimal. The Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency has signaled that even those few
low scores will have no impact.
December
18, 2017
After
ICP Bank
Merger
Challenge, Fed
Asks
Associated
About Green
Bay Market,
CFPB Statis?
By
Matthew R. Lee, Fed letter here
December
11, 2017
In DC,
Battle for
CFPB Continues As
English Sues
Again, ABA
Cheers OCC
Undercutting
CRA
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW
YORK, December 7– The battle for the US Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau is not over. Leandra
English on December 6 asked U.S. District Judge
Timothy J. Kelly of the federal district court
in Washington to issue a preliminary and
permanent injunction against President Trump
that would block his appointment of Office of
Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
Meanwhile, the low percentage of banks being
given less than satisfactory Community
Reinvestment Act rating has become
infinitesimal. The Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency has signaled that even those few
low scores will have no impact.
December
4, 2017
Trump
Taps Fifth
Third Bank
Lawyer For
FDIC Amid OCC
Scams on CRA
&
Sanctions,
CFPB
By
Matthew R. Lee
November
27, 2017
Amid
OCC Scams on
Sanctions
& CRA,
Cordray Taps
English, Trump
Mulvaney,
Showdown?
By
Matthew R. Lee
November
20, 2017
Amid
OCC Scams on
Sanctions
& CRA,
Withhold
Otting
Documents, ICP
& CRC Sue
By
Matthew R. Lee
NEW
YORK, November 17 – Amid the scandal of the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency covering
up Sterling Bank's unreliable
Community Reinvestment Act data (see below) by
withholding most of 400 pages released to Inner
City Press under the Freedom of Information after
the nomination of Joseph Otting, formerly of OneWest
Bank
to be Comptroller,
back in July Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch and the California Reinvestment Coalition
submitted this
FOIA request. Now, after non-response by the OCC
even has it promises
merger approvals to banks with Needs to Improve
CRA ratings and allows Bank of Tokyo -
Mitsubishi to skirt North Korea sanctions review
by fast approving applications for which
effective public notice was never provided (ICP
scoop on notice here),
now ICP and CRC have filed suit, stating "No
formal response was ever received from the OCC
in response to Plaintiffs’ FOIA Request. To
date, the OCC has not disclosed any records
responsive to Plaintiffs’ FOIA Request nor has
sent any correspondence to Plaintiffs informing
them of the OCC’s need for an extension of time
to process the FOIA Request. As of November 10,
2017, Plaintiffs’ FOIA Request was listed as 'In
Process' on the OCC’s FOIA request portal...
Defendant has far exceeded the 20-working day
statutory time limit for the processing of FOIA
requests, as required by 5 U.S.C. §
552(a)(6)(A).
12. Plaintiffs have a statutory right to the
records sought in its requests... WHEREFORE,
Plaintiff prays for relief as follows: A. Order
Defendant to conduct a reasonable search for all
records responsive to Plaintiffs’ FOIA Request,
and to immediately disclose all records or
portions of records responsive to the FOIA
Request in their entirety that are non- exempt;
B. Issue a declaratory judgment that Plaintiffs
are entitled to disclosure of the records
responsive to Plaintiffs’ FOIA Request; C.
Enjoin Defendant from continuing to withhold
responsive, non-exempt records or portions of
records from Plaintiffs; D. Provide for
expeditious proceedings of this action... Dated:
November 17, 2017 By: s/ James H. Kaster." Watch
this site. As to Otting, beyond his gaming of
the CRA system, another problem has arisen:
Otting misrepresented his resume on education.
He listed a degree on his resume from the
"School of Credit and Financial Management at
Dartmouth College." It's a fraud. "Joseph Otting
is not a Dartmouth graduate," Dartmouth
spokeswoman Diana Lawrence said. "Dartmouth does
not have a school of credit and financial
management." In turns out the school is a
four-week program spread over two years, which rented
space from Dartmouth. It's not only Sterling's CRA data is an
unreliable. While at
OneWest, as reported by Inner City Press in
2015, Otting was best know for trying to get his
own employees, fundees and investors to submit
comments to the OCC to support OneWest's
purchase by CIT. Click here.
Otting wrote: From: Otting, Joseph M [at]
owb.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2015 5:00 PM
Cc: Haas, Alesia Jeanne; Tran, Cindy; Kim, Glenn
Subject: Support For OneWest Bank
Dear Friends,
We were excited to announce on July 21, 2014,
that IMB HoldCo LLC, the parent company of
OneWest Bank entered into a merger agreement
with CIT Group Inc. As part of the applications
for regulatory approval of the transaction, our
regulators are interested in the perspectives of
the public. We are writing you to seek your
support of the Bank and pending merger. This
merger, if approved, would create the largest
bank headquartered in Southern California with a
full suite of banking products and services,
which will allow us to better serve our
customers. We would retain and grow jobs and are
committed to continuing and expanding our
efforts to serve the economic and development
needs of our community. I would like to ask you
to take a moment to click on the link below and
submit a letter of support adding any of your
own words or thoughts.
Please submit your letter by clicking here, or
by visiting our website at
www.OneWestBank.com/merger-support (if the link
isn't clickable or part of the link is cut off,
please copy and paste the entire URL into your
browser's address bar and press Enter)
Thank you for your support. Best wishes
for a successful 2015 and please call on me if I
can ever be of assistance.
Joseph M. Otting
President and CEO
OneWest Bank N.A.
888 East Walnut Street
Pasadena, CA 91101
November
13, 2017
And
now a new
outrage at the
OCC: "An
overall less
than
satisfactory
CRA rating is
not a bar to
approval of an
application.
Rather, the
facts and
circumstances
of the
application
must be
evaluated as
discussed in
this PPM."
With grade
inflation,
very very few
banks get less
than
satisfactory
ratings. And
now at the
OCC, even that
hardly
matters.
https://occ.gov/publications/publications-by-type/other-publications-reports/ppms/ppm-6300-2.pdf
We'll have
more on
this.
November
6, 2017
BancorpSouth,
after settling
redlining
charges, has
escaped
Federal
Reserve
regulation,
announcing on
Oct 31 it has
approvals from
the "Federal
Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
and the
Mississippi
Department of
Banking and
Consumer
Finance... to
improve
efficiency
through the
elimination of
redundant
corporate
infrastructure
and
duplicative
regulatory
oversight."
Meanwhile in
Montana,
Glacier
Bancorp
proposes
acquiring
First Security
Bank - a
combination
which would
control 35% of
the local
Bozeman
banking
market...
October
30, 2017
Shameful:
Mid America
Bank and Trust
Company has a
Needs to
Improve CRA
rating but was
allowed to pay
$5 million and
get acquired
by Reliable
Community
Bancshares.
Impunity.
October
23, 2017
Wells
Fargo Was Dropped 2
Levels by OCC,
Which Now Says
Only 1 Level
Is Its
Policy,
Sop
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK, October 21 – Seven months after Wells Fargo Bank's Community Reinvestment Act rating was dropped two levels to "Needs to Improve," barring it from acquisitions, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has quietly said, in a footnote to a Bulletin issued on October 12, that "The OCC’s policy is not to lower a bank’s CRA composite or component rating by more than one rating level." See here, footnote 8. So when did this become the OCC's policy, after it dropped Wells by two levels? Call it a stealth sop to Wells Fargo - and seemingly a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. We'll have more on this. In July it emerged that over 800,000 people who took car loans from Wells were charged for needless auto insurance, pushing 274,000 Wells Fargo customers into delinquency and triggering nearly 25,000 wrongful vehicle repossessions. So much for the industry having cleaned itself up after the predatory lending meltdown.October
16, 2017
Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch filed:
"This is a
timely first
comment
opposing and
requesting an
extension of
the FRB's
public comment
period on the
Applications
by Associated
Banc-Corp to
merge with
Bank Mutual
Corporation,
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and
acquire Bank
Mutual. The
Fed has
received many
substantive
comments on
this
application
and should
hold public
hearings,
including on
the
prospective
impacts of the
36 branches
that
Associated
would close or
consolidate.
See,
http://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2017/09/01/branch-network-pared-36-locations-associated-bank-takes-over-bank-mutual/624805001/
Fair
Finance Watch
has reviewed
applicant
Associated's
home purchase
lending in the
just-out 2016
HMDA data in
the Milwaukee
MSA and finds
serious
disparities
militating for
evidentiary
hearings and
the denial of
this
application.
For
conventional
home purchase
loans,
Associated
denied the
applications
of African
Americans 4.16
times more
frequently
than those of
whites; it
made 807 such
loans to
whites and
only 41 to
African
Americans.
Even
cumulating
Table 4-1
loans with
Table 4-2,
Associated's
denial rate
disparity in
2016 was 3.71;
it made 861
loans to
whites and
only 48 to
African
Americans.
This is
outrageous. On
the current
record, these
applications
should not be
approved."
October
9, 2017
In Puerto Rico, Disparate Bank Lending, Predatory Investors, UN's Maria Photo Ops
By Matthew Russell Lee
PUERTO RICO, October 3 – The UN system's International Monetary Fund has yet to announce any debt moratorium for countries impacted by the recent hurricanes, and despite photo op trips by those who could speak to and of the IMF, nothing is changing. Most holders of Puerto Rico's debt are doing nothing to help. Even in 2016 before Hurricane Maria, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data just released, Banco Santander Puerto Rico made 88 conventional home purchase loans in upper income tracts in the San Juan MSA, 50 in middle income tracts, seven in moderate income tracts and NONE in low-income census tracts. Citibank made a single large loans in San Juan, for a multi-family apartment building. The UNironically named Whitebox Advisors, which has sued on Puerto Rico debt, has "a policy of not discussing Puerto Rico." We don't. Watch this site. Back on September 18 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric gave the press a mere three minutes to sign up to attend the UN's meeting about Irma, see below. As the meeting began, Inner City Press asked not Dujarric but the spokesman for the President of the General Assembly for the PGA's view of the IMF's position on (no) debt moratorium. From the PGA Office's summary: "Asked for the President’s reaction to comments by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official, in which the official allegedly said that the IMF would not be open to instituting a debt moratorium for hurricane-hit Antigua and Barbuda, the Spokesperson replied that the President would not want to second-guess the comments of an IMF official in an area of the IMF’s expertise. The Spokesperson reiterated that the President was committed to the recovery of Antigua and Barbuda, which is why he had convened the high-level meeting on Hurricane Irma and invited the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to speak there." In the meeting, Achim Steiner of UNDP told even Caribbean nations they could not speak, so that Robert De Niro could. You talkin' to me? When the IMF re-started its biweekly embargoed press briefings on September 14, Inner City Press submitted a question about Hurricane Irma and moratoria: "On Antigua and Barbuda, and Hurricane Irma impacted countries more generally... will there be no moratoria? What is the IMF doing?" IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice said, "There's a question from Matthew Lee on moratorium... on that, I would refer to what Mme Lagarde said a few days ago, of course the IMF has tremendous sympathy. She also said we stand ready to help. There are a number of options we can look at in that context. At the moment we are still trying to make an assessment. As a factual member, none of our members including Antigua and Barbuda have formally requested assistance from the Fund." Oh. On September 15, when Inner City Press at the UN asked Patti Smith about it, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric cut off the question saying he would answer it at his forthcoming briefing. He did not.October
2, 2017
While there
are many toxic
proposed bank
mergers across
the USA, the
proposed
in-market
Wisconsin
combination of
Associated and
Bank Mutual
which would
close branches
is our focus
this week -
more than 300
comments
filed, with
the Federal
Reserve
comment period
open until
October 11 --
fire away!
September
25, 2017
South
State
Corporation,
to the Federal
Reserve, is
making excuses
for its record
in the Atlanta
MSA, and
trying to
withhold
obviously
public
information.
We'll have
more on this.
September
18, 2017
Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch has
filed a second
comment
against SoFi
getting into
banking: "On behalf of Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch, this is a second comment
on the application by fintech company SoFi to open an
FDIC-insured industrial bank in Utah, to limited its
CRA assessment area to (part of) Utah while project
business nationwide, and to claim that a secure credit
card with interest rate north of 20% is a CRA program.
We request public hearings and denial of the
application, including now on the basis of the ouster
of the CEO and the abuses that have come to light,
including but not only financial abuses. See, for the
record, https://mobile.nytimes.com/
“Yet Mr. Cagney’s position had become increasingly delicate after the filing of the sexual harassment suit, which accused him of “empowering other managers to engage in sexual conduct in the workplace.”
His situation was also exacerbated by claims about his approach to SoFi’s business, which uses money from Wall Street investors to fund student loans, personal loans and mortgages. At several points, Mr. Cagney ignored warnings from colleagues that he was being too aggressive with the business, according to more than a dozen employees who were involved in the conversations.
That included a time when Mr. Cagney decided to put customer service representatives in charge of lending determinations, despite them having no experience in the area. Another time, he told investors that SoFi had $90 million in debt financing for a loan product; the company did not in fact have the money, according to the internal emails reviewed by The Times.
SoFi’s board, which includes representatives of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and the influential hedge fund Third Point Capital, now faces questions about whether it needed more checks and balances on Mr. Cagney.
Companies like SoFi show how boards are incentivized to prioritize cash flow and growth over governance, said David F. Larcker, a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business who specializes in corporate governance. “The board now has a duty to correct for things that have gone wrong,” he said.”
This application should not - cannot - be approved.
As you know, the drive by fintech companies to get into banking is a matter of controversy, with the OCC have proposed a new type of charter. This end run would set a bad precedent, of gerrymandered CRA and even predatory lending as CRA."
September 11,
2017
On
Synovus -
Cabela, Fed Rubber
Stamps
Despite
"Confidential
Matter," Cap
One Scam
By
Matthew R. Lee, Full Doc on Patreon Here
September
4, 2017
Federal
Reserve Asks
South State 5
Park Sterling
Qs, Here,
After ICP/Fair
Finance Watch
Protest
By Matthew R.
Lee, on Patreon,
here
SOUTH
BRONX USA,
September 1 --
Three weeks
ago Fair
Finance Watch
challenged to
the Federal
Reserve the
application by
South State to
acquire Park
Sterling,
under the US
Community
Reinvestment
Act. Today
September 1
the Federal
Reserve asked
South State,
or its lawyers
at Wachtell,
Lipton, Rosen
& Katz,
five questions
and told them
to send their
answers to
Fair Finance
Watch (Inner
City Press
will request,
under FOIA and
otherwise,
withheld
relevant
portions).
Here and
attached are
the Federal
Reserve's
question,
followed by
FFW's August
10 challenge:
September
1, 2017
Jeffrey A.
Watiker, Esq.
Wachtell,
Lipton, Rosen
& Katz 51
West 52nd
Street New
York, New York
10019-6150
Dear Mr.
Watiker: This
correspondence
is in
connection
with the
application by
South State
Corporation
(“SSC”),
Columbia,
South
Carolina,
requesting the
prior approval
of the Board
of Governors
of the Federal
Reserve System
(“Board”) to
acquire Park
Sterling
Corporation
(“PSC”) and
thereby
indirectly
acquire Park
Sterling Bank,
both of
Charlotte,
North
Carolina,
pursuant to
section 3 of
the Bank
Holding
Company Act,
as amended. In
connection
with that
application,
Federal
Reserve staff
requests the
following
additional
information.
Supporting
documentation,
as
appropriate,
should be
provided.
1. Describe in
greater detail
any expected
benefits to
the
communities
currently
served by SSC
and PSC as a
result of the
proposed
transaction,
including any
specific new
products and
services that
would be made
available to
customers of
SSC and/or
PSC. Please
also describe
any plans to
retain
products or
services
offered by PSC
after
consummation.
2.
Provide a
description of
any due
diligence
conducted by
SSC regarding
convenience
and needs and
CRA with
respect to the
communities
currently
served by Park
Sterling Bank,
such as: a.
SSC’s
ascertainment
of any
identified
needs relating
to credit
and/or deposit
products or
services; b.
SSC’s plans to
offer products
or services
that address
the financial
service or
credit needs
of the
communities
currently
served by Park
Sterling Bank.
c. SSC’s plans
to conduct
marketing or
outreach in
the
communities
presently
served by Park
Sterling Bank
upon
consummation
of the
proposal.
3. In its
August 22,
2017 letter
(“August
Letter”) to
the Federal
Reserve Bank
of Richmond,
SSC
represented
that its
presence in
the Atlanta
MSA was the
result of the
acquisition of
failed
financial
institutions
in 2011 and
that SSC “has
continued to
rebuild the
reputation of
the branches
in the area,
establish the
South State
brand, and
expand
outreach.”
Please provide
a more
detailed
discussion of
any specific
steps SSC has
taken to
increase its
activity in
the market and
any plans for
increasing its
activity as it
becomes more
established in
the market.
Please include
any efforts
and/or plans
related to
marketing and
outreach to
minority and
low- or
moderate-income
individuals
and census
tracts in the
Atlanta MSA.
4. In the
August Letter,
SSC also
described
various
affordable
home mortgage
programs it
offers or in
which it
participates.
For each of
those
programs,
please provide
the number of
loans
originated or
individuals
that were
provided
assistance for
2015 and 2016.
5. Discuss any
pending or
recently
resolved
litigation by
private
parties or
regulators and
investigations
by regulators,
including, but
not limited
to, those
pertaining to
consumer
protection
laws and
regulations
against SSC or
PSC.
Please address
your responses
within eight
business days
to Kathy Eike
at the Federal
Reserve Bank
of Richmond.
In addition,
in accordance
with the
Federal
Reserve’s ex
parte
procedures,
provide a copy
of the public
portion of
your response
(together with
any
attachments)
directly to
the commenter,
Matthew Lee of
Fair Finance
Watch. Any
information
for which you
desire
confidential
treatment
should be so
labeled and
separately
bound in
accordance
with the
Board’s rules
regarding
confidential
treatment of
information at
12 CFR
261.15.
August 28,
2017
Watchdogging
Fair Lending
Evasion, FFW
Challenges
Redliner
BancorpSouth
at FDIC
By Matthew Russell Lee
South Bronx, New York, August 26 – The lack of seriousness in US bank regulation, the mechanical repeating of whatever a challanged bank says, is exemplified by the application by BancorpSouth, which Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch challenged on disparities and which settled racial redlining charges, to drop its Federal Reserve charter and evade regulation. Now ICP/FFW has timely protested that application to the FDIC: "Dear Regional Director Elmquist, Ass't Regional Director Finnegan and others at the FDIC: "This is a first timely comment opposing, requesting hearings and an extension of the comment period on BancorpSouth's cynical application to evade regulation after its redlining and settlement. Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch protested the applications of BancorpSouth to merge with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation and thereby indirectly acquire Ouachita Independent Bank, and with Central Community Corporation, and thereby indirectly acquire First State Bank Central Texas, Austin, Texas. - based on racial discrimination in lending... Now BancorpSouth makes this application, and its CEO Dan Rollins states that it wants to “alleviate... regulatory oversight,” and become the “only state-chartered bank not a part of the Federal Reserve system.” We oppose this cynical evasion, particularly by one of the few banks having settled redlining charges. Let's compare: reviewing the 2015 HMDA data released by the FFIEC, ICP examined BancorpSouth's conventional home purchase lending in the Jackson, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, Louisiana and finds them troubling. In 2015 in the Jackson MS MSA for conventional home purchase loans, BancorpSouth made 346 loans to whites, only 53 to African Americans. BancorpSouth's denial rate for whites was 7% while for African Americans it was 19% -- 2.71 times higher. This was troubling. In 2015 in the Baton Rouge LA MSA for conventional home purchase loans, BancorpSouth made 47 such loans to whites and NONE to African Americans, even less than the three it made in 2012. BancorpSouth has grown more disparate. ICP is requesting evidentiary hearings and that this proposed acquisition, on the current record, not be approved. There is no public benefit."
August
21, 2017
Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch
has filed
this: This
is a timely
first comment
opposing and
requesting an
extension of
the FRS's
public comment
period on the
Application by
South State
Corporation to
acquire Park
Sterling
Corporation,
and thereby
indirectly
acquire Park
Sterling Bank.
Fair Finance
Watch has
reviewed
applicant
South State's
home purchase
lending in
three MSAs in
three states -
its
heardquarters
in Colombia
SC, the
targets
Charlotte NC,
and Atlanta GA
- and finds
serious
disparities
militating for
evidentiary
hearings and
the denial of
this
application.
And,
significantly,
the specifics
of which
branches would
be closed have
not been
publicized.
In the
Atlanta,
Georgia MSA in
2015 for home
purchase
loans, South
State denied
the
applications
of African
Americans and
Latinos 4.23
times more
frequently
than the
applications
of whites. Its
lending did
not reflect
the market or
other lenders:
54 home
purchase loans
to whites,
only two to
Latinos, and
only ONE to an
African
American
applicant.
This is
disparate.
In the
Colombia SC
MSA in 2015
for home
purchase
loans, South
State denied
the
applications
of African
Americans 2.79
times more
frequently
than the
applications
of whites, and
denied the
applications
of Latinos'
3.75 times
more
frequently
than whites.
Its lending
did not
reflect the
market or
other lenders:
179 home
purchase loans
to whites,
only ten to
African
Americans and
only one to a
Latino
applicant.
This is
disparate.
In the
Charlotte NC
MSA for home
purchase loans
in 2015, South
State denied
the
applications
of African
Americans 2.22
times more
frequently
than the
applications
of whites, and
denied the
applications
of Latinos'
6.58 times
more
frequently
than whites.
Its lending
did not
reflect the
market or
other lenders:
382 home
purchase loans
to whites,
only thirteen
to African
Americans and
only four to
Latino
applicants.
This is
disparate, and
a pattern
militating for
evidentiary
hearings and
the denial of
this
application.
Meanwhile, see
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/20170728/park-sterling-bank-head-says-merger-will-bring-little-fallout-for-gaston-employees:
“employees in
any branch
that closes or
is affected
might have to
relocate to
keep their
job, to
places, for
example, such
as Charleston,
South
Carolina...
Since last
year, Park
Sterling had
been carrying
out a local
expansion that
involved
consolidating
back-office
operations and
bringing jobs
from South
Carolina to
Gastonia.
Cherry said
their branches
on Main Avenue
and South New
Hope Road have
seen the
effects of
that, and one
of the
decisions
essentially
made prior to
the announced
merger was to
close the Main
Avenue branch.
'It has
limited hours
and is really
just handling
commercial
customers,'
said Cherry.
'That was
likely going
to be closed
as a result of
our moves
beforehand.'”
South State
should be
asked for
information
and criteria
about the
closings and
the comment
period must be
extended to
allow entry of
this
information
into the
record and to
allow comment
thereon.
On the current
record,
hearings
should be held
and the
application(s)
should not be
approved. The
comment period
must be
extended.
August
14, 2017
People should
comment on the
CFPB
collecting and
releasing
small business
lending data:
https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=CFPB-2017-0011-0017
August
7, 2017
Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch
last week
filed this:
"This is a
timely first
comment
opposing and
requesting an
extension of
the FRS's
public comment
period on the
Application by
Sandy Springs
Sandy Spring
Bancorp to
acquire
WashingtonFirst
Bankshares,
WashingtonFirst
Bank and lst
Portfolio,
Inc., Fairfax,
Virginia.
These
transaction
raises
troubling
Community
Reinvestment
Act issues.
Sandy Spring
has a
disparate
lending
record, as
does
WashingtonFirst.
And,
significantly,
the specifics
of which
branches would
be closed have
not been made
public, see
below. The
comment period
must be
extended.
In the
Baltimore MSA
in 2015 for
home purchase
loans, Sandy
Spring denied
the
applications
of African
Americans
TWENTY TWO
times more
frequently
than the
applications
of whites. For
refinance
loans in the
Washington
MSA, Sandy
Spring denied
the
applications
of African
Americans 8.8
times more
frequently
than the
applications
of whites. In
the Washington
DC MSA in 2015
for home
purchase
loans, Sandy
Spring denied
the
applications
of African
Americans 2.8
times more
frequently
than the
applications
of whites.
In the
Washington DC
MSA for home
purchase loans
in 2015,
WashingtonFirst
made 13 loans
to whites and
NONE to
African
Americans or
Latinos (there
were similar
zeroes for
people of
people for
home
improvement
loans).
Meanwhile, see
http://wtop.com/business-finance/2017/05/sandy-spring-buying-washingtonfirst-becoming-largest-locally-based-community-bank/:
“Sandy Spring
said there
will be branch
closings as
part of the
merger, though
it says it is
too soon to
determine
where overlap
will require
closings.”
That is not
acceptable:
Sandy Springs
should be
asked for
information
and criteria
about the
closings and
the comment
period must be
extended to
allow entry of
this
information
into the
record and to
allow comment
thereon."
July
31, 2017
Amid
Fed & OCC
Sterling CRA
Scam, Otting
& Quarles
In Senate July
27, ICP &
CRC FOIA
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
July
24, 2017
While
Fed & OCC
Paper Over
Sterling's CRA
Scam, Otting
& Quarles
In Senate July
27
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
July
17, 2017
While
Federal
Reserve Papers
Over
Sterling's CRA
Scam, Quarles
Nominated as
to Board
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
July
10, 2017
Regulators
Said
Sterling's CRA
Data
Unreliable,
Under FOIA Fed
Blacks-Out
Most of 400
Pages
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
NEW
YORK, July 8 – Sterling Bank, which is applying
for approvals to acquire Astoria Bank, is known
by its regulators to have filed unreliable
Community Reinvestment Act data from at least
2014 through 2016, a document
obtained by Inner City Press shows. The story,
and outrage, was picked
up by the American Banker newspaper here,
by Paul Davis and Allison Prang, crediting Inner
City Press - and Sterling Bank had no comment.
Inner City Press immediately on May 13 submitted
a Freedom of Information Act request to the
Federal Reserve. The Fed repeatedly extended its
time to respond then finally on July 7 provided
more than 400 pages - almost entirely redacted.
All references to the unreliable CRA data (and
needs to improve rating) have been redacted.
Sample here;
the rest on Patreon, here.
Inner City Press immediately submitted a FOIA
appeal: "Amazingly, despite taking seven weeks
to respond to ICP's immediate FOIA request, all
information about this consumer compliance / CRA
issue has been redacted from the records
produced. CRA and CRA data are presumptively of
public interest and public impact. The redacted
response implies that the public could be
entirely excluded from the FRS' review of this
important CRA issues. It is unacceptable and
inconsistent with the purpose, spirit and letter
of FOIA. ICP is hereby appealing each and every
redaction in the records belated provided to ICP
on July 7. This should be ruled on before the
comment period closed; the comment period should
be extended." Watch this site.
July
3, 2017
Regulators
Said
Sterling's CRA
Data
Unreliable,
Now Admits
Needs to
Improve 2017,
Denial?
By Matthew R.
Lee, New
Platform
NEW YORK, July 1 – Sterling Bank, which is applying for approvals to acquire Astoria Bank, is known by its regulators to have filed unreliable Community Reinvestment Act data from at least 2014 through 2016, a documentobtained by Inner City Press shows. The story, and outrage, has been picked up by the American Banker newspaper here, by Paul Davis and Allison Prang, crediting Inner City Press - and Sterling Bank had no comment. Instead, Sterling's outside counsel Wachtel Lipton chose to snail-mail its response to the wrong address, and not e-mail it to Fair Finance Watch. Via here, with envelope re-submitted to Fed and OCC. Now another snail-mailed response from Sterling's Wachtel, which we've put online here on Patreon: "Please see Exhibit 1 and Confidential Exhibit C" -- Inner City Press has now requested it under FOIA, but the agencies have already repeatedly extended their time. This is a scam. But crucially, even Wachtel says "Sterling did receive a Needs to Improve rating for the State of New York in Sterling Bank's most recent CRA Performance Evaluation dated January 18, 2017." We'll have more on this - the application must be denied. The OCC has now put up a roadblock to releasing the records Inner City Press has requested under the Freedom of Information Act, writing: "The purpose of this letter is to seek additional information pertaining to your recent request for information from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Your request dated May 13, 2017 was received in my office on May 15, 2017. You requested any and all records related to Sterling Bank's application(s) to acquire Astoria and Sterling Bank's CRA data. Upon further review, we determined that we need clarification on the date range for search of Sterling Bank’s CRA data. If I have not received this information by COB June 19th I will assume that you no longer seek this information and consider your request closed." Inner City Press has responded: " In response to Inner City Press' now month-old FOIA request concerning the CRA data the OCC knew and knows to be unreliable, you have asked that by June 19 ICP specify the date range for the request. While not understanding the OCC's delay in requesting this, we hereby timely specify that the date range is from three years ago to the date of your response. Please confirm receipt of this (including explaining your letter since you wrote “we need clarification on the date range for search”) and please provide the records as we intend to comment on them, for obvious reasons. Thank you." Meanwhile, Sterling's lawyers at Wachtell Lipton chose to snail mail their response to Fair Finance Watch, putting it in the mail three days after it was dated (now online via Patreon here.) How did it take the OCC a full MONTH to come up with its request? Why was the response snail mailed? This while the Federal Reserve has granted Inner City Press' request for expedited treatment of its FOIA request for all records, promising the responsive documents by June 1. But then the Fed, in a June 1 letter, unilaterally extended its time to June 22. First Fed letter on Scribd, here.
June
26, 2017
Some
mergers we're
looking at,
and
aftermath(s):
Carolina
Financial
Corporation
announced a
proposal to
acquire First
South Bancorp
and First
South Bank;
June 12:
Texas:
Southside
Bancshares
announced a
proposal to
acquire Diboll
State
Bancshares,
Inc., the
holding
company for
Diboll,
Texas-based
First Bank
& Trust
East Texas;
June 7: New
Jersey: BCB
Bancorp
announced a
proposal to
acquire IAB
and its wholly
owned
subsidiary,
Indus-American
Bank;
June 6,
Montana into
Colorado:
Glacier
Bancorp
announced a
proposal to
acquire
Columbine
Capital Corp.
and
Collegiate
Peaks Bank, a
community bank
based in Buena
Vista,
Colorado;
June 5,
Pennsylvania:
: Penn
Community Bank
announced a
proposal to
acquire
Chelten Hills
Savings Bank,
of Abington.
May 31, Utah:
People's Utah
Bancorp
announced a
proposal to
acquire Town
& Country
Bank, based in
St. George
Utah...
"Chase reduced
its branch
presence by
190 locations,
a 3.4 percent
decline, from
2012 to 2016.
Wells Fargo
closed 98
branches, a
1.6 percent
decline in the
same period.
Its peers are
even more
aggressive.
Bank of
America closed
243 branches
(16 percent)
in that period
and Citi
closed 302
(28.5
percent)."
June
19, 2017
As SoFi
Applies For
Bank, FFW
Opposes
Evasion,
Interest Rate
North of 20%,
FinTech
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
June
12, 2017
While
OCC Papers
Over
Sterling's CRA
Scam, Otting
Nominated as
Head, Resume
Fraud
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
June
5, 2017
Wells
Fargo Gets Cut Off
from New NYC
Business After
CRA Downgrade,
Sterling Next?
By Matthew R. Lee
WASHINGTON,
May 31– Two months after Wells Fargo Bank's
Community Reinvestment Act rating was dropped to
"Needs to Improve," barring it from
acquisitions, New York City announced it will
not enter any new relationships with the bank,
also suspending Wells Fargo's role as a senior
book-running manager for NYC General Obligation
and Transactional Finance Authority bond sales.
A statement by Mayor Bill de Blasio and
Controller Scott Stringer noted that "Currently,
Wells Fargo holds contracts with the City to
provide banking services, including to operate
'Lock Box' services that hold taxes and fees
collected by the City. There is approximately
$227 million of City dollars held in Wells Fargo
accounts." Bu will they get involved in opposing
Sterling National Bank, which Inner City Press
and Fair Finance Watch have exposed as having
"unreliable" CRA data, notwithstanding the OCC's
scam "Satisfactory" rating on May 30? Click here.
We'll have more on this. Back in late March, the
bank settled for $110 million a class action
lawsuit for having opened fake accounts without
customers' knowledge or approval. But will Wells
Fargo, which Inner City Press has
covered through its acquisition of First
Union and even before, from Washington
to Alaska,
still be allowed to go forward with its reported
plan to close 400 bank branches, including in
low and moderate income areas? The question
reverberated, with others, on Capitol Hill on
March 29 - and we'll have more on it.
May
29, 2017
After
Fair Finance
Watch
Protested
Synovus -
Cabela,
Federal
Reserve Asks
Synovus 7
Questions
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW
YORK, May 22
– The
Federal
Reserve has
asked
Synovus more
than a half
dozen
questions on
May 22, on its
(straw-man)
application to
acquire
Cabela's
World's
Foremost Bank,
the questions
annexed on May
22
here. Two
months after
Inner City
Press
reported
Capital One
failing in
its
proposal to
acquire
this
"World's
Foremost
Bank," a
way to
try to avoid
the
regulators
and Capital
One's
Community
Reinvestment
Act
record
emerged. The
scam involves
Synovus buying
the bank then
passing one
the credit
card
receivables to
Capital One,
while keeping
the deposits,
so
Capital One
wouldn't
be
reviewed under
CRA. The Fair
Finance Watch
has now
opposed this,
in a filing to
the Federal
Reserve. NCRC
has commented
as well. We'll
have more on
this.
May
22, 2017
Regulators
Said
Sterling's CRA Data
Unreliable, Sterling
Mis-Sends
Response, Fed
Expedites ICPs
FOIA
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
NEW YORK, May 20 – Sterling Bank, which is applying for approvals to acquire Astoria Bank, is known by its regulators to have filed unreliable Community Reinvestment Act data from at least 2014 through 2016, a document obtained by Inner City Press shows. The story, and outrage, has been picked up by the American Banker newspaper here, by Paul Davis and Allison Prang, crediting Inner City Press - and Sterling Bank had no comment. Instead, Sterling's outside counsel Wachtel Lipton chose to snail-mail its response to the wrong address, and not e-mail it to Fair Finance Watch. Via here, with envelope re-submitted to Fed and OCC. This while the Federal Reserve has granted Inner City Press' request for expedited treatment of its FOIA request for all records, promising the responsive documents by June 1. Fed letter on Scribd, here.
Regulators Said Sterling's CRA Data Unreliable, Sterling Mis-Sends Response, Fed Expedites ICPs FOIA, Here by Matthew Russell Lee on Scribd
Fair Finance Watch has asked both the Fed and OCC to extend their comment periods past this date. Watch this site. Sterling has issued a press release ("covered" without any analysis by Reuters) that "the Federal Reserve inadvertently made public confidential supervisory information.. Because of the legal constraints relating to disclosure of confidential supervisory information, we are working closely with our regulators to craft a more detailed public response." Sterling is working WITH the regulators - the judges in this case - to spin its inaccurate data? After on its last acquisition, challenged by ICP, having to make a CRA compliance plan? Inner City Press has submitted Freedom of Information Act requests (a response here) and Fair Finance Watch has filed additional comments to the Federal Reserve and OCC, demanding public hearings into the unreliable data AND into how the regulators were dealing with (or covering up) the issue, in stealth. We'll have more on this: the US Federal Reserve denied Fair Finance Watch's request to extend the comment period on Sterling's application, in which even the Fed suspects there is incorrect CRA data.On
May 11, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
along with questions about about branch closures
and a CRA plan required after Fair Finance
Watch's previous challenge to Sterling asked:
"In a letter dated December 23, 2016, from the
OCC to Sterling Bank regarding the OCC's data
integrity review, the OCC stated that Sterling
Bank's 2014-2016 CRA data is not reliable and
that Sterling Bank lacks an effective process
for collecting, verifying and reporting such
data. To the extent that any of the CRA data in
the notice is incorrect, submit the corrected
data. In addition, describe Sterling Bank's
efforts to address its CRA data compliance
management deficiencies."
May
15, 2017
Regulators
Said Sterling
Bank's CRA Data
Unreliable, ICP
Exposed It, FFW
Demands
Hearing
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
NEW
YORK, May 12 – Sterling Bank, which is applying
for approvals to acquire Astoria Bank, is known
by its regulators to have filed unreliable
Community Reinvestment Act data from at least
2014 through 2016, a document
obtained by Inner City Press shows. The story,
and outrage, has been picked
up by the American Banker newspaper here,
by Paul Davis and Allison Prang, crediting Inner
City Press - and Sterling Bank has "no comment."
But Fair Finance Watch has filed additional
comments to the Federal Reserve and OCC,
demanding public hearings into the unreliable
data AND into how the regulators were dealing
with (or covering up) the issue, in stealth.
We'll have more on this: the US Federal Reserve
denied Fair Finance Watch's request to extend
the comment period on Sterling's application, in
which even the Fed suspects there is incorrect
CRA data.
On
May 11, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
along with questions about about branch closures
and a CRA plan required after Fair Finance
Watch's previous challenge to Sterling asked:
"In a letter dated December 23, 2016, from the
OCC to Sterling Bank regarding the OCC's data
integrity review, the OCC stated that Sterling
Bank's 2014-2016 CRA data is not reliable and
that Sterling Bank lacks an effective process
for collecting, verifying and reporting such
data. To the extent that any of the CRA data in
the notice is incorrect, submit the corrected
data. In addition, describe Sterling Bank's
efforts to address its CRA data compliance
management deficiencies."
May 8,
2017
After
Capital
One Failed on
Cabela, Synovus Applies &
FFW Protests
to Federal
Reserve, Here
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK, May 6 – Two months after Inner City Press reported Capital One failing in its proposal to acquire Cabela's "World's Foremost Bank," a way to try to avoid the regulators and Capital One's Community Reinvestment Act record emerged. The scam involves Synovus buying the bank then passing one the credit card receivables to Capital One, while keeping the deposits, so Capital One wouldn't be reviewed under CRA. The Fair Finance Watch has now opposed this, in a filing to the Federal Reserve: "On behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch (FFW), this is a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the FRS' public comment period on the Application by Synovus - and, we contend, CAPITAL ONE NA, to acquire the “WORLD'S FOREMOST BANK.”This comment is timely. For the record, there was initially filed with the OCC an application by Capital One to buy this “Foremost Bank.” When the compliance problems of that proposal became clear, this sham transaction was devised: for Synovus (also dubious) to make the initial acquistion, and then pass much of it on to Capital One, thereby evading review of Capital One, including but not limited to CRA review. This should not be countenanced. This applications is not even listed in the FRB's H2A, but only the H2, thusly: “* 18C Not applicable Synovus Bank, Columbus, Georgia, to acquire 05/19/2017 certain assets and to assume the deposits of World's Foremost Bank Sidney, Nebraska” It does not mention the role of Capital One. In the New York City MSA in 2015, the most recent year for which HMDA data is available, for conventional home purchase loans Capital One denied the applications of whites 23% of the time, while denying African Africans fully 45% of the time, and Latinos even more, 46% of the time. This is unacceptable.May 1,
2017
After
FFW Protests
Sterling's
Application To Buy
Damaged
Astoria, Fed
Confirms
Receipt
By
Matthew R. Lee, New
Platform
NEW
YORK, April 28 – After Astoria Bank's protested
proposal to be acquired by New York Community
Bank fell apart in late 2016, it found a new,
equally controversial suitor: Sterling Bancorp.
Now Fair Finance Watch has submitted a first
Community Reinvestment Act challenge to the
proposed merger, receipt of which the Federal
Reserve has now confirmed, here.
Inner City Press' summary of FFW's filing: "Dear
Chair Yellen, Secretary Misback and others in
the FRS: This is a timely first comment opposing
and requesting an extension of the FRB's public
comment period on the Application by Sterling
Bancorp, Montebello, New York (“Sterling”) to
merge with Astoria Financial Corporation, Lake
Success, New York, and indirectly acquire
Astoria Bank (“Astoria”).
This would be a combination of banks with
disparate and in places highly irregular Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”) data. The
proposal is the desperate result of the failure
of Astoria's attempted merger with NYCB. That is
no reason to approve this mis-conceived
combination. The applicant's Sterling National
Bank (“Sterling”) in the New York City MSA in
2015 for African Americans for home purchase
loans denied the applications of African
Americans 3.58 times more frequently than those
of whites - much worse than other lenders.
Sterling made only 22 such home purchase loans
to African Americans, versus 495 to whites (and
only 37 to Latinos) - again, much more disparate
than other lenders. This bank should not buy
Astoria. Remember: in the Nassau Suffolk MSA in
2013, Sterling made 149 home purchase loans to
whites – and only one to an African American.
For home improvement loans, Sterling made 30 to
whites, none to African Americans. Taken
together, this is unacceptable. The comment
period should be extended to clarify – or refile
– the HMDA data; evidentiary hearings should be
held; and on the current record, the application
should not be approved.
For the record, the CRA plan required after Fair
Finance Watch's previous protest, we contend has
not been complied with, and request evidentiary
and public hearings on that basis.
Also for
the record: 'The NYCB-Astoria
Financial Merger is Kaput: Consumer advocates
were among the groups that opposed NYCB’s
acquisition of Astoria…'"
April
24, 2017
The beginning of something? "The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced two enforcement actions against Deutsche Bank AG that will require the bank to pay a combined $156.6 million in civil money penalties."
April
17, 2017
Following the
protest by
Fair Finance
Watch, the
Federal
Reserve has
asked
TIAA-CREF a
fifth round of
questions:
"Provide an
update on
EverBank’s CRA
activities
since its last
publicly
available CRA
Performance
Evaluation.
Your response
should include
any
significant
CRA
initiatives
undertaken,
particularly
with respect
to credit and
deposit
products and
retail banking
services
targeted
toward
low-to-moderate
income
geographies
and
individuals.
In addition,
provide
information
regarding
community
development
lending,
investments,
and services
in EverBank’s
CRA assessment
area since the
last
evaluation
period,
including the
total number
and dollar
amount (except
for community
development
services) and
a brief
description of
the most
significant
community
development
loans,
investments,
and services."
We'll have
more on this.
April 10, 2017
We
devote this
week's
Community
Reinvestment
Reporter to
Jeff Williams,
valiant CRA
activist and
public
interest
lawyer in
Kansas City
who has died
of an apparent
heart attack.
Inner City
Press and Fair
Finance Watch
worked with
him on many
campaigns and
learned a lot.
Here's from a
recent filing:
"I represent
the Concerned
Clergy
Coalition,
(“CCC”), a
ministerial
alliance of
several dozen
inner city
churches in
Kansas City,
Missouri and
the Historic
East
Neighborhood
Coalition,
(“HENC”), a
group of
thirteen inner
urban core
neighborhood
associations
in the area
roughly
bounded by
Truman Road on
the North,
Brush Creek
Boulevard on
the South,
Troost Avenue
on the West,
and Interstate
435 on the
East in Kansas
City,
Missouri. For
a number of
years CCC has
worked on
issues
concerning
community
reinvestment
as part of its
efforts to
improve the
economic
condition of
the community
it serves.
This has
included
periodically
commenting on
applications
by banks to
regulatory
agencies for
permission to
consummate
changes in
their
organizations.
It has also
included
having an
ongoing
dialogue with
local banks
and regulators
on community
reinvestment
needs and
programming in
what is
commonly known
as Kansas
City,
Missouri’s
Eastside. HENC
has for the
past several
years worked
with various
agencies to
improve
housing,
public safety,
health, and
economic
conditions in
the various
neighborhoods
it serves. Its
activities
have recently
included
working on
community
reinvestment
issues in
their member
neighborhoods...
In the course
of reviewing
the CRA
activities of
local banks
our clients
were surprised
to find that
UMB Bank has
not had a CRA
Public
Evaluation
release
since..." To
be carried on.
RIP.
April
3, 2017
Wells
Fargo Paying
$110 Million
For Fake
Accounts, 400
Branch
Closures Still
On?
By Matthew R. Lee
WASHINGTON,
March 29 – The day after Wells Fargo Bank's
Community Reinvestment Act rate was dropped to
"Needs to Improve," barring it from
acquisitions, the bank settled for $110 million
a class action lawsuit for having opened fake
accounts without customers' knowledge or
approval. But will Wells Fargo, which Inner City
Press has
covered through its acquisition of First
Union and even before, from Washington
to Alaska,
still be allowed to go forward with its reported
plan to close 400 bank branches, including in
low and moderate income areas? The question
reverberated, with others, on Capitol Hill on
March 29 - and we'll have more on it.
March
27, 2017
So the CFPB
finally fined
Nationstar
Mortgage LLC
$1.75 million
for violating
the Home
Mortgage
Disclosure Act
(HMDA). And
the other
lenders
violating
HMDA?
March
20, 2017
Amid DC
Ideas
of Glass-Steagall,
Acquisitive
Simmons Is
Asked by Fed
of FFW's CRA Protest
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW
YORK, March 14 – Amid proposals in Washington
even for a re-instituted modified Glass Steagall
Act (Inner City Press is following the proposals
of Tom Hoenig, even reported overseas),
acquisitive bankers and their hangers-on around
the United States are getting sassy.
As an example of acquisitive sass,
Arkansas-based Simmons National's CEO George
Makris in a January conference call was
dismissive of the abuses raised by Fair Finance
Watch to the Federal Reserve in opposition to
his bank's application to acquire Hardeman
Investments. Simmons has announced yet another
proposed acquisition, of Southwest Bancorp in
Texas.
Well, now the Federal Reserve has asked Makris'
Simmons questions including this on the
Community Reinvestment Act issues Fair Finance
Watch has raised: "“This letter concerns the
application dated November 23, 2016, by Simmons
First National Corporation, Pine Bluff,
Arkansas, to merge with Hardeman County
Investment Company, Inc., and thereby indirectly
acquire its subsidiary, First South Bank, both
of Jackson, Tennessee, pursuant to section 3 of
the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as
amended. Upon review of the information in the
record, staff of the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (“Board”) requests the
following additional information. Supporting
documentation should be provided as appropriate.
1. Describe in depth the Community Reinvestment
Act (“CRA”) related initiatives of Simmons Bank,
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in both the Little Rock,
Arkansas, metropolitan statistical area (“MSA”),
and the Memphis, Tennessee-Mississippi-Arkansas,
MSA, since the bank’s 2013 CRA performance
evaluation, performed by the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency. Your response
should describe the specific CRA-related
initiatives that Simmons Bank has undertook in
these MSAs since its 2013 evaluation, as well as
its CRA-related plans in both MSAs after
consummation of the proposal. Please address
your responses within eight business days...”
This
follows a February letter, here,
from the Federal Reserve to Simmons, posing
questions about the issues FFW has raised, such
as these:
March
13, 2017
After
FFW Protest
Stopped NYCB
Bid, Astoria
Wants To Be
Bought By
Disparate
Sterling
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW
YORK, March 7 – After Astoria Bank's protested
proposal to be acquired by New York Community
Bank fell apart in late 2016, now it has found a
new, equally controversial suitor: Sterling
Bancorp. Fair Finance Watch showed in 2015 that
Sterling's lending record was so disparate that
the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
imposed a Community Reinvestment Act condition
on Sterling. Now Inner City Press' review of the
most recent Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data
from that in the New York City Metropolitan
Statistical Area Sterling denied the home
purchase loan applications of African Americans
more than 3.5 times more frequently that those
of whites, worse that the rest of the industry.
It denied Latinos 2.15 times more frequently
than whites, also worse than other lenders.
We'll have more on this.
In January, disparate lender Investor Bancorp,
on which Fair Finance Watch previously got a
condition imposed saw its proposal with Bank of
Princeton fall apart.
There's also Capital One - Cabela, on which
Inner City Press commented: "In the New York
City MSA in 2015, the most recent year for which
HMDA data is available, for conventional home
purchase loans Capital One denied the
applications of whites 23% of the time, while
denying African Africans fully 45% of the time,
and Latinos even more, 46% of the time. This is
unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Capital One is “closing
branches in Laurel, Gaithersburg, Frederick and
Merrifield.”
March 6, 2017
After
FFW Protest,
Fed Sends
Community Bank System 9
Questions, CEO
Tryniski
Trashes CRA
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW
YORK, March 2 – At what point does bank
executives' spin to investors and the media
become more than misleading? Take Community Bank
System (NYSE: CBU), which has now received nine
additional questions from the Federal
Reserve on its proposal to acquire Merchants,
after its CEO
derided issues Fair Finance Watch raised
about the proposal.
On its last proposal, CBSI bad-mouthed a
Community Reinvestment Act protest even as it
had to delay its Oneida deal. First, CBSI's "Hal
Wentworth said
that Inner City Press is not a local group and
pointed out that letter was the only one filed
on the Oneida deal. 'This activist does not do
business with either Oneida or Community Bank,
but nonetheless made vague allegations regarding
Community,' Wentworth said. 'These allegations
were entirely without merit and will be fully
addressed by Community Bank and Oneida Savings
in the application process.'" Then the deal was
significantly delayed, with CBSI pushing the
date back.
More spin: CFO Scott Kingsley told
the media that FFW's protest "is not the sole
reason. We have other things that have to
sequentially happen to get to the technological
conversion in July. When we did not have a
definitive answer from the Fed or other parties
last week, that put the technological conversion
at risk, so we opted not to go ahead.”
February
27, 2017
The Federal
Reserve,
confronted
even with
court
settlements by
banks, says it
was without
admission of
guilt. From
February 24:
"FNB’s
overdraft
practices were
found to be
unfair trade
practices
resulting in
unjust
enrichment as
part of a
class-action
litigation,
Ord v. First
National Bank
of
Pennsylvania,
No.
2:12-cv-00766-AJS
(W.D. Pa.
dismissed June
21,
2013). The
case was
settled
without any
admission of
wrongdoing by
the parties.
Final Judgment
& Order of
Dismissal with
Prejudice at
4–5, Ord (No.
2:12-cv-00766-AJS).
" We'll have
more on this.
February
20, 2017
While
stock
arbitrageurs
continue to
ask Fair
Finance Watch
and Inner City
Press to
confirm, this:
"Capital One
withdrew its
application to
acquire the
card business
late last
month,
according to
the U.S.
Office of the
Comptroller of
the Currency,
a government
bank regulator
that also is
in charge of
approving such
an acquisition
as the Capital
One-Cabela’s
tie-up."
February
13, 2017
Amid DC
Moves On CFPB,
Acquisitive
Simmons Is
Asked by Fed
of FFW's
Protest
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW
YORK, February 9 – Amid de-regulatory moves in
Washington, acquisitive bankers and their
hangers-on around the United States are getting
sassy.
From Washington -- K Street to be exact -- comes
this memo, which Fair Finance Watch is putting
online here.
And as an example of acquisitive sass,
Arkansas-based Simmons National's CEO George
Makris in a January conference call was
dismissive of the abuses raised by Fair Finance
Watch to the Federal Reserve in opposition to
his bank's application to acquire Hardeman
Investments. Simmons has announced yet another
proposed acquisition, of Southwest Bancorp in
Texas.
Well, here
now is a question-letter from the Federal
Reserve to Simmons, posing questions about the
issues FFW has raised, such as these:
February
6, 2017
The branch closing are coming fast and furious. Scandal plagued Wells Fargo is set to close 400 by 2018; the Huntington closures are looming, starting with 39. FFW protested the latter and will the former - watch this site.
January
30, 2017
After saying his bank's proposed merger will be delayed, Community Bank System President and CEO Mark Tryniski said Fair Finance Watch's is a "baseless protest." No, it's that the bank's record is still terrible - as it was when Fair Finace Watch got a condition imposed on it in connection with Oneida. Will this one go the way of Investors - Bank of Princeton?
January
23, 2017
Among other
comments, Fair
Finance Watch
has filed
this:
On behalf of Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch (ICP), this is a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the FRB's public comment period on the Application of Community Bank System to acquire Merchants Bancshares, Inc. and Merchants Bank. This first comment is timely:
Community Bank System proposes to acquire Merchants. But in the the Buffalo and Syracuse MSAs in 2015, the most recent year for which Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data is publicly available, Community Bank NA dramatically excluded people of color.
For conventional home purchase loans in the Buffalo MSA in 2015, Community Bank NA made 58 such loans to whites and NONE to African Americans. It denied the only application it received from an African American.
For refinance home purchase loans in the Buffalo MSA in 2015, Community Bank NA made 19 such loans to whites and NONE to African Americans or Latinos.
For home improvement loans in the Buffalo MSA in 2015, Community Bank NA made 100 such loans to whites and NONE to African Americans or Latinos.
This is outrageous.
In the Syracuse MSA in 2015, Community Bank NA made 155 conventional home purchase loans to whites and NONE to African Americans.
For refinance loans in the Syracuse MSA in 2015, Community Bank NA made 121 such loans to whites and NONE to African Americans. It denied the only application it received from an African American.
This is outrageous.
Also, “Vermont still has 6 other state-chartered banks, but they all serve small regions of the state.... The last state-chartered bank to merge with a federally-chartered bank was Chittenden Bank, which became part of the Connecticut-based People’s United Bank on Jan. 1, 2008.”
In this context, the comment period should be extended so that public evidentiary hearings can be held, and the application should be denied.
Nor should Community Bank Systems be permitted to acquire Northeast Retirement Services...
January 16, 2017Fair
Finance Watch
has timely
raised issues
on TD -
Scottrade.
Some of them:
"On behalf of Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch (ICP), this is a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Application by TD BANK, NA To Acquire SCOTTRADE BANK. This comment is timely.
As you should know, the overall deal faces challenges. See, e.g, “TD Ameritrade faces scrutiny over Scottrade purchase,” http://finance.yahoo.com/news/td-ameritrade-buy-scottrade-two-110347591.html, including that
“As part of those plans, Hockey said around 25 percent of the combined business's 600 branches will be closed. TD Ameritrade currently has 100 branches while Scottrade has 500. Hockey said in the interview the combined workforce of 10,000 will be reduced by about 20 percent.”
For purposes of this initial comment -- the link to the application in the OCC's FOIA Reading Room has not been working, and the comment period should be extended on that ground as well - we focused on Scottrade Bank's HMDA reporting, of purchased loads in Alabama, Arizona - and that's just in the A's.
Because the loans are purchased and sold, they do not contain the identifying information we are requesting. But how this nationwide purchase of mortgages, presumably from brokerage clients, complies with the Community Reinvestment Act is one of the issues we intend to address at the request hearing(s).
See,
e.g., from
Scottrade
bank's
Disclosure
Supplemental
Table 2 for
2015, in NYS:
NY/BRONX
COUNTY/0293.02
1 687"
etc
January
9, 2017
The
Federal
Reserve has
asked, after
comments,
about branches
closings and
consolidations:
"In
response to
Question 10 of
the Bank
Merger Act
application,
United
indicates that
it anticipates
consolidating
six UBVA
branches into
six Cardinal
Bank branches
and six
Cardinal Bank
branches into
six UBVA
branches, and
is considering
consolidating
two additional
branches.
Exhibit L to
Form 2070
indicates that
United plans
to consolidate
six UBVA
branches into
six Cardinal
Bank branches
and seven
Cardinal Bank
branches into
seven UBVA
branches, and
is considering
consolidating
two additional
branches.
Please provide
clarification
as to the
number and
location of
branches to be
consolidated
or closed
following the
merger."
We'll
have more on
this.
January
2, 2017
After Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch requested TIAA's withheld fair lending exhibits under FOIA, the Fed between Christmas and New Years emailed a document - with the entire fair plan redacted...
December
26, 2016
Bank Merger
Called Off After ICP Protested
NYCB - Astoria on Disparities
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
December 20 -- In January
of this year, Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch submitted a protest to
the Federal Reserve to New York
Community Bank's application to
acquire Astoria.
And
now on December 20 the companies have
called off the merger, after being
told they would not get any approval
before the end of the year. Inside
Mortgage Finance, for example, cites
Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch as the slayer of the deal.
It's about time.
On
July 20, the Fed asked NYCB this:
"Based on
staff’s review of the current record,
the following additional information
is requested. Supporting
documentation, as appropriate, should
be provided.
"In its
February 13, 2016, comment on the
proposal, Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch (“ICP”) alleges that New
York Community Bank’s and Astoria’s
branch patterns disproportionately
exclude Upper Manhattan and
particularly the Bronx, which ICP
states is the most predominately
minority and low-income community in
the state of New York. Please respond
to these allegations. Please provide a
copy of the public portion of your
response directly to Matthew Lee of
ICP. Any information for which you
desire confidential treatment should
be so labeled and separately bound in
accordance with section 261.15 of the
Board’s Rules Regarding Availability
of Information"
We'll
see. Inner City Press' protest set
forth that NYCB in the New York
City MSA in 2014 made 109 home
purchase loans to whites -- and only
THREE to African Americans. For
refinance loans, NYBC in the the NYC
MSA in 2014 made 27 loans to whites
and only ONE to an African American.
In the Cleveland, Ohio MSA
(where NYCB bought Ohio Savings - and
in the new this week), NYCB in 2014
made 17 refinance loans to whites in
2014 and only one to an African
American, while denying African
Americans, while denying African
Americans three times more frequently
than whites.
December
19, 2016
These are ones to watch:
Federal
Reserve:
Chair: Janet
L. Yellen,
Term Expires
February 3,
2018 (as
Chair),
January 31,
2024 (as Gov.)
Vice Chair:
Stanley
Fischer, Term
Expires June
12, 2018 (as
Vice Chair),
January 31,
2020 (as Gov.)
Governor:
Daniel K.
Tarullo, Term
Expires
January 31,
2022
Governor:
Jerome H.
Powell, Term
Expires
January 31,
2028
Governor: Lael
Brainard, Term
Expires
January 31,
2026
2 Governor
Seats
Currently
Vacant
OCC
Comptroller:
Thomas Curry,
Term Expires
April 2017
FDIC
Chairman:
Martin J.
Gruenberg,
Term (as
Chair) Expires
November 2017
Vice Chairman:
Thomas M.
Hoenig, Term
(as
Commissioner)
Expires April
2018
Director: Seat
Currently
Vacant
Outside
Directors:
Comptroller of
the Currency
December
12, 2016
The TIAA fight
goes on - now
they are
trying to
withhold fair
lending
information,
which on
December 10 we
challeged:
or the entirety of the December 9, 2016 submission in connection with the Application by TIAA et al to acquire EverBank. As provided under the FRB's ex parte rules, the submission refers to “confidential” portions the withholding of which we are challenging with this FOIA request on, for example, “consumer compliance and fair lending compliance, as well as the Resultant Institution’s Fair and Responsible Practices Program.”
December 5, 2016After ICP
Challenges TIAA-Everbank, Fed's 3d
Round of Qs, CRA Included
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
November 29 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
People's United Bank now trying to buy
Suffolk County National Bank while
barely lending to people of color in
New York.
Then there are
cross-industry proposals like TIAA's attempt to acquire Everbank
of Florida, which Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch on
October 29 challenged, and attempts from overseas to buy
Genworth.
The Federal Reserve has asked a
third round of questions of TIAA, which we publish here in full,
including one on CRA:
"In connection with the request for the Board’s prior approval pursuant to section 10(e)(1)(A)(iii) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act, as amended, 12 U.S.C. 1467a(e)(1)(A)(iii), and 12 CFR 238.11(e) by TIAA Board of Overseers, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (“TIAA”), and TCT Holdings, Inc., each of New York, New York, to acquire control of EverBank Financial Corp., a savings and loan holding company, and EverBank, a federal stock savings association, both of Jacksonville, Florida, the following information is requested. Supporting documentation should be provided as appropriate.
1. If the transaction is consummated as proposed, describe in detail any authority that the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) or any other regulatory entity (apart from the Federal Reserve Board) may have to:
a. Prevent TIAA from down streaming funds or otherwise acting as a source of financial strength to a subsidiary, including a subsidiary depository institution;
b. Directly or indirectly prevent the Surviving Intermediate HoldCo (as that term is defined and used in the application) from down streaming funds or otherwise serving as a source of financial strength to the resultant subsidiary depository institution;
c. Directly or indirectly require Surviving Intermediate HoldCo to dividend or otherwise distribute funds to TIAA; or
d. Directly or indirectly require a subsidiary depository institution to dividend or otherwise distribute funds to TIAA. For each of the scenarios described above, include a detailed discussion of the circumstances in which the regulator could exercise such authority, and include citations as appropriate.
2. Indicate any dollar amount or percentage thresholds or limitations on transactions that TIAA may conduct with a subsidiary or affiliate, including with the Surviving Intermediate HoldCo, without prior approval of DFS, and provide any statutory or regulatory authority that addresses this limitation.
3. To the extent not previously disclosed in the application, and to the extent known with respect to EverBank, discuss any pending or recently resolved litigation with or investigations by regulators, including, but not limited to, those pertaining to consumer protection laws and regulations, against TIAA-CREF Trust Company, FSB (“TIAA FSB”) or EverBank.
4. Clarify the extent to which the
consumer compliance, fair lending compliance, and Community
Reinvestment Act programs of the resultant depository
institution will consist of the current programs of TIAA FSB or
EverBank. Discuss any aspects of these programs that differ from
those currently in place at TIAA FSB or EverBank."
Earlier, some of TIAA's answers were
provided to Inner City Press on November 10 and are published
here (here
and embedded below in full)
"We are grateful for this
opportunity to respond to the comment letter filed by Inner City
Press /Fair Finance Watch on 29 October 2016 (the “Comment
Letter”), regarding the application submitted by TCT Holdings,
Inc., Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America
(“TIAA”)... The Comment Letter makes a series of assertions
regarding the lending practices of TIAA-CREF Trust Company, FSB
(“TIAA FSB”) and EverBank by referencing certain Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act (“HMDA”) data for 2015. It also suggests that
TIAA does not satisfy the requisite managerial standards
consistent with approval. Finally, the Comment Letter requests
an extension of the public comment period and a public hearing
on the Application...
EverBank has advised the Applicants
that it has carefully evaluated and investigated the allegations
and it has provided the Applicants with information following
its manual review of each of the eight declined applications
underlying the data cited in the Comment Letter...
The commenter also suggests that
allegations in a dated news article that TIAA has engaged in
improper business practices in Brazil should be considered by
the Federal Reserve Board as a factor when considering the
managerial resources of the Applicants. The news article cited
in the Comment Letter does not provide a complete or accurate
portrayal of how TIAA conducts business in Brazil and other
markets... TIAA is a signatory to the U.N. Principles for
Responsible Investment."
November
28, 2016
Inner
City Press has
just filed:
"This is a
FOIA request
for the
entirety of
the November
22, 2016
submission in
connection
with the
Application by
TIAA et al to
acquire
EverBank. As
provided under
the FRB's ex
parte rules,
the submission
refers to
“confidential”
exhibits the
withholding of
which we are
challenging
with this FOIA
request for,
for example,
“Please see
Confidential
Exhibit 7 for
an explanation
of the
uncommitted
$300 million
credit line;”
“the Resultant
Institution
will continue
to satisfy the
QTL test under
prong (iv), as
demonstrated
in
Confidential
Exhibit 2;”"
etc...
And
this:
This
is a timely
first comment
opposing and
requesting an
extension of
the FRS's
public comment
period on the
Application by
United
Bankshares and
UBV Holding
Company to
acquire 100
percent of the
voting shares
of Cardinal
Financial
Corporation
and Cardinal
Bank
These
transaction
raises
troubling
Community
Reinvestment
Act issues.
United Bank
has a
disparate
lending record
and is growing
worse, as does
Cardinal's
George Mason
Mortgage.
And,
significantly,
the specifics
of which
branches would
be closed have
not been
publicized.
In the
Washington DC
MSA in 2015
for home
purchase
loans, United
Bank
(Virginia)
made 96 such
loans to
whites and
only five to
African
American
applicants,
and only seven
to Latinos.
In the Silver
Spring -
Rockville MSA
in 2015, for
home purchase
loans High
Point made 14
loans to
whites and
NONE to
African
Americans or
Latinos.
Consider also
the record of
Cardinal's
George Mason
Morgage, which
United wants
to buy.
In the
Washington DC
MSA in 2015
for
conventional
home purchase
loans, George
Mason denied
the
applications
of African
Americans 3.17
times more
frequently
than whites,
and those of
Lationos 2.17
times more
frequently
than whites.
See also,
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-business/20160827/united-bankshares-buys-cardinal-now-largest-company-headquartered-in-wv#sthash.8FhbkxWN.dpuf:
“Cardinal is
based in
Tysons Corner,
Virginia, with
30 branches of
its subsidiary
Cardinal Bank
in the
Washington,
D.C., metro
area.... As
with most
mergers,
there’s
potential for
overlap
whether it’s
in
branch-based
or corporate
positions, but
Adams said
it’s too soon
to tell how
many positions
will
overlap...
Adams said
United has
also seen the
effect of this
trend. 'In all
of our
locations,
five states
and the
nation’s
capital, there
is a trend
toward
customers not
using the
branches as
much as they
used to, and I
think that
trend will
continue.'”
On the current
record,
hearings
should be held
and the
application(s)
should not be
approved. The
comment period
must be
extended.
November
21, 2016
Of
BOK, the Fed
said last week
of ICP's
comment, " a
commenter
objected to
the proposal
on the basis
of alleged
disparities in
the number of
residential
real estate
loans made to
minority
borrowers, as
compared to
white
borrowers, by
BOK Bank in
the Kansas
City,
Missouri-Kansas,
Metropolitan
Statistical
Area (“Kansas
City MSA”);
the Houston,
Texas, MSA
(“Houston
MSA”); and the
Phoenix,
Arizona, MSA
(“Phoenix
MSA”), as
reflected in
data reported
under the Home
Mortgage
Disclosure Act
(“HMDA”) for
2014.25 The
commenter
further
alleged that
BOK Bank
confined
African
American and
Hispanic
borrowers to
government
loan programs
instead of
conventional
loan products
in the
Kansas City
MSA. Also, the
commenter
criticized the
rate at which
BOK Bank
denied
applications
by African
Americans
and/or
Hispanics,
compared to
the rate of
denials for
whites, for
home refinance
loans in the
Houston and
Phoenix MSAs,
as reported
under HMDA for
2014. In
addition, the
commenter
generally
alleged that
BOK Bank has a
weak record of
lending to
people of
color and
low-income
individuals
and a weak
record of
consumer
compliance."
And we maintain that - and note the Fed accepting that "On September 9, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it had settled charges against BOK regarding allegations that BOK Bank’s Corporate Trust Department, primarily through a senior executive, concealed problems and red flags from investors in certain bond offerings for which BOK Bank served as indenture trustee and dissemination agent between 2007 and 2015. See BOK Bank, SEC Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, File No. 3-17533 (September 9, 2016)"
November
14, 2016
After ICP
Challenges TIAA-Everbank, Defense of
Lending, Land Grabs
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
November 10 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
People's United Bank now trying to buy
Suffolk County National Bank while
barely lending to people of color in
New York.
Then there are
cross-industry proposals like TIAA's attempt to acquire Everbank
of Florida, which Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch on
October 29 challenged, and attempts from overseas to buy
Genworth.
The Federal Reserve has asked
questions of TIAA, some of whose answers were provided to Inner
City Press on November 10 and are published here (here
and embedded below in full)
"We are grateful for this
opportunity to respond to the comment letter filed by Inner City
Press /Fair Finance Watch on 29 October 2016 (the “Comment
Letter”), regarding the application submitted by TCT Holdings,
Inc., Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America
(“TIAA”)... The Comment Letter makes a series of assertions
regarding the lending practices of TIAA-CREF Trust Company, FSB
(“TIAA FSB”) and EverBank by referencing certain Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act (“HMDA”) data for 2015. It also suggests that
TIAA does not satisfy the requisite managerial standards
consistent with approval. Finally, the Comment Letter requests
an extension of the public comment period and a public hearing
on the Application...
EverBank has advised the Applicants
that it has carefully evaluated and investigated the allegations
and it has provided the Applicants with information following
its manual review of each of the eight declined applications
underlying the data cited in the Comment Letter...
The commenter also suggests that
allegations in a dated news article that TIAA has engaged in
improper business practices in Brazil should be considered by
the Federal Reserve Board as a factor when considering the
managerial resources of the Applicants. The news article cited
in the Comment Letter does not provide a complete or accurate
portrayal of how TIAA conducts business in Brazil and other
markets... TIAA is a signatory to the U.N. Principles for
Responsible Investment."
Ah, the United Nations...
We'll have more on this.
After ICP Challenges TIAA-Everbank, Here's TIAA's Defense to Federal Reserve of Lending Disparities, Land G... by Matthew Russell Lee on Scribd
November
7, 2016
After ICP
Challenges People's United Bank's
Suffolk Bid, Fed Asks 13 More
Questions
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 31 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
People's United Bank now trying to buy
Suffolk County National Bank while
barely lending to people of color in
New York. Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch on August 13
challenged this application and
People's United, as it did Bancorp
South in 2014, which led to redlining
charges by the Department of Justice
and Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau.
October
31, 2016
Challenge
to TIAA's Attempt To Buy Everbank,
Citing Landgrab in Brazil
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 29 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
People's United Bank now trying to buy
Suffolk County National Bank while
barely lending to people of color in
New York.
Then there are
cross-industry proposals like TIAA's attempt to acquire Everbank
of Florida, which Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch on
October 29 has challenged. Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch has written to the Federal Reserve:
On behalf of Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch (ICP), this is a timely first comment opposing and requesting public hearings and an extension of the FRB's public comment period on the Applications of TCT Holdings Inc., Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and TIAA Board of Overseers, all of New York, New York; to acquire EverBank Financial Corp and thereby indirectly acquire EverBank. This first comment is timely.
This is in essence a proposal for a major cross-industry acquisition, in which TIAA (accused among other things of land grabs in Brazil, see below), which has limited experience in banking and a limited and highly disparate record in mortgage lending, seeks to acquire the largest Florida-based bank, with its own issues. Public hearings are needed.
In the St. Louis MSA, TIAA-CREF Trust in 2015, the most recent year for which Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data is available, reported data but lent only to whites.
Meanwhile Everbank, in the Miami MSA in 2015 for home mortgage loans in HMDA Table 4-1 had a 77% denial rate for African Americans, versus a 36% denial rate for whites. In Tampa for Table 4-1 it had a 100% denial rate for African Americans. Public hearings are required.
For the record, under the Managerial Resources and integrity factors, consider this:
“TIAA-CREF, U.S. Investment Giant, Accused of Land Grabs in Brazil NOV. 16, 2015
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — As an American investment giant that manages the retirement savings of millions of university administrators, public school teachers and others, TIAA-CREF prides itself on upholding socially responsible values, even celebrating its role in drafting United Nations principles for buying farmland that promote transparency, environmental sustainability and respect for land rights.
But documents show that TIAA-CREF’s forays into the Brazilian agricultural frontier may have gone in another direction.
The American financial giant and its Brazilian partners have plowed hundreds of millions of dollars into farmland deals in the cerrado, a huge region on the edge of the Amazon rain forest where wooded savannas are being razed to make way for agricultural expansion, fueling environmental concerns.
In a labyrinthine endeavor, the American financial group and its partners amassed vast new holdings of farmland despite a move by Brazil’s government in 2010 to effectively ban such large-scale deals by foreigners.”
For obvious reasons anticipating regulatory push-back against this proposal, TIAA got a clause to withdraw if too much questions are asked or restrictions proposed.
What is the public benefit? The fact that TIAA is run by a former FRB vice chairman militates even more strongly for the requested public hearings."October
24, 2016
Lending
Discrimination Kills Mergers as
BancorpSouth Withdraws, ICP Proceeds
on People's United
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 22 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
People's United Bank now trying to buy
Suffolk County National Bank while
barely lending to people of color in
New York. Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch on August 13
challenged this application and
People's United, as it did
BancorpSouth in 2014, which led to
redlining charges by the Department of
Justice and Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau.
After
BancorpSouth settled the redlining
charges, Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch immediately wrote to the
Federal Reserve urging that its
pending merger applications be denied
or withdrawn. Now the latter has
happened. The Fed has informed Inner
City Press of the formal withdrawal of
BancorpSouth's application; we've published
the letter here, and will stay
on this, to December 2017, as long as
it takes.
As to
People's United, using the
just-released 2015 Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act data. Inner City Press
has now commented to the Federal
Reserve:
"in 2015 in the New York City MSA, People's United made 110 home purchase loans to whites and only ONE to an African American and only four to Latinos... In 2015, for refinance loans in the New York City MSA, People's United made 103 loans to whites, only five to African Americans and only two to Hispanics.
People's United record is scarcely
better on Long Island, where it
snapped up Bank of Smithtown and
Citizen's Bank as it now proposes to
do to Suffolk County National Bank. In
2015 for home purchase loans on Long
Island People's United made 49 home
purchase loans to whites, only four to
African Americans and only four to
Latinos. For refinance loans it mad 70
loans to whties, only one to an
African American and only four to
Latinos. Again, this is systematic
redlining; this proposed acquisition
could not legitimately be approved and
People's United should be referred for
prosecution for redlining by the
Department of Justice and CFPB."
October
17, 2016
ICP
Challenges FNB's Reach into the
Carolinas for Yadkin Bank, Disparities
in Baltimore & Ohio, Insiders
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 15 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to FNB
/ First National Bank of Pennsylvania
now trying to buy Yadkin Bank in the
Carolinas while barely lending to
people of color in Baltimore,
Cleveland or Akron.
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch on
October 15 challenged this application
and FNB, as it did Bancorp South in
2014, which led to redlining charges
by the Department of Justice and
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Using the
just-released 2015 Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act data, Inner City Press
has commented to the Federal Reserve
in Washington and Cleveland:
"On behalf of Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch (ICP), this is a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the FRB's public comment period on the Application of F.N.B. Corporation to acquire Yadkin Financial and Yadkin Bank. This first comment is timely.
F.N.B. Corporation's lead bank, First National Bank of PA, has a disparate record of lending, for example in the Baltimore and Cleveland MSAs, below. Yadkin is an amalgam of banks slapped together by private equity investors, who would be the primary beneficiaries of this proposed deal. But what is the public benefit?October
10, 2016
ICP
Protests BNC -
High Point,
2015 Lending
Fell 80% from
2014
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 4 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
Bank of North Carolina (BNC), whose
proposed acquisition of High Point
Bank Corporation Inner City Press has
challenged and the Federal Reserve has
asked questions on, and BancorpSouth,
which Inner City Press protested for
discrimination in 2014, and has now
been charged by the Department of
Justice and CFPB.
On the
evening of August 24, the Federal
Reserve asked BNC questions about
Inner City Press' protest, including:
"The public
comment submitted on the proposed
merger includes assertions that Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data from
several metropolitan areas indicate
that both BNC Bank and High Point Bank
had unfavorable levels of mortgage
lending to African American and
Hispanic individuals as compared to
white individuals."
Now while
BNC brags it will close its deal by
the end of October, Inner City Press
has just submitted a second comment
with the just released 2015 HMDA data.
BNC's conventional home purchase
lending to African Americans in the
Charleston MSA has falling by over 80%
from 2014 to 2015. Inner City Press
has today submitted to the Federal
Reserve:
"this, with Compliance Plan withheld, is the record of the proposal acquirer: in the Charleston MSA in 2014 for conventional home purchase loans, BNC made 173 such loans to whites and only SIX to African Americans, and none to Latinos. For refinance loans, it made 68 loans to whites and only ONE to an African American, while denying the applications of African Americans 3.94 times more frequently than those of whites.
In
2015, things got substantially worse.
For conventional home purchase loans
in the Charleston MSA in 2015, while
BNC made 45 such loans to whites, it
made only ONE to an African American
(down from six in 2014). This
application should be denied. We ask
for more time to comment on this 2015
data.
On the current record, hearings should
be held and the application(s) should
not be approved. The comment period
must be extended."
The
Winston-Salem Journal reported:
"regulatory approval was delayed in
part by two New York advocate groups
challenging BNC's lending practices
involving minority and underserved
applicants in its markets. Inner City
Press and affiliate Fair Finance Watch
filed a protest with the Federal
Reserve under the federal Community
Reinvestment Act. It is a normal
practice of those groups to challenge
minority-lending practices when a
significant bank purchase is
announced. Fed officials asked for
additional information Dec. 2. BNC
responded and asked that its
minority-lending data remain
confidential. Rick Callicutt, the
bank's chief executive and president,
said in April that because BNC has
surpassed $5 billion in total assets,
it faces "a higher level of
expectation to market more heavily to
the underserved in its markets. All
our Community Reinvestment Act exams
have been good."
Really? BNC's conventional home purchase lending to African Americans in the Charleston MSA has falling by over 80% from 2014 to 2015.
October
3, 2016
The
Fed on
September 30
said, "Of the
42 proposals
withdrawn in
the first half
of 2016, 20
proposals were
withdrawn at
the initiative
of the
applicant. The
remainder were
withdrawn
after
consultation
with staff for
technical or
procedural
reasons or
because the
proposals
raised
significant
issues
regarding the
statutory
factors that
must be
considered by
the Federal
Reserve.
Specifically,
13 of these
proposals
raised
financial and
managerial
issues as well
as regulatory
compliance and
CRA and fair
lending
issues."
So what about
BancorpSouth?
Or a Spanish
bank down the
pike?
The
Federal
Reserve has
responded to
Inner City
Press' FOIA
request about
BNC - but has,
tellingly,
redacted
everything
about
"Enforcement
Actions." We
are not
convinced.
September
26, 2016
And
now more
questions from
the Fed to
BNC:
"on
Bank of North
Carolina,
Thomasville,
North Carolina
(“BNC Bank”),
to acquire
High Point
Bank
Corporation
(“HPBC”),
parent of High
Point Bank and
Trust Company
(“High Point
Bank”), both
of High Point,
North
Carolina,
pursuant to
section
3(a)(5) of the
Bank Holding
Company Act of
1956, as
amended (“BHC
Act”), the
following
additional
information,
including the
information in
the
confidential
appendix, is
requested.
Supporting
documentation
should be
provided as
appropriate.
1. Given BNC’s
rapid
expansion,
describe in
detail BNC’s
merger and
acquisition
processes for
targeting,
acquiring, and
integrating
acquired
businesses.
Include the
level of board
and senior
management
oversight and
reporting, due
diligence
activities,
audit
coverage, and
the
involvement of
risk control
groups as
appropriate.
2. Describe
how BNC
governs
significant
project
activities and
whether there
is an
independent
oversight
function that
oversees
project
changes that
occur when BNC
makes an
acquisition.
3. Regarding
BNC’s current
enterprise
risk
management,
respond to the
following:
a. Discuss the
impact that
the
integration of
Southcoast has
had to BNC’s
risk
management
framework.
b. Indicate
whether risk
reporting
includes
information
regarding
integration
activities. If
so, describe
how this
information
could be used
by senior
management to
allocate the
necessary
resources to
address
integration
concerns,
should any
arise.
c. Describe
how BNC’s risk
management
framework
would change
upon
consummation
of the
proposed
transaction.
4. Provide a
pro forma list
of
shareholders
who will own,
control, or
hold with the
power to vote
5 percent or
more of the
voting shares
of BNC upon
consummation
of the
proposed
transaction.
Your response
should
indicate
whether any
identified
shareholder is
a bank or bank
holding
company. In
calculating
the voting
ownership,
include any
warrants,
options, and
other
convertible
instruments,
and show all
levels of
ownership on
both a fully
diluted and on
an
individually
diluted basis.
Aggregate the
interests of
any related
shareholders."
September
19, 2016
So
Bank of
Oklahoma,
after Inner
City Press'
protest, was
asked in what
markets it
will improve.
It has now
named cities
in six states.
We'll see....
September
12, 2016
After ICP
Challenges Its Suffolk Bid, People's
United Calls NYC "Lower Hudson,"
Recent
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
September 8 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
People's United Bank now trying to buy
Suffolk County National Bank while
barely lending to people of color in
New York. Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch on August 13
challenged this application and
People's United, as it did Bancorp
South in 2014, which led to redlining
charges by the Department of Justice
and Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau.
On September 7, the General Counsel of People's United Robert E. Trautmann filed a response, which as to the analysis of New York City redlining submitted by Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch argues that the disparities are OK because People's supposedly only recently entered the market.
But it entered in 2010. How long can it call this recent? And why should it be permitted to build itself up on Long Island while this redlining of New York City's lower income communities of color persists?
Tellingly,
People's United Bank's purported
response to Inner City Press'
redlining analysis calls New York
Times the “Lower Hudson Valley
region.”
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
filed with the US Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency:
"a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Application by People's United to buy The Suffolk County National Bank of Riverhead, NY. The newspaper notice says the comment period runs at least through August 16; this comment is timely.
People's United proposes to buy Suffolk County National Bank and its 27 branches in New York. But in the the New York City MSA in 2014, the most recent year for which Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data is publicly available, People's United made 82 home purchase loans to whites and NONE to African Americans or Latinos. This is redlining; this proposed acquisition could not legitimately be approved and People's United should be referred for prosecution for redlining by the Department of Justice and CFPB.September
5, 2016
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has been looking at the Bank of Oklahoma, noting that
In the Kansas City MSA in 2014 for home purchase loans, BOK for Table 4-2 made 242 loans to whites and only eight to African Americans. People of color were confined to Table 4-1 loans: 35 to African Americans, and 36 to Latinos, versus 204 to whites.
In the Houston MSA in 2014 for refinance loans, BOK made 126 loans to whites and only six to African Americans; it had a denial rate for African Americans of 55%, and for Latinos of 52%, versus only 30% for whites.
In the Phoenix MSA in 2014 for refinance loans, BOK made 168 loans to whites and only THREE to African Americans and 11 to Latinos; it had a denial rate for Latinos of 36%, versus only 26% for whites.
Now, as if on cue, BOK serves up a new Community Reinvestment Act performance evaluation as a rebuttal. But even it lists Low Satisfactory rating in Arizona and Texas for lending, in Arkansas and Colorado for service, and in Maryland for both lending AND service.
So what rating do you think the OCC gave Bank of Oklahoma, which is trying to buy Missouri Bank and Trust in Kansas City? And what Kansas City bank do you think hasn't had a CRA exam in nine years? Watch this site.
August 29, 2016ICP
Protested BNC - High Point, Now Fed
Asks Questions, Here
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
August 24 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
Bank of North Carolina (BNC), whose
proposed acquisition of High Point
Bank Corporation Inner City Press has
challenged and the Federal Reserve has
asked questions on, and BancorpSouth,
which Inner City Press protested for
discrimination in 2014, and has now
been charged by the Department of
Justice and CFPB.
On the
evening of August 24, the Federal
Reserve asked BNC questions about
Inner City Press' protest, including:
"The public
comment submitted on the proposed
merger includes assertions that Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data from
several metropolitan areas indicate
that both BNC Bank and High Point Bank
had unfavorable levels of mortgage
lending to African American and
Hispanic individuals as compared to
white individuals.
-Directly
address the assertions of unfavorable
levels of mortgage lending to those
population segments identified by the
commenter in each relevant geographic
area referenced in the comments;
-Discuss in
detail the outreach and marketing
activities by BNC Bank and High Point
Bank, including any contemplated
changes to those activities after
consummation of the proposal; and
-Describe
in detail the fair lending risk
management policies and procedures of
BNC Bank and High Point Bank,
including any contemplated changes to
these policies and procedures after
consummation of the proposal...
Discuss
any plans to open, close, or
consolidate any bank branches in
connection with the proposal, or
separately from the proposal,
particularly in low- and
moderate-income (“LMI”) areas. To the
extent that any branches in LMI areas
would be closed, discuss management’s
plans to mitigate the impact of such
closures on the affected communities."
On BNC,
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
has raised to the Federal Reserve:
In the Charleston MSA in 2014 for
conventional home purchase loans, BNC
made 173 such loans to whites and only
SIX to African Americans, and none to
Latinos. For refinance loans, it made
68 loans to whites and only ONE to an
African American, while denying the
applications of African Americans 3.94
times more frequently than those of
whites.
Southcoast in the Charleston
MSA in 2014 for conventional home
purchase loans made 136 such loans to
whites and NONE to African Americans.
For refinance loans, Southcase made 35
loans to whites and only TWO to
African Americans. To combine these
two banks would make them worse.
In the Greenville MSA in 2013
for home purchase loans, BNC made 117
such loans to whites and only SIX to
African Americans, and only seven to
Latinos. For refinance loans, it
made 31 loans to whites and only one
to an African Americans and none to
Latinos.
BNC admits, as it must, that it
is below-market in lending to African
Americans, but paradoxically tries to
use that the fact that it is subject
to a compliance order as its defense
to the Fed.
To Fair Finance Watch, too. FFW
asked to see, in writing, what are
BNC's CRA plans going forward. BNC
replied that it is "unable to share
this with you. It is an internal
document that is only shared with our
Board of Directors and the FDIC (under
the Order)."
August
22, 2016
Last
week, Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch
challenged
People's
United -
Suffolk County
National Bank.
Now:
"Elizabeth
Montgomery, a
People’s
United
spokeswoman,
said the bank
does not
comment on
pending
litigation,
but noted that
it feels
“comfortable”
with its
lending
practices.
“We’re a
highly
regulated
institution
and we’re very
proud of our
history of
residential
lending and
we’re
comfortable
with our
practices,”
she said.
Suffolk did
not return a
call for
comment."
We'll have
more on this.
For BancorpSouth, which Inner City Press has challenged for some time, the other shoe has dropped. It announced: "As a result of the retroactive downgrade of the bank’s CRA rating, the company and the bank likely will be unable to obtain the necessary Federal Reserve or FDIC regulatory approvals to complete the two pending mergers with Ouachita Bancshares Corp. and Central Community Corporation and their respective affiliated banks until such time as the bank’s CRA rating is improved to “satisfactory.” The company presently understands that the FDIC expects to begin its next CRA evaluation of the bank later this year and to complete that evaluation during the first quarter of 2017; however, the company cannot make any assurances as to the timing or outcome of its next CRA evaluation."
August
15, 2016
Citing
Redlining, ICP Challenges People's
United Bid For Suffolk County National
Bank
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
August 8 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
People's United Bank now trying to buy
Suffolk County National Bank while
barely lending to people of color in
New York. Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch has now challenged
this application and People's United,
as it did Bancorp South in 2014, which
led to redlining charges by the
Department of Justice and Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau.
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
has filed with the US Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency:
"a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Application by People's United to buy The Suffolk County National Bank of Riverhead, NY. The newspaper notice says the comment period runs at least through August 16; this comment is timely.
People's United proposes to buy Suffolk County National Bank and its 27 branches in New York. But in the the New York City MSA in 2014, the most recent year for which Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data is publicly available, People's United made 82 home purchase loans to whites and NONE to African Americans or Latinos. This is redlining; this proposed acquisition could not legitimately be approved and People's United should be referred for prosecution for redlining by the Department of Justice and CFPB.August 8,
2016
After
Taking Goldman Sachs Calls on Sunday,
Fed Fines It $36M, Denies FOIA
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
August 3 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation grows from the
largest banks like Goldman Sachs -
which gets weekend service from the
Federal Reserve's top lawyer - down to
the Bank of North Carolina, for which
it hides the "compliance plan" that
ostensibly rebuts Fair Finance Watch.
On August 3
after earlier in the year doling out
an approval for Goldman Sachs on GE,
the Fed announced it has
"ordered
Goldman Sachs Group to pay a $36.3
million civil money penalty for its
unauthorized use and disclosure of
confidential supervisory information
and to implement an enhanced program
to ensure the proper use of
confidential supervisory information.
Additionally, the Board announced that
it is instituting enforcement
proceedings against Joseph Jiampietro,
a former managing director at Goldman
Sachs, seeking to impose a fine and
permanently bar him from the banking
industry."
Goldman
Sachs on January 14, 2016 withheld
basic information from the response it
was required to send to Inner City
Press, see below.
But on
March 21, after the Fed was notified
of extensive irregularities in its
processing of the Goldman Sachs - GE
application, the Board hauled off and
approved it, saying, in footnote 49,
that
"Two
commenters express concerns about GS
Bank’s use of the Board’s prefiling
process, suggesting that commenters
could not participate in the
resolution of substantive issues
raised by the proposal because these
issues were resolved before the filing
of this application. One of these
commenters withdrew its comments in
full following its discussions with GS
Bank.
The Federal Reserve has
established a prefiling process to
provide potential applicants with
information about the procedural
requirements, such as timing and the
applicable forms, associated with a
proposal. See SR Letter 12-12. This
process also helps to identify
information that may be needed in
connection with issues that the Board
typically considers in connection with
a particular type of application or
notice, such as
competition or financial stability.
The prefiling process is not used, and
was not used in this case, to resolve
or predetermine the outcome of any
substantive issues. As in every case,
the substantive issues involved in
this case were considered and resolved
as part ofthe processing of GS Bank’s
formal application. In doing so, the
Board considered all public comments
on the proposal.
Voting for this action: Chair Yellen,
Vice Chairman Fischer, and Governors
Tarullo, Powell, and Brainard."
August
1, 2016
Here is
the fraud of
US Community
Reinvestment
Act "enforcement"
- detailed
challenges are
deemed
rebutted by
"Compliance
Plans" a bank
submits --
which are then
deemed
confidential in
full, no
reasonably segregable information,
under FOIA
exemption 8.
This is from
the FDIC this
week:
Dear
Mr. Lee:
This is our
final response
to your July
8, 2016
Freedom of
Information
Act (FOIA) request
for
information
that you
described as
follows:
This is a
request for
the Bank of
North Carolina
submission to
the FDIC in connection
with Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch's CRA
protest,
referred to
(and relied
on) by the
Federal
Reserve in
this order:
"BNC
further
represents
that BNC Bank
is committed
to continually
improving its performance
in the
Greenville and
Charleston
MSAs and to
meeting the
needs of
all members of
the
communities.
BNC notes that
the commenter
filed similar comments
with the FDIC
on an
application
for an
unrelated
acquisition,
which was
approved on
the condition
that BNC Bank
develop and
submit a
supplement to
its existing
compliance
plan that
would
strengthen the
bank’s fair
lending compliance
program. BNC
asserts that
the supplement
to BNC Bank’s compliance
plan, which
has been
approved by
the FDIC and
implemented by
the
bank,
adequately
addresses the
concerns
raised by the
commenter on
this proposal."
ICP's
June 18, 2016
comments on
Bank of North
Carolina's
application to
acquire High
Point Bank and
Trust
requested this
plan. The FDIC
extended the
comment period
to July 8 -
but still,
none of the
plan has been
received.
Hence this
formalFOIA
request (and
request for
further
extension of
the BNC - High
Point Bank and
Trust comment
period).
Our
records search
has been
completed, and
the record
that you
requested
(Record) was
located. We
have
determined
that the
Record does
not contain
any reasonably
segregable
non-exempt information.
Therefore,
your FOIA
request is
being denied.
The
Record is
exempt from
disclosure in
its entirety
under FOIA
Exemptions 4
and 8, 5
U.S.C. §552(b)(4)
and (b)(8),
and is being
withheld in
full.
Exemption 4
permits the
withholding of trade
secrets, and
confidential
or privileged
commercial or
financial
information
obtained from
a person.
Exemption 8
permits the
withholding of
information
contained in,
or related to,
the examination,
operating, or
condition
reports
prepared by,
on behalf of,
or for the use
of the FDIC in
its regulation
or supervision
of financial
institutions.
This completes
the processing
of your
request.
We'll
have more on
this.
July
25, 2016
ICP
Protested NYCB - Astoria on
Disparities from NY to Cleveland, Fed
Qs
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
July 20 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to New
York Community Bank, Chemical Bank in
Michigan, Bank of North Carolina and
BancorpSouth, which Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch protested for
discrimination in 2014, and has now
been charged by the Department of
Justice and CFPB.
In January
of this year, Inner City Press
submitted a protest to the Federal
Reserve to NYCB's application to
acquire Astoria, see below. Now on
July 20, the Fed has asked NYCB this:
"Based on
staff’s review of the current record,
the following additional information
is requested. Supporting
documentation, as appropriate, should
be provided.
"In its
February 13, 2016, comment on the
proposal, Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch (“ICP”) alleges that New
York Community Bank’s and Astoria’s
branch patterns disproportionately
exclude Upper Manhattan and
particularly the Bronx, which ICP
states is the most predominately
minority and low-income community in
the state of New York. Please respond
to these allegations. Please provide a
copy of the public portion of your
response directly to Matthew Lee of
ICP. Any information for which you
desire confidential treatment should
be so labeled and separately bound in
accordance with section 261.15 of the
Board’s Rules Regarding Availability
of Information"
We'll
see. Inner City Press' protest set
forth that NYCB in the New York
City MSA in 2014 made 109 home
purchase loans to whites -- and only
THREE to African Americans. For
refinance loans, NYBC in the the NYC
MSA in 2014 made 27 loans to whites
and only ONE to an African American.
In the Cleveland, Ohio MSA
(where NYCB bought Ohio Savings - and
in the new this week), NYCB in 2014
made 17 refinance loans to whites in
2014 and only one to an African
American, while denying African
Americans, while denying African
Americans three times more frequently
than whites.
" In
the Nassau Suffolk (Long Island) MSA
in 2014 NYCB made 107 home purchase
loans to whites -- and only ONE to an
African American, while denying
African Americans 4.7 times more
frequently than whites.
Aggregate / all lenders on Long Island
2014, conventional home purchase
loans:
Unlike NYCB's 4.7 denial rate
disparity between African Americans
and whites, for all lenders it is
(substantially) below 2 to 1: by all
lenders on Long Island in 2014 for
conventional home purchase loans,
African Americans were denied 1.62
times more frequently then whites.
Unlike NYCB's 107 loans to
whites for each (1) loan(s) to African
Americans, for the aggregate there are
23 loans to whites for each loan to
African Americans.
" For refinance loans, NYCB in the the
Long Island MSA in 2014 made 52 loans
to whites and only three to African
Americans and only TWO to Latinos,
while denying Latinos 2.32 times more
frequently than whites."
In April
2014, Inner City Press submitted a
protest to the Federal Reserve of the
"Applications of BancorpSouth to merge
with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation
and thereby indirectly acquire
Ouachita Independent Bank, and with
Central Community Corporation, and
thereby indirectly acquire First State
Bank Central Texas, Austin, Texas -
Round Two."
Fair Finance Watch's analysis to the Fed showed that "in the Jackson MS MSA for conventional home purchase loans, BancorpSouth made 258 loans to whites, only 17 to African Americans and five to Latinos. BancorpSouth's denial rate for whites was 7.4% while for African Americans it was 25.8% -- 3.49 times higher. This was troubling.
NOW, more troubling: in 2013 for conventional home purchase loans in the Jackson MS, BancorpSouth's denial rate for whites was 4.5% while for African Americans it was 26.4% -- now 5.87 times higher.
In
2012 in the Baton Rouge LA MSA for
conventional home purchase loans in
2012, BancorpSouth made 60 such loans
to whites; only three to African
Americans and one to a Latino.
NOW, more troubling: in 2013 for
conventional home purchase loans in
the Baton Rouge MSA, BancorpSouth was
up to 72 loans to whites - but NONE to
African Americans."
July
18,
2016
In a
proposed $1
bbillion
merger, the
applicant
(Chemical) has...
misunderstood,
telling the
Federal Reserve
"Applicant
misunderstood
the initial
question in
the June 21,
2016, request for
information
and included
in Exhibit B
only that
space used for
teller lines
and platform
branch staff.
The Exhibit
did not
include other
portions of
the buildings
by the bank
in its
operations. Attached
is a Revised
Exhibit B that
shows the
correct
percentage of
the space
occupied by
Talmer. Only
three parcels
of owned real
estate are
occupied less
than 100
percent by
Talmer. Those
three are
Elyria, Ohio –
Downtown
(73.8%),
Muskegon,
Michigan (67.2%)
and Portage,
Michigan
(77.42%)."
July
11, 2016
ICP
Protested BancorpSouth, Now Sued by
DOJ, Chemical & BNC
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
July 9 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - down to
Chemical Bank in Michigan, Bank of
North Carolina and BancorpSouth, which
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
protested for discrimination in 2014,
and has now been charged by the
Department of Justice and CFPB.
In April
2014, Inner City Press submitted a
protest to the Federal Reserve of the
"Applications of BancorpSouth to merge
with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation
and thereby indirectly acquire
Ouachita Independent Bank, and with
Central Community Corporation, and
thereby indirectly acquire First State
Bank Central Texas, Austin, Texas -
Round Two."
Fair Finance Watch's analysis to the Fed showed that "in the Jackson MS MSA for conventional home purchase loans, BancorpSouth made 258 loans to whites, only 17 to African Americans and five to Latinos. BancorpSouth's denial rate for whites was 7.4% while for African Americans it was 25.8% -- 3.49 times higher. This was troubling.
NOW, more troubling: in 2013 for conventional home purchase loans in the Jackson MS, BancorpSouth's denial rate for whites was 4.5% while for African Americans it was 26.4% -- now 5.87 times higher.
In
2012 in the Baton Rouge LA MSA for
conventional home purchase loans in
2012, BancorpSouth made 60 such loans
to whites; only three to African
Americans and one to a Latino.
NOW, more troubling: in 2013 for
conventional home purchase loans in
the Baton Rouge MSA, BancorpSouth was
up to 72 loans to whites - but NONE to
African Americans."
July 4,
2016
On Bank
of North
Carolina's
application to
acquire and
merge with
High Point
Bank and
Trust, the
FDIC has given
Inner
City Press / Fair
Finance Watch
until July 8
to submit
comments - but
will they be releasing
the until-now
withheld (but
FRB-relied
on) compliance
plan of BNC?
June
27, 2016
What's (not)
in your
wallet?
Capital One is
closing
branches in
New Jersey:
"Capital One
will close
five of its
six branches
at the Shore
on July 23, a
company
spokesperson
said Thursday,
in a sign that
giant banks
are
re-evaluating
how they serve
their
customers.The
bank is
closing
branches in
Aberdeen,
Lakewood,
Marlboro, Toms
River and
Wall."
Wallet...
June 20,
2016
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has submitted a "timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the FDIC's public comment period on the Application by Bank of North Carolina (BNC) to acquire and merge with High Point Bank and Trust.
These transaction raises troubling Community Reinvestment Act issues. Bank of North Carolina (BNC) has a disparate lending record and is growing worse. The lack of transparency concerning BNC's “Compliance Plan” must end on this transaction: the plan must be publicly released.
Consider also the record of High Point, which BNC wants to buy.
In the Greensboro MSA in 2014 for conventional home purchase loans, High Point made 39 such loans to whites and only ONE to an African American applicant, and none to Latinos. For refinance loans, it made 23 loans to whites and only ONE to an African American, while denying the applications of African Americans FIVE times more frequently than those of whites.
For home improvement loans in the Greensboro MSA in 2014, High Point made 8 loans to whites and only one to an African American applicant.
In the Winston Salem MSA in 2014, for home purchase loans High Point made 11 loans to whites and only one to an African American applicant.
And this, with Compliance Plan withheld, is the record of the proposal acquirer: in the Charleston MSA in 2014 for conventional home purchase loans, BNC made 173 such loans to whites and only SIX to African Americans, and none to Latinos. For refinance loans, it made 68 loans to whites and only ONE to an African American, while denying the applications of African Americans 3.94 times more frequently than those of whites.
In the Greenville MSA in 2013 for home purchase loans, BNC made 117 such loans to whites and only SIX to African Americans, and only seven to Latinos. For refinance loans, it made 31 loans to whites and only one to an African Americans and none to Latinos.
The Federal Reserve recently relied on this withheld compliance plan and commitments from BNC we've yet to see: "BNC further represents that BNC Bank is committed to continually improving its performance in the Greenville and Charleston MSAs and to meeting the needs of all members of the communities. BNC notes that the commenter filed similar comments with the FDIC on an application for an unrelated acquisition, which was approved on the condition that BNC Bank develop and submit a supplement to its existing compliance plan that would strengthen the bank’s fair lending compliance program. BNC asserts that the supplement to BNC Bank’s compliance plan, which has been approved by the FDIC and implemented by the bank, adequately addresses the concerns raised by the commenter on this proposal."
But that's been withheld.
The Winston Salem Journal of June 3, 2016 reported: “Inner City Press and affiliate Fair Finance Watch filed a protest with the Federal Reserve under the federal Community Reinvestment Act. It is a normal practice of those groups to challenge minority-lending practices when a significant bank purchase is announced.
Fed officials asked for additional information Dec. 2. BNC responded and asked that its minority-lending data remain confidential.
Rick Callicutt, the bank’s chief executive and president, said in April that senior management “has been actively working with our banking regulators to gain the necessary approvals for the Southcoast transaction.”
Because BNC has surpassed $5 billion in total assets, Callicutt said, it faces “a higher level of expectation to market more heavily to the underserved in its markets. All our Community Reinvestment Act exams have been good.”
He said that as part of the Southcoast approval process, “we have allocated additional planning, marketing, outreach and credit resources to the underserved within our markets.”
Callicutt said the bank is “confident that the significant progress we have made in this area will position us for more expeditious regulatory approvals in the future.”
Without releasing the compliance plan? And with High Point's weak record? This cannot be. We request evidentary hearings.
On the current record,
hearings should be held and the application(s) should
not be approved. The comment period must be extended."
June
13, 2016
Chemical
Bank in
Michigan tells
the Federal Reserve, in
a response
late-provided
to Inner City
Press, that
its 100% denial rate for
Latinos in the
Flint MSA is
okay,
citing a case
in which they
asked for an
unexpired
resident alien
card and none
was provided. Toxic like
that water....
June
6, 2016
Federal
Reserve Gives BNC An Approval Based on
Secret Compliance Plan
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
June 2 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation expends from the
relatively smaller of mid-sized to the
largest banks, with Goldman Sachs the
most recent example.
A
mid-sized bank Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch is scrutinizing, based
on its records, is BNC
Bancorp, seeking to acquire
Southcoast Financial in South
Carolina and, after that, High Point
Bank & Trust.
On June 2
after a long delay, including delay in
providing basic information to Inner
City Press, the Federal Reserve
approved the Southcoast deal. The Fed
said, "In this case, the Board
received comments from a commenter who
objects to the proposal on the basis
of alleged disparities in the number
of conventional home
purchase loans made to African
Americans and Hispanics, as compared
to whites, by BNC Bank."
Then
the Fed says, "BNC further represents
that BNC Bank is committed to
continually improving its performance
in the Greenville and Charleston MSAs
and to meeting the needs of all
members of the communities. BNC notes
that the commenter
filed similar comments with the FDIC
on an application for an unrelated
acquisition, which was approved on the
condition that BNC Bank develop and
submit a supplement to its existing
compliance plan that would strengthen
the bank’s fair lending compliance
program. BNC asserts that the
supplement to BNC Bank’s compliance
plan, which has been approved by the
FDIC and implemented by the bank,
adequately addresses the concerns
raised by the commenter on this
proposal."
But that's been withheld. We'll have
more on this.
On
March 1 the Federal Reserve e-mailed
Inner City Press a memo about a
meeting it had with BNC Bank's highest
executives, under the Fed's rules on
Ex Parte contacts, avoiding the fair
lending and Community Reinvestment Act
issues which Inner City Press has
raised. We are publishing
the Federal Reserve memo online
here.
But
as Inner City Press immediately
replied, including to the Fed's Office
of the Secretary, why did the Fed wait
until March 1 to send a memo of a
January 28, 2016 meeting -- more than
a month? Does that comply with any
meaningful rule on Ex Parte
communications? We'll have more on
this.
There's a problem with this
acquisitiveness: BNC is subject to to
Compliance Order with the FDIC, which
is rare, based on its fair lending
record. But after Fair Finance Watch
protested the deal, and the Fed told
BNC to send it a copy of the bank's
response, the response was provided
six days later with with the entirety
of the Community Reinvestment Act
response withheld. See
here.
May
30, 2016
Why should proposed
bank mergers
be commented on and
fought? Consider
Old National -
Anchor bank, announced
in January and
just
closed - as soon as
they
consummated,
but not
before, Old National
filed
that it will
lay off 138
people. We'll
have more on
this.
May
23, 2016
Now
looking into
merger
agreement that
calls them
Frontier
(First Cash)
and Cowboy
(Cash
America):
"(a)
Regulatory
Authorizations.
All consents,
authorizations,
orders or
approvals of
each
Governmental
Authority
necessary for
the
consummation
of the Merger
and the other
transactions
contemplated
by this
Agreement set
forth in
Section 8.1(a)
of the
Frontier
Disclosure
Letter and
Section 8.1(a)
of the
Cowboy
Disclosure
Letter shall
have been
obtained.
(b) Antitrust
Approvals. Any
waiting period
(and any
extension
thereof)
applicable to
the Merger and
the other
transactions
contemplated
by this
Agreement
under the HSR
Act shall have
been
terminated or
shall have
expired, and
any other
antitrust,
competition,
investment,
trade
regulation or
similar
consents,
authorizations,
orders or
approvals that
are required
under any
other material
Antitrust Law,
the absence of
which would
prohibit the
consummation
of the Merger
and the other
transactions
contemplated
by this
Agreement,
shall have
been obtained
or made or any
applicable
waiting period
with respect
thereof shall
have expired
or been
terminated."
Can you say,
unfair and
deceptive?
May
16, 2016
Despite
the Federal Reserve
saying that, after
it extended
its response
time, it would
provide
Huntington -
FirstMerit
documents Inner
City Press
requested
under FOIA by
May 2 (see
below), none of
been provided.
The comment period should
not be closed
by the Fed. Consider:
April 18, 2016
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request No. F-2016-0152
Dear Mr. Lee,
On March 21, 2016, the Board of Governors (“Board”) received your electronic message dated March 20, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, for the entire[t]y of the “[a]pplication by Huntington to acquire FirstMerit” and all records reflecting FRS communications with Huntington or FirstMerit for the past twelve (12) months.
Pursuant to section (a)(6)(B)(i) of the FOIA, we are extending the period for our response until May 2, 2016, in order to consult with two or more components of the Board having a substantial interest in the determination of the request.
If a determination can be made before May 2, 2016, we will respond to you promptly. It is our policy to process FOIA requests as quickly as possible while ensuring that we disclose the requested information to the fullest extent of the law.
Very truly yours,
Jeanne M. McLaughlin
Manager, Freedom of Information Office
And then... nothing.
May 9,
2016
Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch, which has
protested
Huntington -
FirstMerit,
was sent this
by the Federal
Reserve:
Dear
Mr. Lee:
Attached is a
memorandum
summarizing
staff’s
telephone
conversation
with Ms.
Patricia A.
Robinson of
April 25,
2016, counsel
for Huntington
Bancshares
Incorporated
(“Huntington”),
regarding the
application by
Huntington to
acquire all
the voting
shares of, and
to merge with,
FirstMerit
Corporation
and thereby
indirectly
acquire
FirstMerit
Bank, N.A.,
pursuant to
section 3 of
the Bank
Holding
Company Act of
1956, as
amended.
We send this
memorandum to
you in
accordance
with the
Board’s
procedures
regarding ex
parte
communications.
Date:
May 3, 2016
To: File
From: Federal
Reserve staff
Subject:
Telephone
Conversation
with Patricia
A. Robinson,
Esq.
re:Application
by Huntington
Bancshares
Incorporated
to Acquire
Shares of, and
to Merge with,
FirstMerit
Corporation
On April 25, 2016, staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Benjamin McDonough, Pam Nardolilli, Mark Buresh, Andrew Hartlage, and Brian Phillips) had a telephone conversation with Ms. Patricia A. Robinson, counsel for Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (“Huntington”), Columbus, in connection with the application filed by Huntington to acquire all the voting shares of, and to merge with, FirstMerit Corporation (“FirstMerit”) and thereby indirectly acquire FirstMerit Bank, N.A., both of Akron, all of Ohio, pursuant to section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended.
Staff
discussed with
Ms. Robinson a
capital-related
matter
regarding the
issuance of
Huntington
preferred
shares in
exchange for
currently
outstanding
FirstMerit
preferred
shares.
UNsaid:
Robinson used to
work in the
Fed's Legal
Division...
May 2,
2016
Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch has
filed this:
This is a timely first comment opposing and requesting a complete copy of an and an extension of the FRB's public comment period on the Application by Chemical Financial Corporation to merge with Talmer Bancorp and thereby acquire voting shares of Talmer Bank and Trust.
This over $1 billion proposal is by a bank with a weak record of people to people of color and lower income people, and of consumer compliance.
In the Flint, Michigan MSA in 2014 Chemical Bank for home purchase loans had a 100% denial rate for Latinos; it made 14 such loans to whites and only three to African Americans. Chemical Bank's home refinance lending in the Flint MSA in 2014 was all to whites: 11 loans to whites, NONE to African Americans or Latinos. Similiarly for home improvement loans, 10 loans to whites, none to Latinos; African Americans submitted two applications, one denied, the other “withdrawn.”
In the Battle Creek MSA in 2014, Chemical Bank made 26 loans to whites and none to African Americans (again, two applications, one denied and the other “withdrawn”).
This is unacceptable. So is this:
La Michigan: “Oddly I had enough money in both of my Chemical Bank accounts and they charged me a $64 over draft fee for my smaller account. I HATE that BANK! It used to be Northwestern Bank, but Chemical bought them. I am getting ALL my money out of there as soon as my debit card comes from the credit union.”
The
stated
rationale of Northwestern
selling out to Chemical
was the same, increase
compliance costs, etc.
Chemical promises to
increase lending. But has
it? What of its public
statements that is will be
opening branches? Hearings
are needed.
ICP Awaits
Fed's FOIA Response on Huntington -
FirstMerit, May 16 New Date
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
April 22 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks, more Fed-favored banks like
Goldman Sachs - through those in the
upper bulge like Huntington, seeking
to buy First Merit and close more than
100 branches.
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch on
March 19 filed with the Federal
Reserve a challenge to Huntington's
application to acquire First Merit and
close 107 branches. On April 16, Inner
City Press made a third filing, for an
extension of the comment period.
On
April 22, a week after Inner City
Press' request but a day after
Huntington CEO Steve Steinour
downplayed the branch closures to his
shareholders, the Federal Reserve
called Inner City Press and said the
comment period will now run to May 16.
Later this was put online.
While
appreciated, will this help keep
branches open? We'll see - for now,
the Fed has extended its time to
respond to Inner City Press' long
pending Freedom of Information Act
request:
April
18, 2016
Inner
City Press has
filed:
This is a
timely third
comment
opposing,
reiterating
ICP's March 20
FOIA request
on, and
requesting an
extension of
the FRB's
public comment
period on the
Application by
Huntington
Bancshares to
acquire
FirstMerit
Corporation.
The
Board has
STILL not
responded to
ICP's FOIA
request and
the comment
period must be
extended on
that ground
alone.
This proposed
merger would,
if approved,
result in the
closure or
“consolidation,”
see below, of
more than 100
branches --
nearly 50 are
in the
Cleveland,
Akron and
Canton areas.
Huntington's
lending in two
of these areas
was analyzed
in ICP's first
comment;
FirstMerit is
initially
reviewed here.
More will
follow. These
closures and
“consolidations”
would cause
harm; what
would be the
countervailing
public
benefit?
Public
hearings are
needed.
In its most
recently
submission,
Huntington
states that
“the Board
published
notice of the
Application in
the Federal
Register on
March 17,
2016, inviting
the public to
comment on the
Application
through April
15,
2016.
Therefore, the
current
comment period
on the
Application is
36 days and it
remains open
to provide
interested
members of the
public and
ample time to
comment on the
Application.”
Inner
City Press is
informed that
Huntington has
represented
that it will
not oppose, in
fact will
support, an
extension of
the comment
period. Yet it
is 4:50 pm on
April 15 and
nothing has
been
announced.
Therefore this
submission,
requesting an
extension of
the comment
period.
April
11, 2016
So 107 prospective
branch
closures by Huntington,
and not only no
Fed public
hearing - no
extension of
the comment
period to
consider this
near-unprecedented level of
closure? Pathetic...
April 4,
2016
ICP Zeroes
In On Huntington Bank, Shutting Low
Income FirstMerit Branches
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
April 2 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks, more Fed-favored banks like
Goldman Sachs - through those in the
upper bulge like Huntington, seeking
to buy First Merit and close more than
100 branches.
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch on
March 19 filed with the Federal
Reserve a challenge to Huntington's
application to acquire First Merit and
close 107 branches.
Now
Inner City Press has received
Huntington's response to the Fed, and
it is woefully inadequate. Inner City
Press has replied:
"Huntington's
Response to ICP, written by former
Federal Reserve Board legal counsel
Patricia Robinson -- we are concerned
about this revolving door -- is
dismissive of the issues raised.
The Response states that 'Of the 107 consolidations / closings, a strong majority (62 of 107 or 58%) are short distance branch consolidations' -- but includes actions forcing consumers to travel more than one mile among these “consolidations.”
Even using this definition, Huntington in its Response to ICP admits to no fewer than 45 prospective branch closures, an extraordinary number militating for the requested public hearings.
Section D.1 of Huntington's Response to ICP lists low and moderate income branches and the income demographics of the branches that would “receive” them. Significantly, in every instance where the income demographics of the branches being shuttered and the “receiving” branch, Huntington has chosen to shutter the lower income branch.
There's
moderate into middle, for example
Legacy FirstMerit Bank branch at:
430 Northfield Rd., Bedford, Ohio
44146
(Cuyahoga County)
– moderate-income census tract
“moving to”
Legacy Huntington Bank branch at:
5321 Warrensville Rd., Maple
Heights, Ohio 44137
(Cuyahoga County)
– middle-income census tract
There's low income into middle:
Legacy
Huntington Bank Branch at:
1500 East Main Street, Kent, Ohio
44240
(Portage County)
– low-income census tract
moving to
Legacy FirstMerit Bank branch at:
1729 State Rt. 59, Kent, Ohio 44240
(Portage County)
– middle-income census tract
There's even moderate into upper:
Legacy FirstMerit Bank branch at:
3505 Lee Rd., Shaker Heights, Ohio
44120
(Cuyahoga County)
– moderate-income census tract
“moving to”
Legacy Huntington Bank branch at:
17121 Chagrin Blvd., Shaker
Heights, Ohio 44120
(Cuyahoga County)
– upper-income census tract
But there is NOTHING moving the other
way. Hearings are necessary.
March 28,
2016
Drilling in more closely into the
negative impacts of the proposed
Huntington - FirstMerit merger, covered
here and here,
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
has now looking at FirstMerit's record
in 2014 in Akron:
FirstMerit in the Akron MSA in 2014 made 214 home purchase loans to whites -- and only 13 to African Americans and only two to Latinos. Troublingly, FirstMerit denied the applications of African American for home purchase loans 4.14 times more frequently than for white: a 9.2% denial rate for whites versus a whopping 38.1% denial rate for African Americans.
For refinance loans, FirstMerit in the Akron MSA in 2014 made 158 loans to whites and only six to African Americans and none to Latinos. Its denial rate for African Americans was 35.7%, versus only 20.6% for whites.
For home
improvement loans, Huntington in the
Akron MSA in 2014 made 47 loans to
whites and only two to African
Americans and NONE to Latinos. Its
denial rate for Latinos was 100%. Its
denial rate for African Americans was
77%, versus 50% for whites.
Not pretty. We'll have more on
this.
March 21,
2016
Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch has filed a timely first comment
opposing / requesting public hearings
on the application by Huntington
Bancshares to acquire FirstMerit
Corporation. This proposed
merger would, if approved, result in
the closure of more than 100 branches
-- nearly 50 are in the Cleveland,
Akron and Canton areas Two of
these areas are analyzed below; more
will follow. These closures would
cause harm; what would be the
countervailing public benefit? Public
hearings are needed.
Huntington in the Akron MSA in
2014 made 197 home purchase loans to
whites -- and only nine to African
Americans and only three to
Latinos.
For refinance loans, Huntington in the
Akron MSA in 2014 made 263 loans to
whites and only nine to African
Americans and only ONE to Latinos. Its
denial rate for Latinos was 77.8%,
versus only 50.7% for whites.
For home improvement loans, Huntington
in the Akron MSA in 2014 made 23 loans
to whites and only FOUR to African
Americans and NONE to Latinos. Its
denial rate for Latinos was 100%.
Huntington in the
Cleveland MSA in 2014 made 582 home
purchase loans to whites -- and only
37 to African Americans and only nine
to Latinos.
For refinance loans, Huntington in the
Cleveland MSA in 2014 made 680 loans
to whites and only 58 to African
Americans and only 14 to Latinos. Its
denial rate for Latinos was 80%,
versus only 54% for whites;
Huntington's denial rate for African
Americans was 72%.
For home improvement loans, Huntington
in the Cleveland MSA in 2014 made 88
loans to whites and only NINE to
African Americans and only one to
Latinos. Its denial rate for Latinos
was 96.4%, versus only 72.8% for
whites; its denial rate for whites was
fully 94%.
We will have more
comments, but for now the comment
period should be extended; evidentiary
hearings should be held; and on the
current record, the application should
not be approved.
March 14,
2016
Good news / work in Kansas City: "Redlining complaints against First Federal Bank of Kansas City have led to a settlement aimed at creating $2.5 million worth of home loans in majority African-American neighborhoods. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mediated the settlement, which originated from complaints by the Concerned Clergy Coalition of Kansas City and the Historic East Neighborhoods Coalition of Kansas City."
Inner City Press has protested BNC Bancorp and its proposed expansion for some time, based on lending disparities and lack of transparency. The Federal Reserve, while purporting to be transparent until its Rules on Ex Parte Communication, on March 11 provided Inner City Press with another terse memo that disclosed... nothing. Here it is:
On March 2, 2016, staff of the Federal Reserve System met with executives of BNC Bancorp (“BNC”), High Point, North Carolina at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (“Reserve Bank”) to discuss financial, managerial, and supervisory related matters that the Board would need to consider in its review of BNC’s proposal to acquire Southcoast Financial Corporation (“Southcoast”), and its subsidiary bank, Southcoast Community Bank, both of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, pursuant to section 3(a)(5) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956.
Participants
of the in-person meeting consisted of
the following: Richard Callicutt
(Chief Executive Officer and
President) and David Spencer (Chief
Financial Officer) of BNC, and Keith
Larkin (Assistant Vice President of
Supervision, Regulation and Credit),
Paul Frey (Managing Examiner of
Supervision, Regulation and Credit),
Adam Drimer (Assistant Vice President
in Applications), Richard Gilbert
(Vice President of Supervision,
Regulation and Credit) and Wayne Cox
(Banking Applications Manager) of the
Reserve Bank. Stuart C. Stock, Esq.
(counsel for BNC) participated via
teleconference. The following staff of
the Board participated via
teleconference: Patrick Grant of the
Board’s Division of Banking
Supervision and Regulation; and
Victoria Szybillo and Amber Hay of the
Board’s Legal Division.
At the beginning of the meeting,
staff of the Board’s Legal Division
discussed the Board’s rules on Ex
Parte communications that would govern
any discussions related to BNC’s
proposal to acquire Southcoast.
Discussion: The meeting was scheduled
as a follow-up item to the Reserve
Bank’s inspection of BNC and its
subsidiary bank, Bank of North
Carolina (“Bank”), Thomasville, North
Carolina. The meeting centered on
topics that would be considered by the
Board in its review of an application
under the financial, managerial, and
supervisory factors of section 3 of
the BHC Act. During the meeting, BNC’s
executives shared information
regarding (i) BNC’s plans for handling
the integration of acquired entities
into BNC’s banking organization, (ii)
the Bank’s and BNC’s capital levels,
and (iii) the Bank’s and BNC’s future
plans
Due to the receipt of a public
comment alleging that BNC and
Southcoast have engaged in
discriminatory lending practices in
certain metropolitan statistical
areas, the Board’s rules on Ex Parte
communications precluded discussion
with BNC concerning the convenience
and needs factor under section 3 of
the BHC Act. Staff of the Board’s
Legal Division remained throughout the
meeting to ensure compliance with the
Board’s rules on Ex Parte
communications.March 7, 2016
Federal
Reserve Gives ICP Memo of BNC Meeting,
from Jan 28, Faux Ex Parte
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
March 1 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation expends from the
relatively smaller of mid-sized to the
largest banks, with Goldman Sachs the
most recent example.
A
mid-sized bank Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch is scrutinizing, based
on its records, is BNC
Bancorp, currently seeking to
acquire Southcoast Financial in
South Carolina and, after that, High
Point Bank & Trust.
On
March 1 the Federal Reserve e-mailed
Inner City Press a memo about a
meeting it had with BNC Bank's highest
executives, under the Fed's rules on
Ex Parte contacts, avoiding the fair
lending and Community Reinvestment Act
issues which Inner City Press has
raised. We are publishing
the Federal Reserve memo online
here.
But
as Inner City Press immediately
replied, including to the Fed's Office
of the Secretary, why did the Fed wait
until March 1 to send a memo of a
January 28, 2016 meeting -- more than
a month? Does that comply with any
meaningful rule on Ex Parte
communications? We'll have more on
this.
There's a problem with this
acquisitiveness: BNC is subject to to
Compliance Order with the FDIC, which
is rare, based on its fair lending
record. But after Fair Finance Watch
protested the deal, and the Fed told
BNC to send it a copy of the bank's
response, the response was provided
six days later with with the entirety
of the Community Reinvestment Act
response withheld. See
here.
February
29, 2016
On First
Niagara, Key Says It'll Address
Branches Later, Withholds, ICP FOIAs
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
February 23 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - and those
in the upper bulge like KeyCorp,
seeking to buy First Niagara and close
a lot of branches.
In a
submission to the Federal Reserve
dated February 12 but only mailed to
Inner City Press on February 20, Key
answers questions about branch
closings by saying "Additional
information will be provided
supplementally." Key withholds a
Community Reinvestment Act and other
answers. See
here.
Inner
City Press on February 23 submitted a
FOIA request:
This is a FOIA request for the entirety of the February 12, 2016 submission in connection with the Application by Application by KeyCorp to acquire First Niagara Financial Group of which a heavily redacted copy was received by Inner City Press on February 22-23, as a timely commenter, by Goldman Sachs. (The cover letter to ICP says February 12, but the USPS Express envelope says Feb 20, notice received Feb 22, picked up Feb 23.)
Key's answer has many exhibits withheld -- all of which we are hereby requesting under FOIA. Simply as examples: Page 1 referes to Confidential Exhibit 1 and 2(a); Page 2 refers to Confidential Exhibits 2(b), 3, 4 and 5; in the Community Reinvestment Acti section, “Confidential” Exhibit 10 is withheld. We also note that the Fed still owes ICP a FOIA response on this application, and that Key's answer on branch closings is 'Additional information will be provided supplementally.' The comment period must be extended; we request this information in advance."February
22, 2016
As Regions
Bank CRA Cut, ICP Protests Republic
Bank, Key - First Niagara
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
February 17 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - through
those in the upper bulge like KeyCorp,
seeking to buy First Niagara and close
a lot of branches, down to
Kentucky-based Republic Bank, back in
the tax loan business including in New
York City.
One
development pointing in the other
direction is the Community
Reinvestment Act downgrade of Regions
Bank. Inner City Press has previously
commented to the regulators on
disparities in Regions' record, while
noting that the bank has timely
provided its Home Mortgage Disclosure
Act Loan Application Register data.
As simply one example, in the Jackson, Mississippi MSA in 2014, Regions Bank denied the applications for convention home purchase loans of African Americans 3.21 times more frequently than whites.
Now, no new mergers. Shouldn't this apply to some other banks as well?February
15, 2016
After ICP's
Protest of NYCB - Astoria Bank, Fed
Asks Qs Due Feb 26
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
February 13 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - and those
in the middle, seeking to become a
Systemically Important Financial
Institution like New York Community
Bancorp is, applying to buy Astoria
Bank.
After
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
filed a timely protest, the Federal
Reserve on January 8 asked NYCB 14
questions. Inner City Press has put
the Additional Information letter
online here, including a request
to know which branches NYCB would
close, how it would try to sell of
Astoria's loans, etc. Inner City Press
said, there should now be more fair
lending questions, and the comment
period should be extended.
On
January 21, the Federal Reserve has
informed Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch that the Fed is
re-opening and extending its comment
period on NYCB - Astoria until
February 16.
But
on February 12, the Federal Reserve
asked NYCB a series of questions, due
February 26, telling NYCB to send a
copy of its response then to Inner
City Press. How can the comment period
close ten days before that? On
February 13 Inner City Press commented
to the Fed in New York and Washington:
"This is a second timely comment opposing and requesting a further extension of the FRB's public comment period on the Application by New York Community Bancorp (“NYCB) to acquire 100% of the voting shares of Astoria Financial Corp and indirectly acquire Astoria Bank.
ICP commented on this application on January 6. On February 12, the Fed asked NYCB questions including
“Please describe in further detail NYCB’s business model with respect to mortgage loans secured by one-to-four family residential properties. In your description, discuss the channels NYCB uses to originate or acquire such loans, and describe the key elements of NYCB’s policies, procedures, and practices to ensure compliance with fair lending and consumer protection laws as they relate to such lending. Where such policies, procedures, and practices differ by channel, explain the key differences. Your response should discuss NYCB’s third party vendor management program, to the extent NYCB relies on third parties to originate or acquire such loans.”
ICP has commented on those issues and wishes to comment on NYCB's response, due on February 26. The comment period should be extended.
Furthermore on February 2 NYCB in an investors' presentation (here) bragged about how many of Astoria's branches are within one mile of an NYCB branch (52%). Clearly, the issue of which branches NYCB should be address before the comment period closed, including at the public meeting ICP is requesting.February 8, 2016
Huntington's CEO has already spoken of “significant” branch closings if allowed to acquire FirstMerit -- more than 100? We'll have more on this.
February 1, 2016
Inner City Press waited and waited but
has now filed this:
Dear
Chair Yellen, Secretary deV. Frierson
and others in the FRS:
This is a timely first comment opposing
and requesting an extension of the FRB's
public comment period on the Application
by KeyCorp to Acquire First Niagara.
First, the comment period must be
extended. All the way back on December
16, 2015, Inner City Press submitted a
FOIA request for documents related to
this proposal. It was assigned number
F-2016-00073 by the Federal Reserve.
But on January 20 the Manager of the
FRB's Freedom of Information Office
wrote to Inner City Press that “pursuant
to section (a)(6)(B)(i) of the FOIA, we
are extending the period for our
response until February 2, 2016, in
order to consult with two or more
components of the Board having a
substantial interest in the
determination of the request.” Full text
below, for the record.
The comment period is set to expire on
January 31 -- six weeks after ICP's FOIA
request, but days BEFORE the Fed's
response. This request to extend the
comment period is being submitted on
January 30 and must in context be
granted.
In the interim, in support of ICP's
request for public hearings, consider
that in 2014, the most recent year for
which Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data
is available, Key Bank National
Association in the Buffalo Metropolitan
Statistical Area made 258 home purchase
loans to whites but only seven to
African Americans, while denying the
applications of African Americans 2.56
times more frequently than those of
whites. For refinance loans, Key's
denial rate disparity for African
Americans was 2.28.
In the New York City MSA, Key Bank
National Association made 21 home
purchase loans to whites and only ONE to
an African American applicant. Key made
43 refinance loans to whites and NONE to
African Americans. These disparities are
not acceptable.
Nor is the lack of transparency, as the
comment period is set to close, on
branch closures or “consolidations.” The
comment period must be extended and
public hearings held.
Here for the record is the Fed's January
20 letter to ICP:
“Re: Freedom of Information Act Request
No. F-2016-00073
Dear Mr. Lee,
On December 17, 2015, the Board of
Governors (“Board”) received your
electronic message dated December 16,
pursuant to the Freedom of Information
Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, for the
entire[t]y of the “Application by
KeyCorp to acquire First Niagara
Financial Group,” and for all records
reflecting [Federal Reserve System]
communications with KeyCorp or First
Niagara for the past twelve (12) months.
In an e-mail communication on December
17, 2015, you were provided with the
public portion of the application by
KeyCorp to acquire First Niagara
Financial Group, Inc.
Pursuant to section (a)(6)(B)(i) of the
FOIA, we are extending the period for
our response until February 2, 2016, in
order to consult with two or more
components of the Board having a
substantial interest in the
determination of the request.
If a determination can be made before
February 2, 2016, we will respond to you
promptly.”
But on the eve of the closing of the
comment period, nothing has been
received. The comment period must be
extended; on the current record, public
hearings should be held and the
application denied.
January
25, 2016
After ICP's
Protest of NYCB - Astoria Bank, Fed
Extends to Feb 16
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
January 21 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - and those
in the middle, seeking to become a
Systemically Important Financial
Institution like New York Community
Bancorp is, applying to buy Astoria
Bank.
After
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
filed a timely protest, the Federal
Reserve On January 8 asked NYCB 14
questions. Inner City Press has put
the Additional Information letter
online here, including a request
to know which branches NYCB would
close, how it would try to sell of
Astoria's loans, etc. Inner City Press
said, there should now be more fair
lending questions, and the comment
period should be extended.
January
18, 2016
After ICP's
Protest of NYCB - Astoria Bank, FDIC
Denies Expedited Processing
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
January 15 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - and those
in the middle, seeking to become a
Systemically Important Financial
Institution like New York Community
Bancorp is, applying to buy Astoria
Bank.
After
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
filed a timely protest, the Federal
Reserve On January 8 asked NYCB 14
questions. Inner City Press has put
the Additional Information letter
online here, including a request
to know which branches NYCB would
close, how it would try to sell of
Astoria's loans, etc. There should now
be more fair lending questions.
Now on
January 15, after Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch also filed comments
with the FDIC, that agency has written
to NYCB's Joseph Ficalora asking for a
response, and stating that
"We are
writing in reference to the enclosed
e-mail that we received from Executive
Director Matthew Lee, of Inner City
Press/Fair Finance Watch concerning
your institution's application to
acquire Astoria Bank. We reviewed the
subject e-mail in accordance with the
guidelines of 12 C.F.R. Section 303,
and deemed it a Community Reinvestment
Act (CRA) protest for the purpose of
your application. The subject e-mail
raises issues regarding your
institution's record of lending to
African American and Latino persons.
The anticipated time and research
required to investigate these issues
has contributed to the removal of your
institution's application from
expedited processing."
January
11, 2016
Protest of
NYCB - Astoria Merger to Fed, Which
Plays FOIA Games for Goldman
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
January 7 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks like Goldman Sachs - and those
in the middle, seeking to become a
Systemically Important Financial
Institution like New York Community
Bancorp is, applying to buy Astoria
Bank.
NYCB's
home mortgage lending is extremely
disparate; its multi-family lending,
some to slumlords, is no defense.
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
has filed this with the Fed:
“On
behalf of Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch, this is a timely first
comment opposing and requesting a
complete copy of an and an extension
of the FRB's public comment period on
the Application by New York Community
Bancorp ('NYCB') to acquire 100% of
the voting shares of Astoria Financial
Corp and indirectly acquire Astoria
Bank.
The applicant NYCB in the New
York City MSA in 2014 made 109 home
purchase loans to whites -- and only
THREE to African Americans. For
refinance loans, NYBC in the the NYC
MSA in 2014 made 27 loans to whites
and only ONE to an African American.
While NYCB may attempt to
minimize these severe disparities by
pointing to multi-family loans, there
are significant complaints about that
lending; note also this
account of the CFPB which lists
the ostensibly mostly multi-family
NYCB with more complaints against it
than banks that are both larger and
more “retail."
In the Nassau Suffolk (Long
Island) MSA in 2014 NYCB made 107 home
purchase loans to whites -- and only
ONE to an African American, while
denying African Americans 4.7 times
more frequently than whites. For
refinance loans, NYBC in the the Long
Island MSA in 2014 made 52 loans to
whites and only three to African
Americans and only TWO to Latinos,
while denying Latinos 2.32 times more
frequently than whites.
In the Cleveland, Ohio MSA
(where NYCB bought Ohio Savings), NYCB
in 2014 made 17 refinance loans to
whites in 2014 and only one to an
African American, while denying
African Americans, while denying
African Americans three times more
frequently than whites. Similar
disparities exist for NYCB in New
Jersey, Arizona and Florida -- ICP is
requesting public hearings on this
ill-conceived proposed merger.
As the Federal Reserve surely
knows, this proposal was driving by
activist investor pressure on Astoria
(by Basswood Capital Management LLC);
both institutions' securities fell
significantly in price when it was
announced. The price to consumers
would include the closure of branches,
disclosure of which should be demanded
during the extended comment period and
at the requested public hearing(s).
The comment period should be
extended; evidentiary hearings should
be held; and on the current record,
the application should not be
approved.”
Meanwhile
Goldman Sachs is trying to speed
through Federal Reserve approval to
buy $16 billion in insured deposits
from GE Capital, and the Fed,
documents released to Inner City
Press under the Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) show, is inappropriately
bent on helping, including by closing
its comment period. But now the Fed
has given itself an extension to
respond to Inner City Press' December
3 FOIA request for Goldman Sachs'
withheld December 2 submission,
writing this to Inner City Press:
January
4, 2016
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch has
commented, on Republic Bank, quoting the
WSJ: "“Washington-based Fenway Summer
LLC, in January reached a deal with
Louisville, Ky.-based Republic Bancorp
Inc. to offer a credit card that is
being pitched as a more affordable
alternative to payday loans, which are
short-term loans that often charge
triple-digit interest rates. The Build
Card, which is being rolled out later
this year, will charge an annualized
interest rate of 25% to 30% and will cap
borrowers’ initial credit lines at
$500.”
Thirty percent interest? In New York,
that's called usury.
But
Republic has told the Federal Reserve
(and FDIC) that it's just "adequately
priced for risk." We'll have more on
this.
December
28, 2015
Federal
Reserve Asked BNC for CRA Info, Which
Withholds It, Ozarks Inquiry
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
December 21 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation expends from the
relatively smaller of mid-sized to the
largest banks, with Goldman Sachs the
most recent example.
A
mid-sized bank Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch is scrutinizing, based
on its records, is BNC
Bancorp, currently seeking to
acquire Southcoast Financial in
South Carolina and, prospectively,
High Point Bank & Trust.
There's a problem with this
acquisitiveness: BNC is subject to to
Compliance Order with the FDIC, which
is rare, based on its fair lending
record. But after Fair Finance Watch
protested the deal, and the Fed told
BNC to send it a copy of the bank's
response, the response was provided
six days later with with the entirety
of the Community Reinvestment Act
response withheld. See
here.
Inner City
Press has immediately filed a Freedom
of Information Act request, and a
second comment with the Fed.
Separately, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has filed the second of two comments to the St Louis Fed:
"This is a
timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FRS's
public comment period on the
Application by Bank of the Ozarks to
acquire Community & Southern.
This proposed transaction raises
troubling Community Reinvestment Act
issues. Bank of the Ozarks has a
disparate lending record, including in
the Atlanta MSA where it proposes to
acquire C&S (which itself just
acquired branches from CertusBank
while leaving behind others to be
closed, evading any review).
In the Atlanta MSA in 2014 for home
purchase loans, Bank of the Ozarks
made 25 such loans to whites and NONE
to African Americans -- it had a 100%
denial rate for African Americans.
For refinance loans, it made 17 loans
to whites and NONE to African
Americans -- it had a 100% denial rate
for African Americans.
There is more to be said, but this is
outrageous, and in the MSA in which
Bank of the Ozark proposes to make
this acquisition.
In the Little Rock MSA in 2014 for
home purchase loans, Bank of the
Ozarks made 332 such loans to whites
and only 13 to African Americans -- it
denied the applications of African
Americans 4.3 times more frequently
than those of whites.
This is outrageous, and systematic.
Bank of the Ozarks has also had
consumer compliance issues."
On BNC,
Fair Finance Watch has raised to the
Federal Reserve:
In the Charleston MSA in 2014 for conventional home purchase loans, BNC made 173 such loans to whites and only SIX to African Americans, and none to Latinos. For refinance loans, it made 68 loans to whites and only ONE to an African American, while denying the applications of African Americans 3.94 times more frequently than those of whites.
Southcoast in the Charleston MSA in 2014 for conventional home purchase loans made 136 such loans to whites and NONE to African Americans. For refinance loans, Southcase made 35 loans to whites and only TWO to African Americans. To combine these two banks would make them worse.
In
the Greenville MSA in 2013 for home
purchase loans, BNC made 117 such
loans to whites and only SIX to
African Americans, and only seven to
Latinos. For refinance loans, it
made 31 loans to whites and only one
to an African Americans and none to
Latinos.
BNC
admits, as it must, that it is
below-market in lending to African
Americans, but paradoxically tries to
use that the fact that it is subject
to a compliance order as its defense
to the Fed.
To
Fair Finance Watch, too. FFW asked to
see, in writing, what are BNC's CRA
plans going forward. BNC replied that
it is "unable to share this with you.
It is an internal document that is
only shared with our Board of
Directors and the FDIC (under the
Order)." FFW has requested a
copy of the High Point application.
December
21, 2015
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has filed the second of two comments to the St Louis Fed:
"This is
a timely first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the FRS's
public comment period on the Application
by Bank of the Ozarks to acquire
Community & Southern.
This proposed transaction raises
troubling Community Reinvestment Act
issues. Bank of the Ozarks has a
disparate lending record, including in
the Atlanta MSA where it proposes to
acquire C&S (which itself just
acquired branches from CertusBank while
leaving behind others to be closed,
evading any review).
In the Atlanta MSA in 2014 for home
purchase loans, Bank of the Ozarks made
25 such loans to whites and NONE to
African Americans -- it had a 100%
denial rate for African Americans.
For refinance loans, it made 17 loans to
whites and NONE to African Americans --
it had a 100% denial rate for African
Americans.
There is more to be said, but this is
outrageous, and in the MSA in which Bank
of the Ozark proposes to make this
acquisition.
In the Little Rock MSA in 2014 for home
purchase loans, Bank of the Ozarks made
332 such loans to whites and only 13 to
African Americans -- it denied the
applications of African Americans 4.3
times more frequently than those of
whites.
This is outrageous, and systematic. Bank
of the Ozarks has also had consumer
compliance issues."
December
14, 2015
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has filed a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the FRS's public comment period on the Application by Republic Bancorp, Inc. to acquire 100 percent of the voting shares of Cornerstone Bancorp
These
transaction raises troubling Community Reinvestment Act
issues. Republic has a disparate lending record and is growing
worse. Significantly, after its rogue-like tax refund
anticipation lending, now Republic is back with subprime
cards. This should be reviewed, before this or any other
acquisitions (see, e.g.http://www.bizjournals.com/
“Washington-based Fenway Summer LLC, in January reached a deal with Louisville, Ky.-based Republic Bancorp Inc. to offer a credit card that is being pitched as a more affordable alternative to payday loans, which are short-term loans that often charge triple-digit interest rates. The Build Card, which is being rolled out later this year, will charge an annualized interest rate of 25% to 30% and will cap borrowers’ initial credit lines at $500.”
Thirty percent interest? In New York, that's called usury.
In the Louisville MSA in 2014 for home purchase loans, Republic made 651 such loans to whites and only 22 to African Americans, and only13 to Latinos. It denied the applications of African Americans 2.15 times more frequently than those of whites. For refinance loans, it made 215 loans to whites and only 10 to African Americans; for home improvement loans it made 129 loans to whites and only ONE to an African American, while denying 7 of 10 applications received from African Americans.
In
Nashville in 2014, Republic made 13 home purchase loans to
whites, NONE to African Americans or Latinos.
December
7, 2015
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch has
commented to the Fed, "On October 22,
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch
belatedly received from the Fed SOME of
the documents about this proposal as
early as it could, on September 2. Dated
December 3, and provided to Inner City
Press on December 4, Governor Powell
belatedly ruled on ICP's FOIA appeal -
and while continuing to wrongfully (for
ICP's perspective) withhold much
information, acknowledged that basic
information about what was to be
acquired for wrongfully withheld.
Accordingly, the comment period must be
re-opened. We submit this at the
earliest possible time and await
confirmation that the comment period has
been re-opened."
November
30, 2015
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has commented to the Federal Reserve:
...The irregularities in
this proceeding, including under FOIA, have been noted
for example in http://www.americanbanker.com/
"Fed Under the Microscope in Goldman's Deal for GE Deposits
November 23, 2015
WASHINGTON — The criticism by consumer advocates of Goldman Sachs' acquisition of GE Capital's online deposits has now given way to questions over how the Federal Reserve Board has handled the application... "They're kind of preapproving something before the public can learn anything about it," said Matthew Lee, founder of Inner City Press and Fair Finance Watch. "This is not the way it's supposed to be. It's just wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong."
...The Fed declined to comment on the record and Goldman Sachs declined to comment beyond what it has said in public materials... The National Community Action Foundation — a Washington-based coalition of community groups — said in a Sept. 28 letter to the New York Fed that Goldman Sachs has "been a leader in helping develop effective and innovative programs to better our fight against poverty." The Carver Federal Savings Bank, which describes itself as "one of the largest African- and Caribbean-American managed banks in the United States," said in its Sept. 30 letter that it supports Goldman's application based on its investment in Carver and support in construction investment in its service area in Brooklyn.”
Note: ICP did not receive either of those submissions, nor it appears other parts of the record. These should be provided, and the comment period must be extended.
The rogue-like culture of
Goldman Sachs has been further on display since ICP's
last comment, see, e.g., https://www.sec.gov/news/
“Washington D.C., Nov. 25,
2015 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today
announced insider trading charges against a former
Goldman Sachs employee accused of stealing nonpublic
information in the firm’s e-mail system so he could
trade illegally in advance of client mergers and make
more than $450,000 in illicit profits.
November
23, 2015
Goldman
Sachs Uses Small Bank Relief For
Federal Reserve Pre-Review on GE
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
November 19 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks, with Goldman Sachs the most
recent example.
Goldman is
trying to speed through Federal
Reserve approval to buy $16 billion in
insured deposits from GE Capital, and
the Fed, documents released to
Inner City Press under the Freedom of
Information Act show, is
inappropriately bent on helping,
including by closing its comment
period.
On
November 19, Goldman Sachs submitted a
purported reply to the Federal
Reserve, stating among other things
that "Certain Comment Letters express
concern with the contact between GS
Bank and Board staff prior to GS Bank
submitting the Application. GS Bank
respectfully submits that the contact
was both appropriate and ordinary in
the context of the Board’s own
guidance on pre-filing
communications.11 Additionally, the
allegations of contact are not germane
to the scope of the statutory factors
set forth for Board consideration
under the Bank Merger Act."
The
2012 Fed letter Goldman Sachs cites
was meant to benefit smaller banks -
and did not envision Additional
Information letters before the public
was even notified of the proposal. The
misuse of small bank "regulatory
relief" by the likes of Goldman Sachs
casts new light of legislative riders
being considered for the US spending
bill due December 11.
November
16, 2015
There are yet more adverse developments regarding Goldman Sachs:
“Goldman Sachs faces
investigation over auction of securities,”
November 3, 2015, Bloomberg and Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
“Goldman Sachs added the offering and auction of securities, as well as 'when-issued trading,' to a list of activities that regulators and other government bodies are investigating.The bank made the disclosure Tuesday in a quarterly regulatory filing, without specifying which agencies or regulators are probing the items on the list.”
See also, Nov 3, 2015,
“Goldman Sachs settles CDO class action,”http://www.lexology.com/
“On November 3, 2015,
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed to settle a
lawsuit brought by a class of investors over
Goldman’s sale of two collateralized debt
obligations.”
And the Fed has
STILL not ruled on Inner City Press' October 24 FOIA
appeal...
November
9, 2015
Key Bank -
First Niagara Would Trigger Branch
Closing, Lending Disparities, FFW Says
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
November 3 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation continues, even
as new mergers portending significant
branch closing impacts are announced.
Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch, which
has previously expressed its concerns
about both KeyCorp and First Niagara,
sees no public benefit in the proposed
merger of the two for $4.1 billion,
announced on October 30.
First Niagara already closed more than a dozen branches after it acquired them from HSBC (here were some of Fair Finance Watch' concerns when it grabbed New Alliance). KeyCorp would closed yet more branches (here's some of Fair Finance Watch's analysis of KeyCorp's lending).
In
2014, the most recent year for which
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data is
available, Key Bank National
Association in the Buffalo
Metropolitan Statistical Area made 258
home purchase loans to whites but only
seven to African Americans, while
denying the applications of African
Americans 2.56 times more frequently
than those of whites. For refinance
loans, Key's denial rate disparity for
African Americans was 2.28.
In the New York City MSA, Key
Bank National Association made 21 home
purchase loans to whites and only ONE
to an African American applicant. Key
made 43 refinance loans to whites and
NONE to African Americans. These
disparities are not acceptable.
In
other upstate / Western New York work,
after Fair Finance Watch advocacy,
Community Bank System Inc is expanding
its Community Reinvestment Act
assessment area, here.
As
to Goldman Sachs, Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch filed a supplement
comment on October 30 including
Goldman's new and troubling settlement
with the NYS Department of Financial
Services regarding a former Federal
Reserve employee impermissibly using
Fed information for them. Public
hearings and an extension of the
comment period are needed.
As
detailed below, the Federal Reserve's
General Counsel Scott Alvarez
solicitiously agreed to weekend phone
calls with Goldman's outside council
Rodgin "Rodge" Cohen at Sullivan &
Cromwell, and the Fed submitted its
"Additional Information" request to
Goldman in July, a full month before
any application was submitted or the
deal publicly announced.
Thus
there was no way for the public to be
involved in the Fed's review, which is
required by the Bank Merger Act (and
the Administrative Procedures Act).
The Fed began trying to essentially
pre-approve some applications with a 2012
letter to banks, here - but it
said no major issues could be
addressed this way, and the
interchanged would be subject to FOIA.
In
this case, though, where Inner City
Press submitted its FOIA request as
soon as it became aware of Goldman's
GE proposal and application, none of
the information would have been
available until after the comment
period was set to close on September.
It has been extended to October 30,
due to requests from ICP and other
NCRC members, but the Fed is still
withholding portions of its
communication with Goldman in the face
of the FOIA Appeal Inner City Press
immediately filed. (ICP has also
submitted a timely additional comment
on these issues.)
Inner City Press has previously litigated
FOIA requests with the Fed and won,
at least in part, for example in
obtaining subprime lending
information the Fed wanted to
withhold, here. But this
should not be necessary in order for
the public to have this basic
information, during the comment
period. Will members of Congress and
other chime in? Watch this site.
This
process began by overbroad withholding
of basic parts of Goldman's
application, click
here to view, which Goldman
in an October 14 submission to the
Fed, here, says has been cured
(it has not been).
November
2, 2015
ICP
Comments on Goldman Sachs, Will on Key
& NY Community Bank
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 30 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks, with Goldman Sachs the most
recent example.
Goldman is
trying to speed through Federal
Reserve approval to buy $16 billion in
insured deposits from GE Capital, and
the Fed, documents released to
Inner City Press under the Freedom of
Information Act show, is
inappropriately bent on helping,
including by closing its comment
period. At the other end of the
spectrum, after Fair Finance Watch
advocacy, Community Bank System Inc is
expanding
its Community Reinvestment Act
assessment area, here.
In
between, and going forward, KeyCorp is
trying to buy First Niagara in the
same area as CBSI, and NY Community
Bank wants to buy Astoria; there will
be opposition.
As
to Goldman Sachs, Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch filed a supplement
comment on October 30 including
Goldman's new and troubling settlement
with the NYS Department of Financial
Services regarding a former Federal
Reserve employee impermissibly using
Fed information for them. Public
hearings and an extension of the
comment period are needed.
As
detailed below, the Federal Reserve's
General Counsel Scott Alvarez
solicitiously agreed to weekend phone
calls with Goldman's outside council
Rodgin "Rodge" Cohen at Sullivan &
Cromwell, and the Fed submitted its
"Additional Information" request to
Goldman in July, a full month before
any application was submitted or the
deal publicly announced.
Thus
there was no way for the public to be
involved in the Fed's review, which is
required by the Bank Merger Act (and
the Administrative Procedures Act).
The Fed began trying to essentially
pre-approve some applications with a 2012
letter to banks, here - but it
said no major issues could be
addressed this way, and the
interchanged would be subject to FOIA.
In
this case, though, where Inner City
Press submitted its FOIA request as
soon as it became aware of Goldman's
GE proposal and application, none of
the information would have been
available until after the comment
period was set to close on September.
It has been extended to October 30,
due to requests from ICP and other
NCRC members, but the Fed is still
withholding portions of its
communication with Goldman in the face
of the FOIA Appeal Inner City Press
immediately filed. (ICP has also
submitted a timely additional comment
on these issues.)
October
26, 2015
FOIA
Response to ICP Shows Goldman Met Fed
in May on GE, Pre-Reviewed
By Matthew
R. Lee, Exclusive
NEW YORK,
October 23 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks, with Goldman Sachs the most
recent, example. Goldman is trying to
speed through Federal Reserve approval
to buy $16 billion in insured deposits
from GE Capital, and the Fed,
documents just released to Inner City
Press under the Freedom of Information
Act show, is inappropriately bent on
helping.
It
began by overbroad withholding of
basic parts of Goldman's application,
click
here to view, which Goldman
in an October 14 submission to the
Fed, here, says has been cured
(it has not been).
Now
the Federal Reserve has belatedly
responded to Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch's September 2 FOIA
request, with some of its internal
documents, many heavily redacted. FOIA
letter here; FOIA
documents released to ICP here,
and embedded below.
While
Inner City Press is appealing, even as
released the documents show that
Goldman Sachs through its law firm
Sullivan & Cromwell reached out to
Fed General Counsel Scott Alvarez in
May 2015 about the transaction, and
was largely able to vet it with the
Fed's staff by July, even receiving an
"additional information" request
before any application was filed.
Since the public cannot comment or ask
questions before a transaction is
announced, this "pre-review" by the
Fed in essence cuts public review and
transparency out of the process. The
Fed's rules against ex-parte
communications can't be triggered
before there is an application. But
should Fed review be held, and
apparently completed, before there is
any public notice?
The
documents Inner City Press has
obtained under FOIA show that on May
14 and May 18, Goldman Sachs and its
outside counsel Rodgin "Rodge" Cohen
of Sullivan & Cromwell told the
Fed and its General Counsel Scott
Alvarez of their plans for GE Capital
Bank.
On
May 28, the Fed met with Goldman which
presented a "deck" of information
about "Project Apple," much of it
still redacted as provided to Inner
City Press (which is appealing under
FOIA).
As
precedents, Goldman Sachs cited
Capital One - ING and RBC - City
National (see below).
This
was followed by a May 29, 2015 letter
from "Rodge" to the Fed's Scott
Alvarez, asking for confidential
treatment of everything including the
letter, and including from any
Governmental inquiry. (Page 28 of FOIA
response to ICP.) A similar letter was
submitted by Cohen on June 16,
attaching a letter the Fed has
redacted in full from Goldman Sachs'
Esta E. Stecher.
Scott Alvarez took the conversation
onto the telephone, not subject to
FOIA, on June 16. His accompanying
e-mails, as redacted, only say
"Thanks! Scott."
On
June 26, the Fed' Alison Thro wrote
that "Rodgin Cohen was in today
briefly to discuss, among other
things, GS’s plans to acquire the
deposits of GE’s ILC. He asked what
the next steps might be." What were
those "other things"?
On
July 13, the Fed sent Cohen a "request
for additional information concerning
the proposal by GS Bank to purchase
certain assets and assume the deposit
liabilities of GE Capital Bank."
A
request for additional information is
usually what the Fed sends a bank or
bank holding company after it has
submitted an application; a commenter
would get a copy. Here, the Fed was
pre-reviewing Goldman Sachs' proposal,
entirely outside of any public
scrutiny. (The later public questions
are as if by rote: the fix was already
in.)
On
Friday, July 17 the Fed's Thomas
Baxter wrote to Scott Alvarez that the
transaction would be public announced
the next Monday -- AFTER the Fed's
"additional information request" --
based on a long voicemail from Harvey
Schwartz of Goldman Sachs. (Page 59 of
FOIA response to ICP). Alvarez was on
the phone with "Esta of GA and Rodge
Cohen."
Alvarez said he was willing to talk
with Goldman Sachs on Sunday, July 19.
Cohen had written to Alvarez:
"In view of
the various communications on Friday
and the intended announcement of the
deposit assumption transaction on
Monday, GS believes that it must
decide over this weekend whether it
can proceed as scheduled and, as a
matter of fairness and transparency,
what it can tell GE. As we have
discussed, this transaction appears to
be a centerpiece of the GE
restructuring. We would therefore most
appreciate the opportunity to have a
conference call as soon as possible
over the weekend to obtain as much
clarity as possible as to timing and
other relevant matters.
We apologize for intruding into your
weekend and thank you your
consideration of this request." (Page
65 of FOIA response.)
The reference to "fairness and
transparency" was apparently without
irony. But Goldman stood the Fed up.
But
this announcement was postponed.
Alvarez wrote on July 20 that "Rodge
just sent a note that GS wants to
postpone signing the deal with GE and
the announcement for 2 to 3 weeks."
More review continued, outside of
public scrutiny. Alvarez made himself
available on Sunday, July 26. But to
no avail.
The
deal was publicly announced on August
13 and Goldman Sachs on August 18
submitted the apparently pre-approved
application. Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch submitted a comment and
FOIA request (delayed until now); the
end of the FOIA response has a
redacted reaction to the "public
comment." Now others have commented
and a campaign has begun. But has the
Fed already made up its mind?
On Goldman Sachs, Federal Reserve's Initial FOIA Response to Inner City Press on GE Capital Bank by Matthew Russell Lee
October
19, 2015
On
Goldman, Federal Reserve Ignores Oct
16 FOIA Deadline, Collusion Like CIT?
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 17 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks, with CIT and OneWest a major,
and Goldman Sachs the most recent,
example. Goldman is trying to speed
through Federal Reserve approval to
buy $16 billion in insured deposits
from GE Capital, and the Fed so far
seems bent on helping. It began by
overbroad withholding of basic parts
of Goldman's application, click
here to view, which Goldman
in an October 14 submission to the
Fed, here, says has been cured
(it has not been).
Inner City Press still has a pending
Freedom of Information Act request;
Fair Finance Watch and others,
including NCRC, asked the Fed to
extend its comment period, which has
now been done, until October 30, with
the Fed's FOIA response to Inner City
Press due on October 16. But as of
October 17, no response from the Fed,
despite this letter:
"Re:
Freedom of Information Act Request No.
F-2015-0336
Dear Mr. Lee,
On September 2, 2015, the Board of
Governors (“Board”) received your
electronic message dated September 2,
pursuant to the Freedom of Information
Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, for the
entirely of the “Application by
Goldman Sachs Bank USA for the
Acquisition by Purchase and Assumption
of Certain Deposit Liabilities and
Certain Very Limited Non-Financial
Assets of GE Capital Bank,” and for
all records reflecting FRS
communications with Goldman Sachs for
the past twelve (12) months. On
September 3 and September 9, the Board
provided you with the public portions
of the application.
Pursuant to section (a)(6)(B)(i) of
the FOIA, we are extending the period
for our response until October 16,
2015, in order to consult with two or
more components of the Board having a
substantial interest in the
determination of the request.
If a determination can be made before
October 16, 2015, we will respond to
you promptly. It is our policy
to process FOIA requests as quickly as
possible while ensuring that we
disclose the requested information to
the fullest extent of the law.
Very truly yours,
/signed/
Jeanne M. McLaughlin
Manager, Freedom of Information
Office"
But
even by October 16, no response from
the Fed. Only this from Goldman Sachs,
only snail-mailed by its counsel:
Goldman Sachs' 2d Reply to Inner City Press, As Fed Withholds FOIA Documents by Matthew Russell Lee
October
12, 2015
Federal
Reserve Re-opens Comment on Goldman
Sachs-GE to Oct 30
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 5 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks, with Goldman Sachs the most
recent example. Goldman is trying to
speed through Federal Reserve approval
to buy $16 billion in insured deposits
from GE Capital, and the Fed so far
seems bent on helping. It began by
withholding basic parts of Goldman's
application, click
here to view.
Inner City Press still has a pending
Freedom of Information Act request;
Fair Finance Watch and others,
including NCRC, asked the Fed to
extend its comment period, responded
to today:
"The Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced that the public comment period has been extended through October 30, 2015, on the application by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, New York, New York, to assume certain liabilities and acquire certain assets of GE Capital Bank, Holladay, Utah, under section 18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act... The original comment period, which closed on September 19, 2015, is being extended to allow interested persons more time to review the proposal and to provide comments... Comments regarding this application must be received at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Attention: Bank Applications Officer, 33 Liberty Street, New York, New York 10045; comments.applications@ny.frb.org) or the Office of the Secretary of the Board (20th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20551) on or before October 30, 2015."
Just last week, the Fed told Inner City Press a comment it submitted on Goldman Sachs, with new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, was "untimely" --October
5, 2015
Fed Won't
Answer ICP's Goldman Sachs FOIA
Request Until October 16
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
October 2 -- The lack of seriousness
in US bank regulation grows from the
relatively smaller to the largest
banks, with Goldman Sachs the most
recent example. Goldman is trying to
speed through Federal Reserve approval
to buy $16 billion in insured deposits
from GE Capital, and the Fed so far
seems bent on helping. It began by
withholding basic parts of Goldman's
application, click
here to view.
September
28, 2015
Financial
Inclusion, Now
Pitched by
IMF, UNsolved
in US, SDGs
Reviewed
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UN GENERAL
ASSEMBLY -- A
new
International
Monetary Fund
study, just
out from
embargo today,
says
that
"financial
inclusion is
mentioned
under several
of the United
Nations
Sustainable
Development
Goals (SDGs)"
and that "this
year’s
post-2015
Development
Agenda
squarely puts
financial
inclusion as a
key objective
for United
Nations member
countries."
So how
will real
financial
inclusion be
addressed
during the UN
General
Assembly
ministerial
week, from on
September 28
with
Presidents
Obama of the
US and Buhari
of Nigeria,
through Peru
on September
29 and India
on October 1?
Inner
City Press
asked the IMF
on September
3, and will be
asking
countries. Of
the above
named
countries, the
IMF report
("Financial
Inclusion: Can
It Meet
Multiple
Macroeconomic
Goals?" by
Ratna Sahay,
Martin Cihák,
Papa N’Diaye,
Adolfo
Barajas,
Srobona Mitra,
Annette Kyobe,
Yen Nian Mooi,
and Seyed Reza
Yousefi)
states
"Nigeria: The
comprehensive
Financial
Inclusion
Strategy in
2012 aims to
reduce the
exclusion rate
from 46
percent of the
adult
population (in
2010) to 20
percent by
2020. Working
across key
stakeholders,
the strategy
seeks to
address five
major barriers
to financial
inclusion: (1)
income; (2)
physical
access; (3)
financial
literacy; (4)
affordability;
and (5)
eligibility.
"Peru:
e-money. The
authorities
have taken
various
measures to
expand access
and usage of
financial
services. In
2014 the
“financial
inclusion
opportunities
map,” an
interactive
tool, was
launched. It
promotes an
innovative
“Peruvian
model” based
on the 2012
electronic
e-money
legislation
and a new
unified mobile
payments
platform that
links various
providers of
financial
services with
customers.
"India: the
Reserve Bank
of India’s
long-standing
policy on
priority
sector lending
(PSL) requires
banks to set
aside 40
percent of
their assets
to priority
sectors. Most
public sector
banks meet
this
requirement,
but end up
with high
nonperforming
loans and
concentrated
credit
risk.
Recently, the
Pradhan
Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana
[PMPDY], a
financial
inclusion
initiative,
was launched
with the goal
of opening a
bank account
for every
household."
India's seems
like a
particularly
illuminating
approach,
including to
the US, of
which the
report states
"The United
States: the
recently
completed
Financial
Sector
Assessment
Program (FSAP)
(IMF, 2015d)
calls for
financial
inclusion to
feature more
prominently on
the U.S.
policy
agenda. The
Global Findex
survey ranks
the United
States 27th
out of 147
countries in
terms of the
percentage of
adults with a
bank account
in a formal
financial
institution,
and a 2013
Federal
Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
(FDIC) survey
finds that 20
percent of
U.S.
households are
'underbanked'
and 8 percent
are
'unbanked.'
More work is
needed."
We, and NCRC,
will have more
on this.
September
21, 2015
Goldman
Sachs Tells Fed to Ignore Segarra Leak
& Settlements, ICP Reply
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
September 19 -- The lack of
seriousness in US bank regulation
grows from the relatively smaller to
the largest banks, with Goldman Sachs
the most recent example. Goldman is
trying to speed through Federal
Reserve approval to buy $16 billion in
insured deposits from GE Capital, and
the Fed so far seems bent on helping.
It began by withholding basic parts of
Goldman's application, click
here to view.
Now
Goldman Sachs has purported to respond
to the comments of Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch by releasing a
small amount of the withheld
information, and arguing that what the
wider Goldman Sachs does cannot or
will no be considered by the Federal
Reserve on this Bank Merger Act
application by Goldman Sachs Bank.
We've put Goldman
Sachs' response online, here. It
says:
“FFW states
that the audio released by examiner
Ms. Carmen Segara requires an
extension of the comment period and a
public hearing... GS Bank believes the
issue is outside the scope of the
statutory factors for Board
consideration under the Bank Merger
Act... Goldman Sachs Bank USA ('GS
Bank') hereby submits its response to
the three comment letters, submitted
on September 2, September 3 and
September 9, 2015 (the 'Comment
Letters'), by the Inner City Press's
Fair Finance Watch ('FFW')....
"FFW makes accusations of 'predatory practices' in the 'mortgage field' and 'municipal finance,' and states that there are a number of compliance settlements that must be reviewed in connection with the Application. FFW references several articles related to lawsuits, settlements and other events, all but one of which involve Goldman Sachs but not GS Bank. GS Bank respectfully submits that such comments are not substantiated by specific arguments or facts. GS Bank notes that none of the articles relate to GS Bank itself, and believes these issues are outside the scope of the statutory factors for Board consideration under the Bank Merger Act.”
Goldman Sachs is arguing that the acts
of a parent company cannot be
considered when its bank applies to
buy ($16 billion) in insured deposits,
an absurd argument. FFW has submitted
another comment to the Fed, including
that
"ICP has
received by mail from Goldman Sachs'
counsel a purported response which
claims that issues ranging from
conflict of interest and
under-regulation by the FRB (evidenced
for example by the audio leaked by
whistleblower Carmen Segarra) is not
cognizable under the Bank Merger Act -
an absurd argument. The FRB would be
the decision maker, therefore such
issues must be addressed.
"Goldman Sachs cavalierly states
that since it withdrew some of its
indefensible requests for confidential
treatment of its application, that
issues is resolved. It is not - too
much is still being withheld.
Significantly, Goldman Sachs has
offered no explanation of the specious
requests for confidential treatment it
made, denying commenters access to
information during the comment period.
As others now argue, the comment
period would be extended and hearing
held."
September 14, 2015
So M&T, noted discriminator, has settled a Fair Housing Act case. But its purported partner Hudson County has not - the merger should not be considered for any approval. Time for a hearing.
On Goldman Sachs - GE Capital, ICP has formally demanded that the Fed provide a FOIA ruling that can be appealed, before the comment period closes, whether on September 19 or later...
September 7, 2015Goldman
Sachs Blacks Out Basic Parts of
Application to Buy $16B from GE
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK --
The lack of seriousness in US bank
regulation grows from the relatively
smaller to the largest banks, with
Goldman Sachs the most recent example.
Goldman is trying to speed through
Federal Reserve approval to buy $16
billion in insured deposits from GE
Capital, and the Fed so far seems bent
on helping. It is withholding basic
parts of Goldman's application, click
here to view.
As
Inner City Press exposed last month,
Royal Bank of Canada jumped the gun
and began doing business with City
National Bank without any Federal
Reserve approval (see Los
Angeles Times, here.)
Now, even as New York regulators says their comment period on Goldman Sachs' GE Capital proposal extends at least through September 28, Goldman has published fine print notices in the New York Post and a newspaper in Utah saying the Federal Reserve will stop listening on September 19.
Really? After the Fed made Goldman Sachs a bank holding company with no public comment period at all, so Goldman could get a bail-out? After the Fed's coziness with Goldman Sachs was again demonstrated, by the audio taped by then-Fed examiner Carmen Segarra?
Inner City Press immediately submitted
a Freedom of Information Act request
for all of Goldman Sachs' GE Capital
application and related records. The
Federal Reserve has provided a heavily
redacted copy, on which Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch has
commented to the FRB in Washington:
Now Community Bank System has been asked, by the Federal Reserve:
“On May 23, 2015, Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch ('ICP') submitted a comment (Comment Letter) in protest of CBSI's proposed transaction, and in the Comment Letter, ICP alleged that: 'When the planned merger of Oneida Savings ·Bank and Community Bank, N.A., occurs in July, about 60 employees could be out of a job.' Our records do not reflect a response from CB SI to ICP's allegation. If you wish to provide a response, please do so within 7 business days.”
August 31, 2015
Fallout of a merger in Ohio: “A century-old tradition came to an end this week as Lorain National Bank officially ceased to exist because of to a merger with Pennsylvania-based Northwest Bank. The transition didn’t occur without problems, according to Lorain National Bank customers... One man described the changeover as 'a screwed-up mess' in a voicemail left with the paper. He said customers could not access their accounts online, while others went to various bank branches and found them closed, which bank officials say wasn’t the case. 'As far as we know all of our branches are open,' said Melanie Clabaugh, Northwest Bank’s manager of communications. 'As is the case with any transition, you can run into a couple of issues.'”
A couple of issues? Where are the regulators on this?
Well, the Federal Reserve produced a video purporting to say what the Community Reinvestment Act is - without any description of the public comment on merger process. Hmm...
August 24, 2015
As ICP begins new campaigns as well, Community Bank System continues anti-CRA moves in its proposal to acquire Oneida. ICP has just put in this comment:
This is a interim supplemental comment opposing and again requesting an extension of the FRB's public comment period on this application:
Community Bank, Inc., DeWitt, New York to acquire Oneida Financial Corp, Oneida, NY, & indirectly acquire State Bank of Chittenango, Chittenango, NY, & Oneida Savings Bank, Oneida, NYk, & thereby engage in the operation of a savings association pursuant to section 225.28(b)(4) 4 Chicago 05/26/2015
ICP is a timely protestant to the application; as such CBSI was required to send it copies of its submissions to the FRS including its responses to Additional Information letters.
The record reflects that CBSI incorrectly withheld the majority of its July 29, submission. ICP complained and FOIA-ed, and CBSI's counsel emailed it a second version of the response with less information removed.
Now by regular mail ICP has received CBSI's Associate General Counsel's supplemental letter purporting to further reduce or gerrymander the bank's proposed future CRA assessment area.
ICP opposes such gerrymandering. CBSI's main defense to its disparate lending record is to claim that its community is less diverse than the counties it is in. Now it seeks to further limit its assessment areas -- this is precisely the problem
CBSI, on which as noted ICP has previously commented, has been getting worse. In 2013 for conventional home purchase loans in the Buffalo MSA, Community Bank NA made 44 such loans to whites, NONE to African Americans or Latinos.
CBSI's focus is exemplified by this August 11 report: “Community Bank System's wealth management subsidiary has a new office now open in the North Country. The new location opened Aug. 3 in Plattsburgh. It offers investments, insurance and trust planning and management.”
Here for the record is another August 11 report: “In a letter dated Aug. 7, the Fed instructs Community Bank System Inc. to sign a document declaring that it will not control expenses or hiring at Oneida Financial before the deal closes. If Community Bank signs off, it agrees to not interfere with Oneida Financial’s normal course of business.”
ICP has not received any copy of any such signed commitment, which in any event it contends would not comply with antitrust law or the Bank Holding Company Act
August 17, 2015 That a
federal judge,
Katherine Polk
Failla, opined
that New York
City's Responsible
Banking Act was
preempted by the
US and NYS
Community
Reinvestment Act
is not surprising.
But will the De
Blasio
administration
appeal?
Julian
Bond called
#PredatoryLending
“legalized
extortion,” here
in 2011: http://www.stlamerican.com/business/local_business/article_de13df1c-31a3-11e1-be27-001871e3ce6c.html
…. #RestInPeace
Fed Asks
Community Bank System - Oneida To Drop
Two Merger Agreement Provisions
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
August 8 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation extends from large
to smaller banks. As Inner City Press
exposed last month, Royal Bank of
Canada jumped the gun and began doing
business with City National Bank
without any Federal Reserve approval
(see Los
Angeles Times, here.)
Community Bank System of upstate New
York filed with the Fed nine answers
to questions asked after Inner City
Press' challenge -- and tried to
withhold fully eight of the nine
responses. More
here.
Now
an August 7 letter from the Federal
Reserve to Community Bank System
indicates problems with its February
merger agreement, specifically
Sections 5.7(b)(9) and (10). Click
here to view Fed letter,
uploaded by Inner City Press.
How
could a bank of this size, that wants
to become bigger, write and sign a
merger agreement like this?
To
find out, Inner City Press immediately
filed a Freedom of Information Act
request for the whole submission - and
even the Federal Reserve has seen
through Community Bank System's
absurdly -- and tellingly -- overbroad
withholding, releasing all but one
part of one of the eight withheld
responses.
August 3,
2015
Fed Rejects
Community Bank System - Oneida
Withholding 8 of 9 Responses
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
August 1 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation extends from large
to smaller banks. As Inner City Press
exposed last month, Royal Bank of
Canada jumped the gun and began doing
business with City National Bank
without any Federal Reserve approval
(see Los
Angeles Times, here.)
Community Bank System of upstate New
York filed with the Fed nine answers
to questions asked after Inner City
Press' challenge -- and tried to
withhold fully eight of the nine
responses. More
here.
Inner City Press immediately filed a
Freedom of Information Act request for
the whole submission - and even the
Federal Reserve has seen through
Community Bank System's absurdly --
and tellingly -- overbroad
withholding, releasing all but one
part of one of the eight withheld
responses.
Here's is the Federal Reserve's letter to Inner City Press granting most of its FOIA request: here is the now unredacted version of Community Bank System's submission.
July 27,
2015
To FRB,
Community Bank System - Oneida
Withhold 8 of 9 Responses
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
July 25 -- The lack of seriousness in
US bank regulation extends from large
to smaller banks. Last week the
Federal Reserve hauled off and
approved CIT - One West, with whose
executives the Fed
met before the deal was even
announced a year ago.
Further down the food chain, Community
Bank System of upstate New York filed
with the Fed nine answers to questions
asked after Inner City Press'
challenge -- and is trying to withhold
fully eight of the nine responses. More
here.
Inner
City Press is challenging this under the Freedom of Information
Act, comparing Community Bank System's outrageous withholding at
the Fed with other banks, and with Community Bank System's to the
OCC, more
here.
July 20,
2015
RBC - City
National Gun Jumping Covered by LAT,
After FFW Raised It, CBSI Contrasted
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
July 18 -- The largest bank merger
recently proposed, that of Royal Bank
of Canada and affluent-focused Los
Angeles-based City National Bank, has since April
been the subject of a Community
Reinvestment Act challenge by Fair
Finance Watch.
Now
the LA Times has reported
on the "letter from the Fed [which]
asks the banks to respond to questions
raised in written comments by [FFW].
Spokesmen for the banks declined to
comment.... Fair Finance Watch, a New
York advocacy group for minorities,
questioned a deal between the banks in
a June 11 comment letter to the Fed."
Inner City Press first put that Fed
letter online, here; then
Canada's National / Financial Post
reported without credit it had
"obtained" it.
By
contrast, in another pending proposal,
CBSI
- Oneida, the Syracuse
Post-Standard disclosed
that "Inner City Press forwarded the
letter to news outlets. Some of the
Fed's questions focus on whether
Community could improperly control
matters at Oneida in advance of the
acquisition. Community is working
on Fed's questions, said Hal
Wentworth, Community's senior vice
president for retail banking."
One
common theme is that non-control (and
therefore antitrust) laws are being
violated. One difference is that CBSI
does comment to the media -- if only
to blame
the messenger -- while larger
RBC and CNB do not. Arrogance?
On CBSI's blaming the messenger, FFW has commented to the Fed that it will "will comment again when CBSI has provided a copy of its response to the FRS' questions of July 13. Beyond the CRA and impermissible “control” questions raised therein, we wish at this time to raise the issues that, in a public response to ICP's comments, CBSI's SVP for retail banking said the following, in a prepared statement no less:
'In a statement today, Hal Wentworth, Community's senior vice president for retail banking, said that Inner City Press is not a local group and pointed out that letter was the only one filed on the Oneida deal. "This activist does not do business with either Oneida or Community Bank."'
If it would
be inappropriate for CBSI to comment
on or disclose information about its
customers, in this context the same
applies to the above-quoted, which,
separately, is reminiscent of human
rights abusing countries emphasizing
where the rights groups who study and
report on them are based."
On
June 6, FFW submitted
into the record before the Fed:
July 13,
2015
On
Dodd-Frank,
ICP Asks IMF
Of Redefining
SIFI to $500B,
Of Somalia
Remittances
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, June
8 -- When the
International
Monetary Fund
released
reviews and
papers about
the United
States,
complete with
support of the
Dodd Frank Act
and mentions
of anti money
laundering
protection on
June 8 Inner
City Press
asked about
the proposal
to raise the
definition of
Systemically
Important
Financial
Institution
from $50
billion up to
$500 billion
and if tight
AML strictures
are to blame
for cutting
off
remittances to
Somalia.
Aditya
Narain, IMF
mission chief
for the
Financial
Sector
Assessment
Program and
deputy
director,
Monetary and
Capital
Markets
department,
told Inner
City Press
that the IMF
believes such
definition
should give
predictability,
but should be
based on risk
and not
necessarily
only asset
size.
Narain
told Inner
City Press,
"On the first
one, our
general belief
is that
supervisory
approaches
should be risk
based, and
therefore the
materiality
and
proportionality
of
institutions
should be
taken into
account for to
develop
supervisory
frameworks. At
the same time,
we also
recognize that
it’s important
to have some
clear rules,
regarding a
unit, in this
case size of
institutions,
because not
only does it
set a aseline
of
expectations,
but it also
provides a
useful
framework for
people to
anchor their
expectations
on. So that’s
why, in a
sense we would
agree that
it’s important
to make these
approaches
risk based and
therefore not
dependent on
size alone. I
should add
also, that our
only political
ideology is
financial
stability, for
the purpose of
this exercise.
But
will this be
used FOR the
Senator
Richard Shelby
draft bill?
On
remittances,
Aditya Narain
said it is an
important
question but
one that the
IMF is dealing
with in other
venues; it
apparently
wasn't raised
to the US
during this
process. Why
not?
Narain
told Inner
City Press,
"On the
regulatory
question, this
is an issue
which is being
discussed in
several forums
where the IMF
has been
participating,
and this is an
issue not just
for the US,
although it
has been most
discussed in
the context of
the US, but
the effects of
the AML on
remittances
and the
result, the
stringent
adherence to
standards has
led to a
concern more
globally that
might be
affecting the
flow of
remittances to
those
jurisdictions...
where such
remittances
and the
channels
through which
they flow are
more
important. We
have not
discussed
this... there
is work
ongoing in the
Fund,
including in
collaboration
with other
institutions
like the World
Bank... and we
expect to be
able to have
more
information on
this in a few
months time."
In the
embargoed
media
conference
call, two
questions in a
row went to
the Financial
Times, which
opined that
the IMF report
takes the side
of the
Democratic
Party. The IMF
disagreed. The
IMF said, in
writing, “As
the epicenter
of the global
financial
crisis that
began in 2008,
the United
States passed
a major law in
2010, the
Dodd-Frank
Act, to reform
its financial
system.
Officials need
to complete
the rulemaking
under the law,
while parts of
reform agenda
face
legislative
proposals to
water them
down.”
Central
Banking asked
two questions
and Reuters
one, on
federal
insurance
regulation.
The underlying
papers will go
online on the
IMF's website.
Watch this
site.
Also: When
the Fed acted
on
BB&T
- Susquehanna
with FOIA
issues not
satisfactorily
resolved, it
said "in the
first quarter
of 2015, the
FDIC also
approved a
proposal by
Branch Bank to
acquire 41
branches of
Citibank,
National
Association,
in Texas. In
connection
with that
proposal, the
FDIC directed
Branch Bank to
develop a CRA
strategic
plan." We'll
have more on
this.
July
6, 2015
RBC - City
National Gun Jumping Questioned by
Fed, After FFW Raised It
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
July 3 -- The largest bank merger
recently proposed, that of Royal Bank
of Canada and affluent-focused City
National Bank, has since April been
the subject of a Community
Reinvestment Act challenge by Fair
Finance Watch.
Now
Royal Bank of Canada has been asked
more questions by the Federal Reserve.
Inner City Press has uploaded
the letter, here.
On
June 6, FFW submitted
into the record before the Fed:
"RBC, City National off to friendly start ahead of $5.4B takeover Globe and Mail, May 26, 2015, quoted from below.
Now
the Federal Reserve has asked RBC:
"A
commenter alleged that in May 2015 RBC
and CNB collaborated to extend credit
to a customer of CNB. Please
address this claim. In your response,
discuss in detail in detail whether
RBC exercises a controlling influence
over the management or policies of CNC
or CNB without prior approval of the
Board. In addition, discuss whether,
since entering into the proposed
transaction, RBC and CNB have
collaborated, or plan to collaborate,
on extending credit to any other
borrower, and describe the nature and
circumstances of those
collaborations."
June 29,
2015
June 22, 2015
Talk about phoning it in. The Fed on June 15 wrote or ruled, on an application where Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch was the commenter:
The Board received two comments from a single commenter who objected to the proposal principally on the basis of Sterling Bank’s record of extending home mortgage credit to minority individuals in the New York-Wayne-White Plains, New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Division (“New York City MSA”) and the NassauSuffolk Metropolitan Division (“Nassau-Suffolk MD”), as reflected in data reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”)17 for 2013. The commenter expressed concerns that, based on 2013 HMDA data, Sterling Bank was not meeting th credit needs of minority individuals in the communities served by the bank.18 The commenter also contended that Sterling Bank’s HMDA data are “irregular.” The commenter noted that the bank reported three withdrawn and three incomplete applications for refinance loans to African Americans in the New York City MSA and no denials, suggesting that the bank is prescreening minority borrowers.
Fn 18: Sterling represented that Hudson Valley Bank is primarily a commercial lender and does not have a material mortgage program. Mortgage loans represented approximately 14 percent of the bank’s overall lending portfolio as of December 31, 2014.”
FN 19: Sterling asserted that three loan applications were withdrawn at the prospective borrowers’ request because they did not wish to continue the transaction and that the three other applications were deemed incomplete because the prospective borrowers did not provide the requested property, asset, or income documentation needed by the bank to make a lending decision.”
So the Fed accepts 14% as “not material”? And that all people of color “requested” to withdraw their applications is acceptable? This vague commitment does not make up for it:
Sterling Bank has determined to increase its marketing and outreach efforts to better serve the needs of its communities and has adopted its revised CRA Plan. Although the bank intends to remain primarily a commercial lender, it expects to increase its outreach efforts for residential mortgages. Sterling Bank also stated that it will continue pursuing the other community development and CRA-related initiatives set forth in its revised CRA Plan. Sterling plans to reassess the goals and objectives in its CRA Plan to determine if any adjustments are necessary to reflect the acquisition of Hudson Valley.”
We'll have more on this. And this - on another application ICP has commented on, this was reported:
“In a statement today, Hal Wentworth, Community's senior vice president for retail banking, said that Inner City Press is not a local group and pointed out that letter was the only one filed on the Oneida deal. 'This activist does not do business with either Oneida or Community Bank, but nonetheless made vague allegations regarding Community,' Wentworth said. 'These allegations were entirely without merit and will be fully addressed by Community Bank and Oneida Savings in the application process.'”
If it would be illegal for CBSI to so disclose information, for its own purposes, about those who have accounts with it, how is this not illegal too? And from a human rights perspective, what a pathetic and telling response. We'll have more on this.
June 15, 2015
Inner City Press
/ Fair Finance
Watch filed a
fourth timely
comment on RBC -
City National on
June 11:
By
letter date June
1, the FRB
granted FFW an
extension of the
comment period
through June 11.
Please
note that RBC's
belated release
of some
documents it
improperly
sought
confidential
treatment for
does not resolve
ICP's FOIA
request - we are
awaiting an FRB
ruling in order
to, if need be,
appeal. We
object, for
example, to the
continued
redaction of
“holder and
interest” as to
subsidiaries;
even the ADDRESS
of “Independence
Investments,
LCC,” even the
description of
Aston / LMCG and
of City National
Rochdale Hong
Kong and RIM
Securities and
all of CNB
Wealth
Management; an
unspecified
volume of
“Confidential”
Exhibit 10;
portions of the
“Source of
Funds” and
“Interconnectedness”
analysis; etc.
Released
(improperly
withheld)
information
shows that RBC
Bank did not
make any
community
development
loans, for
example...
Meanwhile
in Iowa, Farmers
State Bank is
planning on
selling their
closed branch
property in
Raymond -- with
a 20 year deed
restriction that
another
financial
institution can
not open in that
location.
It's said the
Union State Bank
from Greenfield,
Iowa is
interested if
the building was
available. We'll
have more on
this.
June 8,
2015
RBC - City
National Comment Period Extended,
Banks Jumped the Gun
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
June 6 -- The largest bank merger
recently proposed, that of Royal Bank
of Canada and affluent-focused City
National Bank, has since April been
the subject of a Community
Reinvestment Act challenge by Fair
Finance Watch.
Now
the Federal Reserve Board has granted
FFW an extension of the comment period
on the proposed merger, through June
11, FRB
letter here, due to RBC
improperly withholding information
which was subsequently released after
a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request by Inner City Press.
FFW will comment by June 11 - but has
submitted to the Fed an objection
dated June 6 noting the two banks
admitted they are already working
together on transactions, without any
authorization.
FFW on June 6 submitted into the
record before the Fed:
"RBC,
City National off to friendly start
ahead of $5.4B takeover Globe
and Mail, May 26, 2015
June 1, 2015
After CRA protest, First Tennessee has told the Fed that “First Tennessee is committed to achieving the targeted 30% of originated mortgage loans to LMI borrowers and is preparing plans accordingly. First Tennessee has formed a project team and is developing a detailed execution plan including initiatives to leverage marketing programs, review underwriting guidelines, and assess product design. First Tennessee anticipates the detailed plan will be completed by August 31, 2015.” But why should any merger be ruled on before then? And why are the applicants trying to withhold information about HMDA and a mortgage company relationship?
May 25, 2015While the Senate is debate letting “community” banks out of most regulations, with both parties more or less on board, here's a snapshop from the field:
in Raymond, Iowa the last branch was closed by Farmers State Bank, whose only loan denial was to a moderate income applicant. The (part time) mayor of the town complained to the FDIC, which held a tele-conference that left him feeling (seeing) the rubber stamp. And so it goes.
May 18, 2015
So now in the
Senate, a
proposal to
move the
definition of
Systemically
Important
Financial
Institution
from $50
billion up
to... $500
billion.
The Federal
Reserve Board
has hit a new
low on Freedom
of Information
Act
compliance. On
May 15, its
Governor
Jerome Powell,
put in charge
of FOIA
appeals after
joining
the Fed from
Deutsche Bank
and the
Carlyle Ground,
rubber stamped
by rote all of
the Fed's FOIA
withholdings,
for example on
CIT - OneWest.
Previous
Governor in
that post have
most often
overturned
parts of the
underlying
denial, but
Powell upholds
each and every
withholding --
like a FISA
court, some
say, or a
court in
Egypt. Inner
City Press
predicted this
back in
2011-2012,
and
noted it on
Capital One.
But it has
gotten worse.
When New York Fed president William Dudley read a prepared speech to the Bronx Bankers earlier this month, he had a lot of canned advice on how to help the borough. He didn't say what he would do to actually enforce the Community Reinvestment Act and resist regulatory capture by Citi, Chase and Goldman Sachs...
May 11,
2015
Fed
Withholds OneWest Branch Closing, CIT
Internet Deposit Info, ICP Appeals
By Matthew
Russell Lee
NEW YORK,
May 9 -- Federal bank regulators
remain captured by large and
becoming-large banks like the CIT
Group, a Freedom of Information Act
response to Inner City Press from the
Federal Reserve this week shows.
Like
the Fed's previous
FOIA response, exclusively published
here, that showed its officials
met CIT and OneWest before their
proposed merger was announced, this
time the Fed is withholding
information on services and branches
to be shuttered by OneWest.
These include a low income branch at
390 W. Valley Parkway, Escondido, CA
92025 and another at 2245-B Ventura
Blvd, Camarillo, CA 93010.
For
another branch to be shuttered, the
address is entirely redacted, blacked
out. Inner City Press has submitted an
appeal under FOIA, also for
information withheld about CIT Bank's
Internet Deposit Data by County. How
can the Community Reinvestment Act be
enforced in this way? Even the names
of the counties have been withheld.
Now that the US House Oversight Committee, though spokesperson Melissa Subbotin Sillin, is asking for FOIA horror stories, the Federal Reserve and the other bank regulators -- and the US State Department, on delay -- should and will be looked at.
May 4,
2015
Last week Inner
City Press /
Fair Finance
Watch filed
opposition to
the proposed
merger of Royal
Bank of Canada
and City
National Bank,
which focuses on
the most
affluent. Click
here for that.
Now it emerges
that others have
opposed the deal
too, noting that
a focus on the
affluent is
inconsistent
with the CRA.
On this deal, the Federal Reserve has hit a new low - Inner City Press' request under FOIA of April 11, it waited to acknowledge until the stated end of the comment period. More than a week later, still none of the requested documents have been provided. We'll have more on this.
April
27, 2015
CRA Protest
to RBC - City National, FFW on Lending
Disparities
By Matthew
R. Lee
NEW YORK,
April 18 -- The largest bank merger
recently proposed, that of Royal Bank
of Canada and affluent-focused City
National Bank, is the subject of a
Community Reinvestment Act challenge
by Fair Finance Watch.
This
comes after the M&T - Hudson City
merger stalled after similar filings
by FFW. On Royal
Bank of Canada / City National, the
April 23 filing with the Federal
Reserve says
City National Bank is known as a bank directed at the (most) affluent. RBC is that as well:
In the New York City MSA in 2013, for conventional home purchase loans, RBC made no loans to African Americans or Latinos. It made one loan to a white applicant (for $1.8 million) and six to “race not available” applicants, for a total of over $36 million.
RBC Bank (Georgia), in the Atlanta MSA in 2013 for conventional home purchase loans made one such loan to an African American, six to whites, and none to Hispanics. In the Raleigh NC MSA in 2013, RBC Bank (Georgia) made two loans to whites, none to African Americans or Latinos.
City National Bank, in the NYC MSA in 2013 for home purchase loans, made no loans to African American or Latino borrowers. It made 10 loans to whites - none denied -- and 35 to “race not available.” By income, there were 36 loans to upper income borrowers, and only one to the other income tranches.
City National Bank, in the Los Angeles MSA in 2013 for home purchase loans, made two loans each to African Americans and Latinos. It made fully 45 loans to whites.
City National Bank, in the Nashville MSA in 2013 for home purchase loans, made no loans to African American or Latino borrowers. It made one loan to a white borrower - none denied -- and six to “race not available.” FFW contests City National Bank's compliance with HMDA.
How is this
consistent with the CRA? For the
record, RBC previously bumbled in the
USA with Centura and Alabama
BanCorporation. Now it returns, only
for the affluent. Hearings are
necessary.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, Inner City Press / FFW has submitted a
"a formal request under FOIA for the exhibits that Royal Bank of Canada has claimed are confidential and that the Federal Reserve has withheld from Inner City Press on its April 8 response to Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch's April 4 request, including but not limited to the 'RBC Bank (Georgia), N.A. CRA Plan,' the list of subsidiaries, information pertaining to the U.S. structure of Royal Bank."
The
withholding of this CRA plan -
hearkening to the Federal Reserve
rejected CIT's request to withhold
such a plan, and extension of the
comment period and holding of public
hearing(s) - is outrageous; it must be
released sufficiently before any
closing of the comment period such
that ICP can comment on it. We are
therefore requesting all of the
withheld exhibits (listed below)
AND all Federal Reserve communication
with or about Royal Bank of Canada or
City National since July 1, 2014.
Beyond the request for communications,
including emails and text messages,
these exhibits:
City National Corporation
Subsidiaries; Information Pertaining
to the U.S. Structure of Royal Bank;
Integration Framework; Due Diligence
Summary; Royal Bank of Canada
Organizational Chart; RBC USA Holdco
Corporation Organizational Charts;
City National Corporation
Organizational Chart; Pro Forma
Financial and Related Information;
Asset Quality Information; Risk
Management Information; Royal Bank of
Canada BSA/AML Compliance Program;
Information pertaining to BSA/AML
Integration; Interconnectedness
Analysis; RBC Bank (Georgia), N.A.
CRA Plan; Source of Funds; City
National Corporation Dividend
Information; Principal Information
Information Pertaining to Item 3(2)
and Item 12 of Form FR Y-3F
None of this information has been
provided, even the CRA plan. The
comment period must be extended and on
the current record, the application
must be denied.
Inner City Press previously
reported that filing by FFW with the
Federal Reserve against M&T's
application, that Hudson City in the
New York City Metropolitan Statistical
Area in 2011 made only five home
purchase loans to African Americans,
compared to hundreds to whites while
denying the applications of African
Americans 3.21 times more frequently
than whites.
April
20, 2015
After CRA
Protest, Hudson City Probed, M&T
Slowed, Updated Data Here from Fair
Finance Watch
By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
NEW YORK,
April 18 -- Federal bank regulators
remain captured by large and
becoming-large banks like M&T, but
less so relatively smaller
institutions like M&T's target
Hudson City Saving Bank.
Inner City Press previously reported
the filing by Fair Finance Watch with
the Federal Reserve against the
merger, that Hudson City in the New
York City Metropolitan Statistical
Area in 2011 made only five home
purchase loans to African Americans,
compared to hundreds to whites while
denying the applications of African
Americans 3.21 times more frequently
than whites.
That
2011 data was quoted by Bloomberg News
last week, reporting that now the
Department of Justice and Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau are
investigating Hudson City, putting the
M&T deal in doubt. Click
here for that, here
for the NJ Bergen Record, also
citing Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch.
But
there's more, and its worse. FFW has
just filed this comparison to 2013
with the Federal Reserve:
"Hudson
City's record was even worse in 2013
than in the 2011 data cited above. In
the NYC MSA for conventional home
purchase loans, while Hudson City made
(only) five such loans to African
Americans in 2011, this fell to only
FOUR such loans to African Americans
in 2013, compared in 2013 to 427 such
loans to whites: a more than one
hundred to one ratio, totally out of
step with the demographics and other
lenders' records.
"For
refinance loans in the NYC MSA, while
Hudson City in 2011 made 8 such loans
to African Americans in 2011, this
fell to only SEVEN such loans to
African Americans in 2013, compared in
2013 to 801 such loans to whites:
again a more than one hundred to one
ratio, totally out of step with the
demographics and other lenders'
records.
"This is presumptive discrimination
and the reported DOJ and CFPB
investigations are entirely
appropriate and should be deferred to
by the FRB. What does this say, as
well, about M&T's due diligence
and managerial resources?"
Why
has the Federal Reserve not dismissed
M&T's application?
The
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency, part of the US Treasury, is
scarcely better, releasing to Inner
City Press on March 9 a redacted copy
of Sterling's CRA presentation, here.
Now
on April 17 the Federal Reserve has
asked Sterling questions about
inconsistencies in its previous
responses, and about Green Campus
Partners. We'll have more on this.
April 13, 2015
Since 2012 Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has opposed M&T's proposal acquisition of Hudson City Bank. On (Good) Friday April 3, M&T announced it would not close by April 30. On April 6, Hudson City CEO Denis J. Salamone issued a statement that “given the unexpected notice of delay over a holiday weekend, the board of Hudson City needs more time to understand the nature and timing of the delay and its potential impact on the transaction before the board can determine its course of action.” Ouch...
April 6, 2015Here are two comment periods: RBC - City National to April 23 to the New York Fed (Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has already commented), and Pac West - 1 Square to May 1 to the San Francisco Fed - watch this site for more on this and other applications...
March 30, 2015Among community-based groups there's more and more talk about bank branch closing, how to find out about them in advance and try to stop them or reduce the negative impact.
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch notes that while the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency includes branch closures in its old-school “Weekly Bulletin” along with pending mergers, the Federal Reserve and FDIC do not include branch closures in their online lists of pending applications. This shield state banks, along with their branch closures, in secrecy. It is something we aim to address.
March 23, 2015Here's something wrong - M&T Bank, when it submitted CRA answers to the Federal Reserve on March 4 by its Group Vice President Brian R. Yoshida did NOT send copies to Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch, NCRC and the other commenters. This was only done more than a week later by M&T's outside counsel at Wachtell, Lipton who is Patricia A. Robinson, who used to work in the Fed's Legal Division. Something's wrong here...
March 16, 2015Fed
Belatedly Asks M&T About
Discrimination, Sterling on CRA
By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
NEW YORK,
March 9 -- Federal bank regulators
remain captured by large and
becoming-large banks like M&T and
even Sterling Bancorp, belated
responses to Inner City Press under
the Freedom of Information Act show.
On
M&T's pending application to
acquire Hudson, on March 9 the Federal
Reserve belatedly informed Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch that it
spoke by telephone with M&T on
February 19, about a discrimination in
lending lawsuit against it. Published
by Inner City Press online
here.
The
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency, part of the US Treasury, is
scarcely better, releasing to Inner
City Press on March 9 a redacted copy
of Sterling's CRA presentation, here.
March 9, 2015
When Citigroup finally dumped its subprime CitiFinancial, renamed OneMain, who was it to? Why, the old predator American General, about which Inner City Press also received many complaints, since renamed Springleaf. Plus ca change...
March 2, 2015
While there are other
challenges going
forward, here was
Inner City Press /
Fair Finance Watch
testimony read into
the record in Los
Angeles by CRC
(thanks) on February
26:
February 26, 2015
Good afternoon, Presiding Officers and Panelists. This is the testimony of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch and its director Matthew Lee, which CRC has been kind enough to read into the record for us.
When this proposed merger was announced Inner City Press asked the Federal Reserve for information about it, due to concerns about CIT and OneWest's roots in the failed IndyMac.
Inner City Press raised to the Fed, and later the OCC, that just for example here in the Los Angeles MSA, OneWest had made 28 home purchase loans to whites and NONE to African Africans; it had made 12 home improvement loans to whites and NONE to African Americans.
There was and is also the question of the agreement the FDIC reached with IndyMac / OneWest, and whether wannabe SIFI CIT would assume it, as a windfall.
But things got worse. First, CIT tried to withhold even its Community Reinvestment Act plan. Inner City Press pursued this and more documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
The CRA Plan was released, but only last Friday did the Federal Reserve finally response to Inner City Press' August 26 FOIA request for CIT's and OneWest's communications with the Federal Reserve System since January 1, 2014.
While many, many pages have been withheld, and Inner City Press has appealed that under, what was released shows an insider process which, we believe, this single belated public meeting cannot cure.
While today John Thain of CIT testified to this public hearing, back on July 1, three full weeks before the merger was publicly announced, Thain met about it with senior Federal Reserve officials in Washington about it. OneWest's Joseph Otting was there too, and M&A lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell and Wachtel Lipton.
Otting earlier this year solicited colleagues to oppose the holding of this public meeting and now, apparently, to testify at it.
In fact, there are documents inside the Fed as far back as April 24 -- three months before the merger was announced -- the Federal Reserve's Michael Lipman wrote to three others that, quote
“Based on details from the most recent CIT April BOD meeting, there is a likelihood CIT may approach FRB in the near term to discuss an acquisition of OneWest NA (Private, ~$23B in assets ). Couple points [REDACTION]. I will keep you updated as discussions develop. [REDACTION].”
Inner City Press has appealed these and all other redactions.
Perhaps worst of all, there appear to be redactions to the Loss Loss Agreements -- all withheld information should be released, and the comment period extended.
Many of the documents provided are STILL being redacted and withheld, even seven months later as this single public hearing is taking place. Inner City Press asked that given the issues, additional public hearings be held, in New York where CIT is based, and elsewhere, where other members of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, of which Inner City Press, CRC and others here are members, have requested them.
This was apparently denied. Freedom of Information Act appeals are pending, and more comments will be forthcoming.
This insider merger should not be approved.
February 23, 2015
CIT's Thain Met Fed 3 Weeks Before OneWest Merger, FOIA Shows, Redactions
By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
NEW YORK,
February 20 -- Federal bank regulators
remain captured by large and
becoming-large banks like the CIT
Group, a belated Freedom of
Information Act response to Inner City
Press from the Federal Reserve on
February 20 shows. Uploaded
exclusively here, embedded
below.
Back on August 26, 2014, Inner City Press submitted a FOIA request to the Federal Reserve Board for CIT's application to acquire OneWest and for the Federal Reserve's communications with or about the companies since January 1, 2014.
After Inner City Press and Fair Finance Watch repeatedly complained about the withholding even of CIT's Community Reinvestment Act plan, and after the Fed and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had agreed to ICP's and others' request for a public hearing, now scheduled for February 26, only on February 20 -- seven months after the request -- did the Fed provide the responsive documents, over one thousands pages.
Many of the released pages are redacted in full, others have redacts to for example sentences referring to documents about CIT's [REDACTED]. Inner City Press has submitted a Freedom of Information Act appeal and request that the comment period be extended.
But even as released, and exclusively uploaded today here, the document show the degree of insider treatment CIT, its CEO John Thain and its lawyers including Rodgin Cohen of Sullivan & Cromwell are given by the Federal Reserve.
While the proposed merger was only announced to the public on July 22, 2014, it appears in Federal Reserve correspondence as far back at April 24, 2014.
On that day, Michael Lipman of the Federal Reserve Board's Banking Supervision and Regulation (BS&R) department wrote to three others that “Based on details from the most recent CIT April BOD meeting, there is a likelihood CIT may approach FRB in the near term to discuss an acquisition of OneWest NA (Private, ~$23B in assets ). Couple points [REDACTION]. I will keep you updated as discussions develop. [REDACTION].” Page 1 of ICP upload; appealed.
Then in June, Rodgin Cohen of Sullivan
& Cromwell and CIT's John Thain
arranged to meet with the Federal
Reserve, to some it appears to receive
a form of pre-approval of the
proposal.
On June 24 senior Fed staff were asked
to hold time to meet with Rodgin
Cohen. On June 25, Lipman wrote again:
“CIT is meeting with FRBNY (John Ricketti and others) next Monday at 11am to discuss a potentially large acquisition. CIT has yet to send a discussion deck but will have more details later this week (OneWest continues to be the assumed target: $22B out of CA). John Thain’s secretary has bee guided to me to help set up a meeting in DC and I am expecting to hear from her by Friday. That said, it is also possible that they may reach out to one of you; CPC Cheatham is under the impression they have a different contact in DC as well (he is not sure who).” Page 6 of ICP upload.
Later that day it was said that “the meeting with be in Scott's office so space will be limited.” Scott is Scott Alvarez, the Fed's longtime general counsel.
On June 30, the Fed's Richard Naylor wrote to Lipman, “ I wouldn’t worry about any briefing material for Scott. Most likely Rodgin will do all the talking...”
Scott Alvarez's self-described Gate-keeper told Lipman who would come: “The Chairman and CEO of CIT and 6 other guests; 3 from One West; 1 from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and 2 from Sullivan and Cromwell. Total of 13 outsiders.” Page 163 of ICP upload.
These “outsiders” sound like insiders.
Exclusive: CIT's Thain Met Fed Staff 3 Weeks Before OneWest Merger, FOIA Response Shows, Loan Loss Redactio... by Matthew Russell Lee
The next day the attendees were described:
Readout of Meeting on Proposed Merger between CIT and OneWest Tue 7/1/2014 12p-1p, B-4001
Outside Attenders: ~13
Executives from CIT (~7-8) included CEO John Thain, formerly CEO of Merrill Lynch
Executives from OneWest (~3) included CEO
Lawyers (~2-3) included Rodgin Cohen (Sullivan Cromwell) and a Wachtell Lipton lawyer
Board Attenders: ~10-12
So the “outsiders” from Wall Street had more attendees that the Fed, even insider the Fed.
The Fed's Alison Thro put it in context: “Rodgin is coming in to preview the proposed acquisition because it will be the first transaction to create a more than $50 billion institution since Dodd-Frank was enacted.”
Also on June 30, the Fed's Elizabeth Kiser wrote to Fed economist Jacob Gramlich, “I dug a bit and found some materials on CIT’s [REDACTED].” There follow more than 100 pages of redacted material. Page 25 to 149 of ICP upload; appealed.
By July 9, still before any public announcement by CIT, the project had been code-named Carbon / Oxygen and the Fed was reviewing (and now apparently redacting) the OneWest / Indymac / FDIC Loan Loss Agreements. These will be discussed at the February 26 public hearing, and beyond.
Once they applied for approval and groups like Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch, NCRC, CRC and others submitted comments in opposition, the Fed was required to follow its rules against ex parte communications.
But the extensive communications that took place before then were withheld for seven months, and some are still being withheld. Today, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch exclusively uploads these documents, in preparation for the public hearing, and beyond. Watch this site.February 16, 2015
Amid the reporting on HSBC's money laundering, too little has been said that at the same time, HSBC was buying and running predatory lender Household Finance / HFC. Abusing consumers is apparently not as newsy -- but it is related.
February 9, 2015With
CIT OneWest
Merger Under
Fire, Hearing
Feb 26 by Fed
& OCC
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, February 6 --
The US government's
ongoing corporate
bailout following the
2008 meltdown
triggered by predatory
lending continues to
reverberate in one of
the largest proposed
mergers of 2014 now
into 2015.
Now on February
6, a public hearing
has been announced:
"The Federal
Reserve Board and the
Office of the
Comptroller of the
Currency (OCC) on
Friday announced a
joint public meeting
on the proposal for
CIT Group, Inc.,
Livingston, New
Jersey, to acquire IMB
Holdco and its
subsidiary, OneWest
Bank, National
Association, both of
Pasadena, California.
The proposal also
includes the merger of
CIT Bank into OneWest
Bank.
"The purpose of the
meeting is to collect
information relating
to the convenience and
needs of the
communities to be
served, including a
review of the insured
depository
institutions’
performance under the
Community Reinvestment
Act. The agencies also
will consider and
collect information on
other factors in
making a decision on
the application,
including the effects
of the proposal on the
stability of the U.S.
banking or
financial system, the
financial and
managerial resources
and future prospects
of the companies and
banks involved in the
proposal, and
competition in the
relevant markets.
The public meeting
will be held at the
Los Angeles Branch of
the Federal Reserve
Bank of San Francisco,
950 South Grand
Avenue, Los Angeles,
California, on
Thursday, February 26,
2015, beginning at
8:00 a.m. PST."
In New York fair lending news, the State AG has settled with Five Star, for “two new Rochester-area branch offices in neighborhoods with a minority population of at least 30 percent. Five Star also will create a special financing program that will provide $500,000 in discounts or subsidies on loans to residents of majority-minority neighborhoods in the Rochester metro area, as well as a marketing program that will commit $250,000 to advertising aimed at minority communities. Other elements of the agreement call for Five Star to pay $150,000 in costs to the state, provide fair-lending training to employees, and submit to reporting and monitoring for a three-year period.”
The case against Evans Bancorp continues...
January 26, 2015Ghoulish: OneWest, seeking to be bought by CIT, has in a response to the Federal Reserve sent to Inner City Press admitted that on its reverse mortgages, when the borrower dies and if his or her spouse was not a co-borrower, they get evicted. OneWest is blaming this on HUD. Combined with OneWest's CEO's pitch to Wall Street cronies to oppose any public hearings - now public hearings should absolutely be held. We'll have more on this.
January 19, 2015
This week we note that Antonio Weiss' nomination requiring confirmation has been withdrawn. When he was nominated in November, @InnerCityPress questioned it, here: Fox, Henhouse. The withdrawal shows that, belatedly, there's some questioning of just moving people from Wall Street (at Lazard, he was head of mergers) into the regulatory agencies. That Teasury Secretary Jack Lew was at Citigroup, seems nothing can be done about that for now.
But while his nomination requiring confirmation has been withdrawn, Weiss is still in line to become a senior adviser to Lew. How is that OK? We'll have more on this.
January 12, 2015With CIT
Merger Under Fire, OneWest Asks Wall Street to Lobby
Yellen
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, January 10 -- The US
government's ongoing corporate bailout
following the 2008 meltdown triggered by
predatory lending continues to
reverberate in one of the largest
proposed mergers of 2014 now into 2015.
On
December 22, pressing for approval of
its application to acquire OneWest, CIT
told the Federal Reserve, "CITB and OWB
are not yet able to provide specific
details about the expanded Community
Reinvestment Act portfolio because this
will be based, in part, on input from
CITBNA’s to-be-formed Community
Development Advisory Board following the
closing of the Transaction."
That's
basically saying, approve our merger (on
which the Fed is required to consider
CRA), and THEN we'll tell you about CRA.
Now it
gets worse. Here is an email that
OneWest CEO Joseph Otting sent to Wall
Street and other financiers, to lobby
the Fed, h/t
CRC:
From: Otting,
Joseph M [at] owb.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2015 5:00
PM
Cc: Haas, Alesia Jeanne; Tran, Cindy;
Kim, Glenn
Subject: Support For OneWest Bank
Dear Friends,
We were excited to announce on July 21,
2014, that IMB HoldCo LLC, the parent
company of OneWest Bank entered into a
merger agreement with CIT Group Inc. As
part of the applications for regulatory
approval of the transaction, our
regulators are interested in the
perspectives of the public. We are
writing you to seek your support of the
Bank and pending merger. This merger, if
approved, would create the largest bank
headquartered in Southern California
with a full suite of banking products
and services, which will allow us to
better serve our customers. We would
retain and grow jobs and are committed
to continuing and expanding our efforts
to serve the economic and development
needs of our community. I would like to
ask you to take a moment to click on the
link below and submit a letter of
support adding any of your own words or
thoughts.
Please submit your letter by clicking
here, or by visiting our website at www.OneWestBank.com/merger-support
(if the link isn't clickable or part of
the link is cut off, please copy and
paste the entire URL into your browser's
address bar and press Enter)
Thank you for your support. Best
wishes for a successful 2015 and please
call on me if I can ever be of
assistance.
Joseph M. Otting
President and CEO
OneWest Bank N.A.
888 East Walnut Street
Pasadena, CA 91101
Now
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch,
along it's sure with the California
Reinvestment Coalition, has
submitted this to the Fed demanding that
public hearing in fact be held, after
what an independent bank consultant told
Bloomberg News is "unusual"
outreach to Wall Street contacts by
OneWest. What will the Fed do?
* * *
Tellingly,
when lawyers leave the Federal Reserve's
Legal Division, many go to white shoe
law firms that submit bank merger
applications to the same people they
until recently worked with or
supervised.
Inner City Press, Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch and NCRC have repeatedly raised this to the Fed, without meaningful response.
January 5, 2015
How can it be that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, even after the first of the year, has its most recent “Weekly Bulletin” of applications pending dated December 13, even though the comment periods run 30 days or less? Do they want to receive comments?
December 29, 2014
The Federal
Home Loan Bank
of Des Moines
on December 22
announced,
with the and
the Federal
Home Loan Bank
of Seattle
that "the
Federal
Housing
Finance Agency
(FHFA) has
approved their
merger
application
submitted on
October 31,
2014, subject
to
satisfaction
of specific
closing
conditions set
forth in the
FHFA approval
letter,
including the
receipt of
approvals by
members of
both Banks.
Details are
included in
the Banks’
related Form
8-K filings
with the
Securities and
Exchange
Commission.
“This is a
critical
milestone in
the merger
approval
process,” said
FHLB Des
Moines
President and
CEO Dick
Swanson. “We
appreciate the
care and
attention the
FHFA has
shown, not
only in its
review of our
merger
application,
but throughout
this entire
process" -
Care
including
ignoring
comments from
the public.
We'll have
more on this.
December
22, 2014
CIT Says
Don't Worry About Loss Shares
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, December 18 -- The US
government's ongoing corporate bailout
following the 2008 meltdown triggered by
predatory lending continues to
reverberate in one of the largest
proposed mergers of 2014.
On
December 18 the CIT Group submitted to
the Federal Reserve statements from the
FDIC, in essence not to worry about the
Loss Share Agreements OneWest has won
from the FDIC:
"OWB acquired assets from three failed banks — IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB ('IMFB'), First Federal Bank of California, and La Jolla Bank, FSB (the 'Failed Banks'). The FDIC entered into Shared-Loss Agreements with OWB in these acquisitions with respect to certain of the acquired assets."
Now
the regulators say, don't worry as CIT
seeks to take these loss-shares over,
although their value will not for now be
disclosed:
“The FDIC's Division of Resolutions and Receiverships does not release shared-loss payment information on individual acquirers or assets because those records often contain material, non-public information, and their release could harm the negotiating posture of the acquirer with respect to a particular borrower or asset, thereby potentially increasing the amount of a covered loss to the FDIC.”
This is called stonewalling, or a cover-up. We'll have more on this.
December
15, 2014
With FOIA
Reforms Blocked by Bank Lobbyists, Silence
by NYT, Reuters
UNITED
NATIONS, December 10 -- With the
window closing on a
bill to improve the US Freedom
of Information Act, after
outgoing Democratic Senator from
West Virginia Jay
Rockefeller put a block on the
bill, S. 2520 (statement
here), which he then
removed, now bank lobbyists are
in the way.
And STILL there's been little
coverage by media like the New
York Times and Reuters.
Here
is
the Senate
report, providing multiple
assurances to banks on FOIA
Exemption 8:
"Extreme care should be
taken with respect to disclosure under
Exemption 8 which protects matters that are
'contained in or related to examination,
operating, or condition reports prepared by,
on behalf of, or for the use of an agency
responsible for the regulation or supervision
of financial institutions.' [FN 20: 5 U.S.C. §
552(b)(8)]
Here is the official summary of
the FOIA Improvement Act of
2014:
FOIA
Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
to:
(1)
require federal agencies to make
agency records that can be disclosed
under such Act available for public
inspection in an electronic format,
(2) limit
the authority of an agency to charge
a fee if the agency misses a
deadline for complying with a FOIA
request,
(3)
establish a presumption in favor of
disclosure and prohibit the
application of exemptions from FOIA
based on technicalities,
(4)
expand the authority and duties of
the Chief FOIA Officer of each
agency for promoting compliance with
the FOIA disclosure requirements,
and
(5)
establish a Chief FOIA Officers
Council to develop recommendations
for increasing compliance with FOIA
requirements. Requires the head of
each federal agency to:
(1)
review agency regulations and issue
regulations for the disclosure of
records in accordance with the
amendments to FOIA made by this Act,
and
(2)
include in such regulations
procedures for engaging in dispute
resolution through the FOIA Public
Liaison and the Office of Government
Information Services. Expands the
program for the efficient management
of federal agency records to require
agency heads to establish procedures
for:
(1)
identifying records of general
interest or use to the public that
are appropriate for public
disclosure, and
(2)
posting such records in a
publicly-accessible electronic
format. Prohibits the
authorization of additional
funds to carry out the
requirements of this Act.
Now,
even after Senator Rockefeller
under pressure removed his block
and then the House is lobbied
not to take it up, where is the
coverage, for example in the New
York Times and Reuters?
Back in July, US Voice of America as propaganda was belatedly covered by the Times, but ignoring the role of VOA and its Broadcasting Board of Governors as censors, trying for example to get the investigative Press thrown out of the United Nations (where it and the Free UN Coalition for the Access are pushing for a FOIA for the UN. At the UN, Reuters is in the business of censoring information, such as its "for the record" complaint to the UN trying to get the investigative Press thrown out, via ChillingEffects.org, here.)
December 8, 2014
When the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act hearing was held in Los Angeles in December 2, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency took a unique approach -- its Tom Curry tried to tell the public commenters what they could comment on. When the CIT - OneWest merger, which the OCC “erroneously” listed as approved then corrected, was brought up, Curry said that should not be a topic of testimony. Why not? We'll have more on this.
December 1, 2014After regulatory laxity led to a predatory-lending triggered global financial meltdown, what's the move in 2015? Deregulation. It starts this week in Los Angeles, a hearing under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996.
It moves on in 2015 to Dallas on February 4, Boston on May 4, Chicago in October (at a date to be determined), and Washington, D.C. on December 2.
We note: anyone can comment, during the comment period(s) http://egrpra.ffiec.gov/submit-comment/submit-comment-index.html
We'll have more on this.
Update: from the OCC: THESE APPLICATIONS APPEARED INCORRECTLY IN A PRIOR WEEKLY BULLETIN
Details APPROVED 11/3/2014 BUSINESS COMBINATIONS 2014-WECOMBINATION-
139872 ONEWEST BANK, N.A. CIT BANK 2180 SOUTH 1300 EAST SUITE 250 SALT LAKE CITY UT SALT LAKE
Whatever...
November 24, 2014
After our report
last week, below,
asking "How low at the
Office of the
Comptroller of the
Currency go? On the
application by CIT to
acquire OneWest Bank,
with issues of abuse of
the bailout and evasion
of CRA raised not only
by Fair Finance Watch
but also groups across
California and NCRC in
DC, the OCC quietly
approved the application
on November 3, providing
notice only in its
archaic 'Weekly
Bulletin.' We'll have
more on this," the OCC
has responded:
"Matthew,
I understand that
you identified this
entry, below, on the
OCC’s Weekly
Bulletin. I wanted
to let you know that
this entry was in
error and that this
case has NOT been
decided. There will
be a correction in
the next Weekly
Bulletin."
We'll
keep any eye out of
that - the Bulletin
for the week ending
November 15 has an
approval for Webster
- JPM Chase. Does
that one stand? Was
"send" hit
prematurely? Watch
this site.
November 17, 2014
How low at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency go? On the application by CIT to acquire OneWest Bank, with issues of abuse of the bailout and evasion of CRA raised not only by Fair Finance Watch but also groups across California and NCRC in DC, the OCC quietly approved the application on November 3, providing notice only in its archaic “Weekly Bulletin.” We'll have more on this.
November 10, 2014Submitted
on the CRA Q&A:
RE: Proposed Changes to the Interagency Q&A Regarding Community Reinvestment
Fair Finance Watch is writing to respond to the request for comments on the proposed changes to the “Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment.” We focus this timely comment on urging the agencies to reconsider the suggestions regarding alternative service delivery methods.
The notice states that “The Agencies propose deleting language that states 'performance standards place primary emphasis on full service branches' and further deleting the statement that provides that alternative systems are considered 'only to the extent' that they are effective alternatives in providing needed services to low- and moderate-income geographies and individuals.”
In many low and moderate income neighborhoods, particularly communities of color, bank branches remain need and too-few. Whereas mergers and acquisitions result in numerous branch closings, the Agencies most often decline to make applicants public disclose which branches they would close. Now the Agencies propose to stop place “primary focus on full service branches.” We oppose this.
For the record, US Bank closed branches; First Niagara is closing 17 branches, Citibank is closing branches: see final section of http://www.occ.gov/topics/licensing/corporate-activities-weekly-bulletin/wb-10122014-10182014.pdf
November 3, 2014
Now CIT says, “In the four comment letters submitted by Matthew Lee/Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch, dated September 6, 2014, October 9, 2014, October 11, 2014, and October 22, 2014, Mr. Lee, relying on HMDA data, notes that, in 2012, OWB did not originate any single family mortgage purchase loans or home improvement loans to African Americans in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD.” CIT does not dispute that fact. Instead, it submits “letters of support” from, among others, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica and Pasadena, each paid $75,000.
October 27, 2014So, "First Niagara
Financial Group announced it
will close 17 branches and two
off-premise drive-through
locations across its four-state
footprint early next year." This
is after they were allowed to
buy a slew of HSBC branches -
this is how it works, or
doesn't...
October 20, 2014
After CIT
Is Forced To Release CRA Plan, ICP
Slams It & "Clawback" Redactions
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, October 18 -- The secret
recordings of then
Federal Reserve examiner Carmen
Segarra about Goldman Sachs and
regulatory capture have given rise to
calls for oversight hearings by at least
two US Senators, and to spin from the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
On
October 10, Inner City Press was sent
heavily redacted copies of two letters
from the CIT Group concerning its
proposed acquisition of OneWest to the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
supposedly in compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act - now uploaded
to Scribd here and here.
On October 18, Inner City Press &
Fair Finance Watch challenged these
redactions under FOIA, and
submitted comments on CIT's
mockery of the Community Reinvestment
Act to both the Federal Reserve and the
Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency.
CIT
sought to withhold even its CRA plan.
Inner City Press raised the issue to Fed
Chair Yellen in Washington - and on
October 15, the Federal Reserve called
Inner City Press and left a voice mail
to say its request for extension of the
comment period, because of the
incorrectly withheld CIT documents, has
been granted until October 22.
While appreciating the Fed's comment
period extension, the context and public
policy questions recently raised must be
noted.
For
now, on October 18 Inner City Press
& Fair Finance Watch submitted a
fourth timely comment to the Fed,
critiquing the belatedly released CRA
Plan, and demanding release of still -
withheld information:
The
CIT CRA Plan which CIT improperly withheld
states, in Section III, that “the Bank has
lending and support operations primarily
located in Florida, New York and New Jersey”
-- then states its CRA Program is in Salt
Lake City, Utah and “the western United
States.”
This is makes a mockery of CRA,
explicitly separating the bank's lending
operations from its “CRA” operations.
In Section IV, CIT makes claims about
outreach and “public participation” in its
CRA Plan - but in outreach and participation
excluded the communities in which CIT has
its lending operations (FLA, NY and NJ) and
from which, on information and belief, it
collects insured deposits.
This is makes a mockery of CRA,
explicitly separating the bank's deposit
taking from its “CRA” operations and
outreach. See limited list of contacts in
Appendix C, and proof of publication in
(only) the Salt Lake Tribute and Deseret
News.
Even in its artificial limited
assessment area, CIT's “New CRA Assets” are
less than 1% of its Assets.
While still improper, the above
provide a motive for CIT's attempt to
withhold its CRA Plan from the public...
As to CIT's October 8 letter, ICP has
already timely commented “there is
also the question of the agreement the
FDIC reached with IndyMac / OneWest,
and whether wannabe SIFI CIT would
assume it, as a windfall. These are
important questions militating for
both the required extension of the
comment period, and for public
hearings.”
In the October 8 letter, CIT
begins a sentence on page 3 “Clawback
provisions exist for the First Fed and
La Jolla portfolios [REDACTED.]” CIT
also redacts, on page 6, information
related to the OnWest / IndyMac
Consent Order; HAMP (Page 7); deposits
collected over the Internet (Page 8);
Lending (Page 9); Governance and Risk
Management (page 10-12); and
Resolution Plan (Page 12). CIT also
heavily redacts what it calls
“confidential questions” (pages
14-16), and exhibits. This information
must be released, and the comment
period extended. In an abundance
of caution, ICP has submitted a FOIA
request to this effect.
October 13, 2014
As Valley
National Bank Redlines, OCC Gets Vague
Bronx Commitment, Rubber Stamps
By Matthew R. Lee
SOUTH BRONX, NY -- While the
US Federal Reserve is subject to high
profile accusations of being "captured"
by those it regulates in the wake of
staffer Carmen Segarra's leaking of
Goldman Sachs related audio, the Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency, by
one measure, is even more captured.
Since May Inner City Press and others
have commented to the OCC about Valley
National Bank's proposed acquisition of
1st United Bank in Florida. Valley
National in New York City has no
branches above 88th Street in Manhattan
and none in the Bronx. It is old-school
redlining, in its mortgage lending as
well.
After
denying Inner City Press access to
information responsive to its Freedom of
Information Act requests, now the OCC
has approved Valley National's
application, saying as part of a
condition that Valley National will do
better in the Bronx, then admitting in a
footnote that the bank provided no
detail.
The
OCC's Conditional Approval says Valley
National "committed to hiring a
dedicated lending team to develop
commercial loans in the Bronx, New York
(Bronx). Pursuant to this commitment,
Valley National represented that it has
hired two additional lending officers."
But
then in a footnote, the OCC says,
"Valley National did not provide
additional detail related to the work of
the new dedicated lending team in the
Bronx."
Unlike
the Federal Reserve, the OCC says it
does not consider if there is any public
benefit to mergers. The OCC says:
"the
commenters refer to the need for the
merger to create a "public benefit."
Under 12 CFR 225.24(a)(2)(iii), which
applies to proposals submitted to the
Board of Governors ofthe Federal
Reserve System by bank holding
companies seeking to engage in
nonbanking activities, the holding
company is required to provide a
"statement of the public benefits that
can reasonably be expected to result
from the proposal." In reviewing a
financial institution's application to
merge with another financial
institution, in this instance the
application to merge 1st United with
and into Valley National, the OCC
considers the "convenience and needs
of the community to be served" as
required under 12 U.S.C. §
1828(c)(5)."
The
OCC gives weight to it own Community
Reinvestment Act exams, but consider its
record, in data compiled by NCRC:
In the first
eight months of 2014, the OCC conducted
266 CRA exams and did not award a single
national bank a rate of substantial
non-compliance or even "Needs to
Improve." The FDIC and the Federal
Reserve both awarded grades in each of
these categories, albeit the Fed only
one of each.
Perhaps understandably, the OCC's Valley
National Conditional Approval says, at
footnote 4, "Some of the commenters'
concerns were directed at the OCC's CRA
performance evaluation process and, as
such, are not addressed in this letter."
So when will these concerns be addressed?
October 6, 2014
Back on August 26, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch began challenging the proposed acquisition of OneWest (that's IndyMac) by CIT. Now, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has its own comment period, through October 17, and the Federal Reserve's comment period has been extended from September 24 to October 10.
The Fed has asked CIT a series of questions, including “discuss CIT Group's plans to manage OneWest Bank's mortgage servicing assets and nontraditional mortgage loan portfolio, including CIT Group's plans to ensure compliance with relevant federal and state regulations.
As provided to Inner City Press so far, the application withholds the “CRA Plans” of both banks, while making claims about these plans:
“Since the 2013 performance evaluation, CITB has implemented its CRA Plan covering 2013-2017, which is included in Confidential Exhibit 9;”
“OWB has a strong CRA compliance program and has developed a CRA plan, included in Confidential Exhibit 9;” and
“CITBNA will create and operate under a new CRA plan, which it will develop subject to regulatory review.”
This is a mis-reading, even a perversion of the Community Reinvestment Act, that these two documents and the projected third one can be withheld or subject only to “regulatory” review, and not public review. The documents, timely requested, must be released and the comment period must be extended.
For now, consider that OneWest in the Los Angeles MSA in 2012 made 28 home purchase loans to whites and NONE to African Africans; it made 12 home improvement loans to whites and NONE to African Americans.
September 29, 2014As US
Releases 2013
Mortgage Data,
Disparities at
Citi &
Chase,
Protests of
CIT
By Matthew R. Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, September 23 -- This week,
after a UN report slammed the US for
mortgage discrimation and with the UN
General Assembly meeting in New York,
the Federal Reserve has released the
official 2013 Home Mortgage Disclosure
Act data.
Inner City Press has reviewed the
data, finding for example that in the
New York City Metropolitan Statistical
Area in 2013 JPMorgan Chase made 12
conventional home purchase loans to
whites to every loan to an African
American borrower.
2013
is the tenth year in which the data
distinguishes which loans are higher
cost, over a federally-defined rate
spread of 1.5 percent over Treasury
bill yields.
Back
in April releasing the first study of
the then-unofficial 2013 data, Inner
City Press / Fair Finance Watch found
that Chase was more disparate to
Latinos then whites, confined them to
higher-cost loans above the rate
spread 1.81 times more frequently than
whites in 2013, versus a 1.64
disparate for African Americans. Citi
had a higher denial rate for Latinos
(17.3%) than for African American
(17.1%).
Inner
City Press and Bronx-based
Fair Finance Watch also found that Wells Fargo confined
African Americans to higher-cost loans
above this rate spread 2.01 times more
frequently than whites in 2013
Bank of America also had a 2.01
disparity between African Americans
and whites; Citi was 1.83 and Chase
1.64.
Looking at the official data on an
aggregate basis, NCRC found that
"reliance on government-backed Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) lending
for home purchase lending was reduced;
the share of FHA home purchase lending
declined from 31 percent in 2012 to 24
percent in 2013."
This
comes after the UN Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended
Undertaking prompt, independent
and thorough investigation into all
cases of discriminatory practices by
private actors, including in
relation to discriminatory mortgage
lending practices, steering, and
redlining; holding those responsible
to account; and providing effective
remedies, including appropriate
compensation, guarantees of
non-repetition and changes in
relevant laws and practices.
Private actors means banks.
At Capital One, now the fifth largest bank after the regulators apparently ignored CERD approved its acquisitions from ING and HSBC, African Americans got denied for HMDA-reported loans 61.5% of the time, and Latinos 63.4% of the time.
At M&T, whose application to acquire Hudson City Savings Bank Fair Finance Watch and NCRC have opposed since October 2012, African American were confirmed to high cost loans 1.81 times more frequently than whites in 2013, and were denied 1.97 times more frequently than whites.
And so Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press have re-doubled watchdogging. Challenged by the groups in 2014 and still pending, with FOIA issues, are applications by Valley National Bank, CIT - OneWest and others.
Further studies will follow: watch this site.
September 22, 2014
The new Community Reinvestment Act Q&A would de-emphasize branches - at a time when bank applying for merger try to conceal or withhold which branches they would close until the public comment period expires. Neither is accceptable.
September 15, 2014We note, for now, BB&T's proposal to buy Bank of Kentucky for $363 million announced last week, and to buy 41 branches Citibank in Texas, announced earlier this month...
And this,
on JPMorgan Chase:
At UN,
JPMorgan Chase Closed Accounts, Name
Dropped from Resolution
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, September 10 -- On the same day
the banking industry's lawsuit against
New York City's responsible banking
ordinance was dismissed, at the UN on
First Avenue the General Assembly issued
muted criticism of JPMorgan Chase. Video
here, from Minute 2:59:35.
Back
on March 18 JPMorgan Chase came up as a
topic, and target, in a closed door
meeting at the UN of the Group of 77 and
China on March 18, several Permanent
Representative then exclusively told
Inner City Press. They marveled that the
UN does business with JPM Chase while
the bank cuts off many of the member
states of the UN.
In
April, a G77-agreed draft resolution
emerged, including a review of the UN's
relations with JPM Chase -- by name.
Inner City Press has publishing the full
text of that draft, below.
But in
the months since April, the resolution
got watered down, until it was adopted
without opposition or debate at the end
of a three-hour UN General Assembly
session on September 9. (There was
debate about Argentina and sovereign
debt restructuring, which Inner City
Press covered
yesterday here.)
Introducing the resolution was Bolivia,
as chair of the Group of 77 and China;
their speech said that banks in the City
of New York have "humiliated" several
nation's UN missions.
Here
is the adopted text of the resolution,
seen in advance by IPS,
which also quoted Sri Lanka's ambassador
Palitha Kohona about it. Kohona was
previously, among other things, a UN
official, so he should know.
Still, the idea that asking Ban Ki-moon to press the US to do almost anything is dubious. Will JPMorgan Chase view a UNGA resolution in which it is not directly named, only "sub-tweeted," as a threat to its reputation? After its behavior during the subprime lending meltdown -- the predatory bender -- does that even have to be asked?
September 8, 2014
On August 26, Inner City Press & Fair Finance Watch requesting from the Federal Reserve System the entire application, and the FRS' communications with the companies since January 1, 2014.
As provided so far, the application withholds the “CRA Plans” of both banks, while making claims about these plans:
“Since the 2013 performance evaluation, CITB has implemented its CRA Plan covering 2013-2017, which is included in Confidential Exhibit 9;”
“OWB has a strong CRA compliance program and has developed a CRA plan, included in Confidential Exhibit 9;” and
“CITBNA will create and operate under a new CRA plan, which it will develop subject to regulatory review.”
This is a mis-reading, even a perversion of the Community Reinvestment Act, that these two documents and the projected third one can be withheld or subject only to “regulatory” review, and not public review. The documents, timely requested, must be released and the comment period must be extended.
For now, consider that OneWest in the Los Angeles MSA in 2012 made 28 home purchase loans to whites and NONE to African Africans; it made 12 home improvement loans to whites and NONE to African Americans.
September 1, 2014 UN Review
of US on Race Includes Redlining,
Foreclosures & Stand Your Ground
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, August 30 -- The crackdown in
Ferguson, Missouri, after the killing of
unarmed African American teenager
Michael Brown was the context of the
just-concluded UN Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination
review of the US, along with unfair
lending. Report
here.
After the Trayvon Martin case, the UN CERD said it "is concerned at the high number of gun-related deaths and injuries which disproportionately affect members of racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans. It is also concerned at the proliferation of 'Stand Your Ground' laws, which are used to circumvent the limits of legitimate self-defense in violation of the Stateparty’s duty to protect life, and has a disproportionate and discriminatory impact on members of racial and ethnic minorities."
As to housing and lending
discrimination, the UN CERD's
"Concluding observations on the combined
seventh to ninth periodic reports of
United States of America," published on
August 29, 2014, said
"the
Committee remains concerned at: (a)
the persistence of discrimination in
access to housing on the basis of
race, colour, ethnicity or national
origin; (b) the high degree of racial
segregation and concentrated poverty
in neighborhoods characterized by
sub-standard conditions and services,
including poor housing conditions,
limited employment opportunities,
inadequate access to health-care
facilities, under-resourced schools
and high exposure to crime and
violence; and (c) discriminatory
mortgage lending practices and the
foreclosure crisis which
disproportionately affected and
continues to affect racial and ethnic
minorities (arts. 3 and 5(e))."
The UN
CERD Committee's Concerns and
Recommendations included:
The
Committee urges the State party to
intensify its efforts to eliminate
discrimination in access to housing
and residential segregation based on
race, colour ethnicity or national
origin, including by:
(a) Ensuring the availability of
affordable and adequate housing for
all, including by effectively
implementing the Affirmatively
Furthering Fair Housing requirement by
the Department of Housing and Urban
Development and across all agencies
administering housing programmes;
(b) Strengthening the implementation
of legislation to combat
discrimination in housing, such as the
Fair Housing Act and Title VIII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1968, including
through the provision of adequate
resources and increasing the capacity
of the Department of Housing and Urban
Development; and
(c) Undertaking prompt, independent
and thorough investigation into all
cases of discriminatory practices by
private actors, including in relation
to discriminatory mortgage lending
practices, steering, and redlining;
holding those responsible to account;
and providing effective remedies,
including appropriate compensation,
guarantees of non-repetition and
changes in relevant laws and
practices.
Private actors means banks. But why were the bank regulatory agencies and CFPB not included in the US' delegation to the CERD? We - and NCRC - will have more on this.
August 25, 2014
Bad settlement on the cheap, (badly) reported by the Denver Post:
“some details emerge in the settlement's fine print, such as donations for community reinvestment and neighborhood stabilization. Specifically, Bank of America agrees to pay demolition and property-remediation costs of abandoned or uninhabitable residential properties, although where and how much are undetermined. Those properties will be donated to local nonprofits to either rehab or reduce blight. Again, location details are scant.”
Note: CRA is *not* donations....
August 18, 2014On the CRA protested application by Valley National to buy 1st United, the OCC's FOIA games continue. They have written to Inner City Press:
I received your voice message on August 13th regarding the scope of your appeal. I understand that you are appealing the four pages that the OCC withheld from Valley National Bank’s merger application. Additionally, you are seeking communications between the OCC and Valley National Bank regarding the merger application. In the OCC’s July 2, 2014 response to your FOIA request, we provided you 19 pages of correspondence between the OCC and Valley National Bank regarding its merger. In your Appeal, you state that too limited a search was performed and seem to believe that there should be more correspondence documents related to the merger. However, your original FOIA request specified that the date range of the record search should be from 1/1/2013 to 5/24/2014. On Appeal, are you now asking for a different date range to be used? And, if that is the case, perhaps a new FOIA request would be more appropriate... If you are staying with the original date range, we will confirm the adequacy of our search for your responsive records and respond to your Appeal as soon as possible.
But the issue is not (only) the cut-off date. Inner City Press has replied:
As stated in Inner City Press' initial FOIA request, and as I explained by phone when called about the request, it is for OCC communications with either institution since Jan 1, 2013 not only about the merger, but also about “ CRA or fair lending or consumer compliance.”
Despite the wording of the request, which I've just retrieved from the OCC' system, and despite me explaining by phone when called, this seems to still be misunderstood. You state: “we provided you 19 pages of correspondence between the OCC and Valley National Bank regarding its merger. In your Appeal, you state that too limited a search was performed and seem to believe that there should be more correspondence documents related to the merger.”
The request was not just about the merger. As to documents since May 24, they should be provided under the principle against ex parte communications...Awaiting the documents
This is a request for the entirety of the application by Valley National (NJ) to acquire 1st United (FLA), and all records reflecting OCC communications with Valley National or 1st United concerning the proposed merger, or CRA or fair lending or consumer compliance
Watch this site.
August 11, 2014 As Valley
National Bank Redlines, OCC's
Runaround on FOIA, Captured
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK,
August 4 -- Some have wondered how large
US national banks were allowed to get
into predatory lending, why community
groups' warnings were ignored, and the
meltdown happened. Well, here is a
partial explanation.
US bank regulators, then as now, find way to exclude public review. Take for example the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, part of the Department of Treasury, and its recent denial of access to bank information under the Freedom of Information Act, and on appeal.
Beginning in May, Inner City Press began
requesting information from the OCC
about Valley National Bank and its
proposed acquisition of Florida-based
1st United Bank.
Fair
Finance Watch and other NCRC members
showed that Valley National's lending
was disparate: In 2012 in
the New York City MSA for refinance
loans, Valley National made 2152 such
loans to whites and only 38 to African
Americans -- entirely of keeping with
the demographics and demographics of
home ownership in the New York City MSA.
Valley National denied 67% of such
applications from African Americans,
versus only 34.5% of such application
from white.
A
first Inner City Press FOIA request
about Valley National, the OCC's Rosalye
Settles said she mis-understand, putting
the entire request on hold then
threatening to dismiss it.
On June 8, Fair Finance Watch filed a second comment, including that:
Valley
National has branches only below 88th
Street in Manhattan (in which,
intriguingly, a "Yellowbrick Real Estate
Capital" breaks into the top five in
pre-foreclosures).
Valley National has no branches in Harlem, Washington Heights or The Bronx, predominantly African American and Latinos, low and moderate income areas.
In Queens,
it's Middle Village and Kew Gardens. In
Brooklyn, Valley National's branches are
along Ocean Parkway and in Bay Ridge.
What about East New York, Brownsville,
Bushwick and Bedford Stuyvesant?
On
July 16, Valley National submitted a
response to the OCC, giving the OCC a
full copy and a "redacted"
or partially blacked out copy, as
provided to Inner City Press, here.
Inner City Press submitted a FOIA
request to the OCC challenging the
redactions. But the OCC's Marilyn Burton
denied the FOIA request, saying it did
not request any documents.
Click
here for the OCC's FOIA denial.
So Inner City Press
submitted an appeal, linking to exactly the redacted
documents as Valley National provided to the OCC. But the
OCC Frank Vance ruled that this was not an appeal, copy here.
All of this while the OCC could haul off and rubber
stamp Valley National's merger application any day.
This is why banks get over. And Fair Finance Watch, and Inner City Press, aim to expose and end these practices. Watch this site.
August 4, 2014
On the CRA-protested application by Valley National Bank to acquire 1st United, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is hitting new lows. Here's from Inner City Press' August 2 Freedom of Information Act appeal:
This is an appeal of the evasive denial in full of Inner City Press' request to the OCC for the many portions of Valley National Bank's July 16 submission to the OCC, which Valley National mailed to Inner City Press in redacted form. Inner City Press submitted its request to the OCC challenging whether the redactions comply with FOIA - and instead of reviewing the redactions, the OCC's Marilyn Burton rules that Inner City Press has not requested any records -- this is evasive and absurd, and is hereby appealed. This delay only benefits the applicant bank; there is no confusion which records Inner City Press is requesting. This has happened before the OCC, and stands at odds with how the Federal Reserve, for example, addresses FOIA requests for information redacted by applicant banks. Given the tight timelines of bank merger applications, it is inappropriate and Inner City Press is appealing it and for all of the withheld information. See, for the record on this appeal: http://innercitypress.org/valleynat1occredacted071614.pdf
The entire unredacted document, in the possession of the OCC, is what Inner City Press requested and is now appealing to get.
Watch this site.
July 28, 2014When Valley National belatedly answered questions from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 18, it tried to black-out and withhold parts of its response. Inner City Press has challenged these under the Freedom of Information Act to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, including “on pages 19-20, transactions for which Valley National seeks or has obtained CRA credit, for example in connection with Fannie Mae Delegated in New York; ways to apply for mortgages and FHLB of NY and other transactions presented for CRA credit (pages 22-32), etc.”
July 21, 2014JPMorgan Chase being JPMorgan Chase: last week Jaime Dimon told analysts, “We collected $600 million on [FHA] insurance. They disputed $200 million. The government called that fraud. We reimbursed $600 million to get out of the lawsuit. So the real question to me is, should we be in the FHA business at all?” We'll have more on this.
July 14, 2014If as reported Citigroup settles yet more predatory lending related charges for $7 billion, the question will be, how does this help the victims of the lending? It's not rocket science here: one could compare by geography with Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, or with complaint data from the CFPB...
Already settled, but no less outrageous, is GE which excluded from its debt relief programs all customers who speak primarily Spanish, or live in Puerto Rico. That's not disparate impact: that's outright discrimination.
July 7, 2014Valley National told the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that it wanted approval to acquire 1st United by June 30. But the OCC didn't even initially rule on Inner City Press' May 24 Freedom of Information Act request until July 2. Now this has been filed:
On behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch (ICP) this is a fourth timely-in-context comment requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Application by Valley National Bank to acquire 1st United Bank.
The OCC delayed until July 2 to rule on ICP's May 24 FOIA request regarding this proposal - and then, withheld whole pages citing exemptions 4 and 8. ICP has nearly immediately filed a FOIA appeal for improperly withheld information; the comment period should be extended:
This is a FOIA appeal for all of the still withheld / redacted information responsive to Inner City Press' May 24 FOIA request regarding Valley National Bank - 1st United.
Only on July 2 did the OCC rule -- that is, after the stated close of the comment period - and then, it withhold whole pages, citing exemptions 4 and 8. This is an appeal of those withholdings. From the documents provided it also appears that too limited a search was performed, given the documents requested in ICP's FOIA request.
Please provide all wrongfully withheld information as quickly as possible, as Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch intends to comment on the information before the OCC reaches any determination (other than denial) on Valley National's applications.
Some think that Community Reinvestment Act officers are progressive. But here in New York City, where new Mayor Bill De Blasio appointed the CRA Officer of M&T Bank -- apparently without knowing much about him or M&T -- to the Rent Guidelines Board, the banker blocked a rent freeze that his appointer De Blasio favored. Afterward De Blasio said, “From everything I’ve heard of him, he’s a person of integrity.” Heard?
June 23, 2014U.S. government slapped SunTrust Banks Inc. with $968 million in fines and consumer relief as the Atlanta lender became the latest bank to settle allegations of abusive mortgage practices.
Here now is M&T Bank, laundering money for drug gangs in Baltimore -- CRA, anyone?
U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore on June 17 accepted the government’s claim in a February complaint that the teller converted proceeds of illegal drug sales from small denominations to $100 bills in at least eight transactions, ranging from $20,000 to $100,000, without notifying regulators. The M&T teller in the case, Sabrina Fitts, 29, was sentenced to a month in prison followed by eight months of home detention for her role in the failure to file the mandatory reports. She worked at the bank’s Perry Hall, Maryland, branch outside of Baltimore. Fitts was paid a 1 percent fee by a member of a drug trafficking organization for each transaction completed without a report, according to prosecutors. “Through the cooperation we provided to law enforcement during an investigation into the illegal activities perpetrated by a former employee, we have assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office with this prosecution and recovery,” Mike Zabel, a spokesman for M&T, said in an e-mailed statement. “This case shows how banks work closely with law enforcement to prevent and detect money-laundering.”
Yeah, right...
Look who's hiring: Capital One, for CRA compliance. They need help... http://www.simplyhired.com/job/3i6pxeeu3w
June 16, 2014The protest of Valley National Bank - 1st United continues, with this third comment filed:
On behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch (ICP) this is a timely third comment requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Application by Valley National Bank to acquire 1st United Bank.
On June 11, Inner City Press went to a Valley National Bank in Manhattan to seek its CRA Assessment Area / Statement. At the VNB branch at 350 Park Avenue, Branch Service Manager Daniel Solomon when asked about the CAR Assessment Area at first tried to give Inner City Press a CD-ROM of the bank's 2013 Annual Report. Then after much back and forth he emerged with a binder that did not include the assessment area, directing the public elsewhere -- with the wrong address -- for that.
This is indicative of Valley National Bank's approach and attitude to CRA. There should be public hearings and on the current record, Valley National Bank's application should be denied.
Looking at Valley National Bank's pattern of branches in New York City, it is reminiscent of the Chevy Chase FSB case brought by the Justice Department.
Valley National has branches in Manhattan -- but only below 88th Street. It has no branches in The Bronx.
In Brooklyn, Valley National's branches are along Ocean Parkway and in Bay Ridge. In Queens, it's Middle Village and Kew Gardens. This is a redlining bank. And the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, rather than provide the documents Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch requested under FOIA, tried to cancel the FOIA request by claiming to mis-understand one part of it. We'll have more on this.
June 2, 2014On the city of Providence, Rhode Island's case against Santander:
Santander's lending is disparate throughout its footprint. For example, in the New York City Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2012, the most recent year for which data is publicly available, Santander / Sovereign made 361 conventional home purchase loans to whites and only 16 to African Americans: entirely out of keeping with the demographics of homeownership of the community.
Likewise, for refinance loans, Santander / Sovereign made 438 loans to whites and only 28 to African Americans and only 39 to Latinos, again entirely out of keeping with the demographics of homeownership of the community.
While groups like ICP / Fair Finance Watch, raise such disparities under the Community Reinvestment Act when banks apply to their regulators to merge or expand, since the financial meltdown there have been fewer mergers.
It
is because regulators are
not going their jobs that
cities like Providence
have to go ahead and sue
the banks themselves...
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has filed a timely first comment requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Application by Valley National Bank to acquire 1st United Bank.
Valley National has an extremely disparate lending record.
Reviewing the 2012 HMDA data released by the FFIEC (and largely unaddressed in existing CRA performance evaluations and fair lending exams), ICP is hereby commenting on Valley National's home purchase, refinance and home improvement lending in the New York City and the Nassau - Suffolk (Long Island) MSAs and finds them outrageous.
In 2012 in the New York City MSA for refinance loans, Valley National made 2152 such loans to whites and only 38 to African Americans -- entirely of keeping with the demographics and demographics of home ownership in the New York City MSA. Valley National denied 67% of such applications from African Americans, versus only 34.5% of such application from white.
For home purchase loans in the NYC MSA in 2012, Valley National made 69 such loans to whites, only one to an African American and only two to Latinos, for which it had a denial rate of 62.5% versus only 36.6% for whites.
For home improvement loans in the NYC MSA, Valley National made 26 such loans to whites, only one to an African American and only two to Latinos, for which it had a denial rate of 50% versus only 21.9% for whites.
In 2012 in the Long Island NY MSA for refinance loans, Valley National made 43 such loans to whites and only one to an African American and only two to Latinos. It had a 75% denial rate for African Americans.
For home purchase loans in the Long Island MSA in 2012, Valley National lent only to whites, with a denial rate of 100% for Latinos.
According to a recent SEC filing, 1st United's top three executives would get over $6 million each for selling out to a bank with this record, whose CEO has said the rationale for the proposed acquisition is chasing affluent customers (“'Who’s moved there? It’s the wealthy people,' Lipkin said in a phone interview") - while excluding lower income consumers of color in its existing communities.
Public hearings are needed and an extension of the comment period. On the current record the application should be denied
ICP has submitted a FOIA request for the application and related records, all of which should be provided during the comment period and on which ICP will submit further comments.
May 19,
2014
As US Bank
Gets Rubber-Stamp to Buy &
Close RBS Branches, FOIA Pends
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK, May
15 -- When Royal Bank of Scotland
proposed to sell its 93 Chicago-area
branches to US Bank, Inner City Press
asked US Bank's regulator the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency how many
and which branches it would close.
Now in
a May 14 letter the OCC only sent to
Inner City Press on May 15, the agency
has approved US Bank's application,
without addressing the impact of the
branch closings or Inner City Press'
pending Freedom of Information Act
appeal.
Inner
City Press is putting the OCC approval
letter, which does not seem to have been
reported anywhere else at least
according to Google News, online
here.
The
comment period to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency was set to
expire on February 20. After Inner City
Press' request is was extended to April
25.
US
Bank submitted a list but cynically
asked for "confidential treatment" for
all of it -- that is, to withhold it
from the public. Inner City Press
submitted a Freedom of Information Act
request, as it has done to the Federal
Reserve Board (and on other topics, to
the US State Department) - and on April
25, the OCC responded.
From
the document Inner City Press has
obtained under FOIA, and now exclusively
puts online here,
along with the OCC
FOIA letter to Inner City Press
which will be appealed, US Bank would
close at least 13 branches. In the
until-now confidential filing with the
OCC, US Bank says it would close RBS /
Charter One's 10200 S. Ewing Street,
Chicago branch in a low income tracts
and send customers to a "receiving"
branches in a non-low income tract.
US Bank would also close its own
branch at 8905 S. Commercial Avenue,
Chicago in a low income tract.
This comes after Fair Finance Watch and other community advocacy organizations in NCRC commented to the OCC about lending disparities.
FFW commented, back in January, that
While on this disclosure of branches which would be closed the OCC should extend the comment period, for now, to ensure consideration, US Bank NA (Ohio)'s 2012 HMDA data reflect that in the Chicago MSA for home purchase loans both conventional and subsidized, US Bank made a smaller portion of its loans to Latinos than did even the aggregate, including lenders not subject to the Community Reinvestment Act.
For conventional home purchase loans in the Chicago MSA in 2012, US Bank made 1083 such loans to whites, 78 to African Americans and only 77 to Latinos. That is, US Bank made 14 such loans to whites for each loan to a Latino, a bigger disparity than is the case with the aggregate.
For the home purchase loans in Table 4-1 in the Chicago MSA in 2012, US Bank made 268 such loans to whites, 68 to African Americans and only 60 to Latinos. That is, US Bank made 4.47 such loans to whites for each loan to a Latino, a significantly bigger disparity than is the case with the aggregate.
US Bank replied that it needn't disclose which branches it would close. Fair Finance Watch reiterated its request in Washington DC in mid-March, along with NCRC, and in supplemental comments. And on March 26, the OCC confirmed that the comment period is extended to April 25, and portions of US Bank's response released.
The problem is that large portions of US Bank's response are withheld, or simply redacted in black Magic Marker, first Tweeted here by @FinanceWatchOrg, click here to view. Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press immediately filed with the OCC a Freedom of Information Act request
May 12, 2014
Now that Valley National, based in New Jersey and New York, is trying to expand in Florida, note its 2012 record:
In the New York City MSA for home purchase loans, Valley National made 69 loans to whites, one to an African American applicant, two to Latinos. In the Newark NJ MSA also for home purchase loans, Valley National 48 loans to whites, two to African Americans, one to a Latino applicant. More to follow...
May 5, 2014After US Bank continued to withhold basic information about its proposed acquisition of 93 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland's Charter One (and plans to close at least 13 of them), Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has filed this FOIA appeal:
"for all of the still withheld / redacted information from US Bank's March 21, 2014 submission in connection with its application to acquire branches from RBS Charter One. Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch commented on the application, and after a March 26 FOIA request received on April 25 a partially unredacted copy of the response, and a partial denial letter dated April 24 on 2014-00277-F.
Fully 53 pages and other information has been withheld or redacted, all purportedly under FOIA exemption 4. This is a timely appeal of all withholdings, submitted on May 3.
From the document you've titled Bank Unredacted Response, still withheld is presumptively public information about US Bank's cited engagements in Chicago [and] its Community Activities in Akron; its cited engagement with the Famicos Founcation in Cleveland; and its fair lending programs on pages 7, 16-19: full paragraphs and even a claim under the heading "Continual Improvement."
Please provide all wrongfully withheld information as quickly as possible, as Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch intends to comment on the information before the OCC reaches any determination (other than denial) on US Bank's applications.
Meanwhile, here's a blind item: which major foundation not only invests in hedge funds but also in distress debt? Please send guesses -- and any information on these topics -- to Inner City Press. Asking for a friend.
April 28, 2014On US Bank's proposal to acquire 93 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland / Charter One, Inner City Press by a Freedom of Information Act request has just learned that US Bank would close at least 13 of them, and has put in a fourth comment to the OCC:
On behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch (ICP) this is a fourth timely comment on the application of US Bank to acquire 94 branches from RBS Citizens / Charter One and close or consolidate some still unknown number of them.
Since our first comment, ICP has demanded to know how many and which branches US Bank would close or "consolidate." US Bank cynically withheld and requested confidential treatment, resulting in Inner City Press only receiving the information midday on April 25. This comment is submitted the next day, and in context must be considered as timely.
As a first comment on the wrongfully withheld and delayed information, US Bank says it will close 13 of the branches, including in low income census tracts.
For example, US Bank says it would close RBS / Charter One's 10200 S. Ewing Street, Chicago branch in a low income tracts and send customers to a "receiving" branches in a non-low income tract.
US Bank would also close its own branch at 8905 S. Commercial Avenue, Chicago in a low income tract.
This militates for the public hearings ICP has request from its first comment. On the current record, US Bank's application should be denied.
On
the current record,
hearings should be held
and the applications /
notices should not be
approved.
Note: as a public service,
Inner City Press is
putting the US Bank branch
closure list it obtained
under FOIA online here.
HMDA fight in Western Michigan:
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The head of a New York public interest group that has challenged Mercantile Bank of West Michigan’s plans to merge with Firstbank Corp. of Alma said he is outraged by Mercantile’s response to his request for its latest lending records.
The Grand Rapids-based bank sent its “Lending Application Register” in a paper document that cannot be easily analyzed, said Matthew Lee, executive director of Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch.
Lee said the reports are generally submitted as CD-ROM-based data files whose numbers can be crunched by a computer. An earlier analysis of Mercantile’s 2012 lending records indicated the bank had written no mortgages, refinancing loans or commercial loans to minorities that year.
“There’s something totally arrogant and outrageous when they’re flipping you off like this,” Lee said in a telephone interview on Monday, April 14. “As advocates, we can only conclude that the data will be much worse than the previous year.”
Lee said he has concluded approval of the $151 million merger is in trouble as far as the Federal Reserve is concerned. The group’s appeal is based on the Community Reinvestment Act, passed to encourage diversity in the lending community. The law only carries sanctions when banks seek approvals for bank mergers.
Mike Price, Mercantile’s chairman and CEO, maintained Mercantile complied with the letter of the law when it emailed the documents to Lee’s organization several weeks ago.
“Mercantile Bank has complied with everything it’s supposed to have complied with,” Price said. “He may want electronic forms, but that’s the form we delivered it in.”
Price said Mercantile has won “outstanding” ratings for its compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act over the past two years.
“Mr. Lee can interpret data anyway he wants,” Price said. “I don’t know what his goals are and I don’t pretend to know."
It's not complicated: stop discriminating, and then hiding it. Watch this site.
April 14, 2014 Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch has been challenging BancorpSouth, now this:
April 12, 2014
Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Attn: Chairman Janet Yellen, Secretary Robert deV.
Frierson
20th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20551
Re: The Applications of BancorpSouth to merge with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation and thereby indirectly acquire Ouachita Independent Bank, and with Central Community Corporation, and thereby indirectly acquire First State Bank Central Texas, Austin, Texas
Dear Chairman Yellen, Secretary Robert deV. Frierson and others in the FRS:
This concerns the Applications of BancorpSouth to merge with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation and thereby indirectly acquire Ouachita Independent Bank, and with Central Community Corporation, and thereby indirectly acquire First State Bank Central Texas, Austin, Texas.
Back on March 24, ICP submitted comments on BancorpSouth's Ouachita / Louisiana application on March 24, receiving in the two week after only this:
From: Juanetta Price <juanetta.price@frb.gov>
Date: Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 4:18 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Request for Full Copy of, & Timely Comments On, Requesting Hearings & an Extension of the Comment Period On the Applications of BancorpSouth to merge with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation and thereby indirectly acquire Ouachita Independ...
To: "Matthew R.
Lee" at InnerCityPress.org
I am out of the office until March 31.
As noted in ICP's timely April 7 comments on BancorpSouth's Central Community Corporation proposal, the public portions of applications should be given on a timely basis, and timely comments acknowledged.
Then, on April 8 -- two weeks after ICP's March 24 request -- this arrived:
Subject: Public Portion of
Application BancorpSouth - Ouachita
From: Windsor, Cathie [at] stls.frb.org
Date: Tue, Apr 8, 2014 at 5:53 PM
To: Lee [at] fairfinancewatch.org, Inner City Press
Cc: "Sparks, Yvonne S [at] stls.frb.org,Blase, Dennis [at]
stls.frb.org, Goldberg, Amory R (Board) [at] frb.gov
Dear Mr. Lee:
Attached is the public portion of the application by BancorpSouth, Inc. to merge with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation and thereby indirectly acquire Ouachita Independent Bank.
There was no explanation of the two week delay. The next day, April 9, this arrived:
Subject: Revised Public
Portion of Application BancorpSouth - Ouachita
From: Windsor, Cathie [at] stls.frb.org
Date: Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 11:48 AM
To: Lee [at] fairfinancewatch.org, Inner City Press
Cc: Sparks, Yvonne S [at] stls.frb.org
Dear Mr. Lee:
Please disregard the public portion of the application sent to you yesterday for BancorpSouth, Inc. to merge with Ouachita Bancshares Corporation. It appears that pages 1-32 were left out.
Leaving out pages, it happens. But what of the two week gap in providing any of the public portion of the application? Inner City Press asserts and request that the comment periods be extended. ICP also notes that on April 10 BancorpSouth announced yet another proposed acquisition, of Lafayette, La.-based Knox Insurance Group, LLC.
Reviewing the 2012 HMDA data released by the FFIEC (and largely unaddressed in existing CRA performance evaluations and fair lending exams), ICP has examined BancorpSouth's conventional home purchase lending in the Jackson, Mississippi, Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Memphis, Tennessee MSAs and finds them troubling.
In 2012 in the Jackson MS MSA for conventional home purchase loans, BancorpSouth made 258 loans to whites, only 17 to African Americans and five to Latinos. BancorpSouth's denial rate for whites was 7.4% while for African Americans it was 25.8% -- 3.49 times higher. This is troubling.
In 2012 in the Baton Rouge LA MSA for conventional home purchase loans in 2012, BancorpSouth made 60 such loans to whites; only three to African Americans and one to a Latino.
On March 24 we stated: next time we will analysis next-door Texas. But for now, in 2012 in the Memphis TN MSA for conventional home purchase loans, BancorpSouth made 243 loans to whites, only 14 to African Americans and four to Latinos. BancorpSouth's denial rate for whites was 4.2% while for African Americans it was 22.7% -- 5.4 times higher. This is outrageous.
On April 7 we stated: BancorpSouth in 2012 did not report any data in the Austin, Texas MSA. First State Bank Central Texas, for home purchase loans there, made 13 such loans to whites, NONE to African Americans or Latinos. Likewise, it made no refinance loans to African Americans or Latinos.
Now we note that BancorpSouth in the Lafayette, Louisiana MSA in 2012 for conventional home purchase loans, BancorpSouth made 37 loans to whites, NONE to African Americans or Latinos. In Table 4-1, BancorpSouth made 15 loans to whites and ONE to an African American applicant. That is, ALL of its home purchase loans to people of color were in Table 4-1, none in Table 4-2. This is troubling, and a pattern. The comment periods must be extended.
BancorpSouth should be required to fully disclose all branches it would close, and other changes, before the comment period closed. After for example the precedent of Huntington (and, in the Northeast, of Rockville and United in Connecticut and Massachusetts), both of which disclosed which branches they would close during the comment period, Huntington even re-starting the comment period to do so, to not extend this comment period on these five or more branches would be a major step backward for the Federal Reserve.
ICP is requesting evidentiary hearings and that this proposed acquisition, on the current record, not be approved. There is no public benefit.
If you have any questions, please immediately telephone the undersigned, at (718) 716-3540.
Very Truly Yours,
Matthew Lee, Executive Director, Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch
April 5, 2014
In 2013 Disparities
at Citi, Chase, BofA & Wells as Fed Lax on
M&T, US Bank
By Matthew R. Lee
SOUTH BRONX NY, April 5, 2014 -- In the first study of the just-released 2013 mortgage lending data, Inner City Press and Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch have found that high cost loans and disparities by race and ethnicity in denials and higher-cost lending continued at the Big Four banking behemoths Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo - and spread to US Bank, M&T and Capital One.
2013 is the tenth year in which the data distinguishes which loans are higher cost, over a federally-defined rate spread of 1.5 percent over Treasury bill yields.
The just released data show that Wells Fargo confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above this rate spread 2.01 times more frequently than whites in 2013, Fair Finance Watch has found. Bank of America also had a 2.01 disparity between African Americans and whites; Citi was 1.83 and Chase 1.64.
Wells was even more disparate
to Latinos, confined them to
higher-cost loans above the rate
spread 2.12 times more frequently than
whites in 2013, the data show.
Chase, too, was more disparate to Latinos then whites, confined them to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.81 times more frequently than whites in 2013, versus a 1.64 disparate for African Americans. Citi had a higher denial rate for Latinos (17.3%) than for African American (17.1%).
"Even after the bailouts, lending disparities grew worse and not better," said Fair Finance Watch. "Regulatory laxity, at least on fair lending, has continued despite the financial meltdown caused by predatory lending. Given the proposed changes to the housing finance system, these disparities must be addressed."
At Capital One, now the fifth largest bank, African Americans got denied for HMDA-reported loans 61.5% of the time, and Latinos 63.4% of the time.
At M&T, whose application to acquire Hudson City Savings Bank Fair Finance Watch and NCRC have opposed since October 2012, African American were confirmed to high cost loans 1.81 times more frequently than whites in 2013, and were denied 1.97 times more frequently than whites.
"The Federal Reserve is
becoming more and more bank-friendly,
including recently saying it will not
re-open its comment period on M&T
- Hudson despite this new data," Fair
Finance Watch said.
Another bank FFW has challenged, Mercantile in Michigan, cynically provided its data only in paper form so that it could not be analyzed. "It remains unclear if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will get to this problem," Fair Finance Watch continued. "The disparities in the 2013 mortgage data of these banks further militate for aggressively watchdogging and breaking up the big banks."
And so Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press have re-doubled watchdogging. Challenged by the groups in 2014 and still pending, with FOIA issues, are applications by BancorpSouth, Old National and US Bank to acquire over 90 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland.
On that, Inner City Press has
submitted a Freedom of Information Act
request for the entirety of a largely
redacted / black-out response by US
Bank, showing that several RBS
products would be dropped.
Now that US Bank has admitted to the Federal Reserve that it would eliminate Charter One's Credit Builder and energy efficiency loan programs, and make it more difficult for the customers it would acquire to avoid fees, the Fed should schedule public hearings. So far, the comment period was re-opened and extended to April 25, when more analysis will be submitted.
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act required that the 2013 data be provided by March 31, following March 1 joint requests by Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press. Some banks did not provide their data by the deadline, despite confirming receipt of the request. Further studies will follow: watch this site.
March 31, 2014
RBS Sale of
93 Branches to US Bank Stalled, Info
Withheld, CRA Protests
By Matthew R. Lee
SOUTH BRONX, March 26 -- When Royal Bank of Scotland proposed to sell its 93 Chicago-area branches to US Bank, the comment period was set to expire on February 20. Today that was extended to April 25.
The extension or "re-publication of notice" came after Fair Finance Watch and other community advocacy organizations commented to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, about lending disparities and US Bank's refusal to disclose how many and which of the 93 branches it would close.
FFW commented, back in January, that
While on this disclosure of branches which would be closed the OCC should extend the comment period, for now, to ensure consideration, US Bank NA (Ohio)'s 2012 HMDA data reflect that in the Chicago MSA for home purchase loans both conventional and subsidized, US Bank made a smaller portion of its loans to Latinos than did even the aggregate, including lenders not subject to the Community Reinvestment Act.
For conventional home purchase loans in the Chicago MSA in 2012, US Bank made 1083 such loans to whites, 78 to African Americans and only 77 to Latinos. That is, US Bank made 14 such loans to whites for each loan to a Latino, a bigger disparity than is the case with the aggregate.
For the home purchase loans in Table 4-1 in the Chicago MSA in 2012, US Bank made 268 such loans to whites, 68 to African Americans and only 60 to Latinos. That is, US Bank made 4.47 such loans to whites for each loan to a Latino, a significantly bigger disparity than is the case with the aggregate.
US Bank replied that it needn't disclose which branches it would close. Fair Finance Watch reiterated its request in Washington DC in mid-March, along with NCRC, and in supplemental comments. And on March 26, the OCC confirmed that the comment period is extended to April 25, and portions of US Bank's response released.
The problem is that large portions of US Bank's response are withheld, or simply redacted in black Magic Marker, first Tweeted here by @FinanceWatchOrg, click here to view. Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press immediately filed with the OCC a Freedom of Information Act request
"for all withheld / redacted information from US Bank's March 21, 2014 submission in connection with its application to acquire branches from RBS Charter One. ICP / Fair Finance Watch commented on the application, and earlier today the OCC provided a redacted copy of US Bank's submission. Nearly the entire fair lending response is redacted, as is information about US Bank's claimed support to non-profits. Since such information is presumptively public, it must be unredacted and released. We are challenging each redaction, making this FOIA request for the entire, unredacted submission in this application process we timely challenged."
Now whether
these withholdings can stand up must be
ruled upon.
In
terms of commenting of what was
released, ICP says "Now that US Bank has
admitted to the Federal Reserve that it
would eliminate Charter One's Credit
Builder and energy efficiency loan
programs, and make it more difficult for
the customers it would acquire to avoid
fees, the Fed should schedule public
hearings."
Prediction: the document put online
yesterday will be reported in the Windy
City.
Meanwhile Royal Bank of Scotland is
looking to sell off its Citizen Bank
unit in the Northeast, to Japan’s
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group or
another. Watch this site.
March 24, 2014
So the CFPB hearing on payday lending on the morning of March 26 in Nashville is being moved to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Lots of sad songs about payday lending...
Meanwhile the Federal Reserve has hit a new low: in its "public record" on M&T's stalled-out application to acquire Hudson City Savings Bank, the Fed has only 2012 HMDA data. So last week Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch submitted analysis of the just-obtained 2013 data. But the Fed sends back essentially a form letter, you have not shown exceptional circumstances that would warrant providing additional time to comment on the proposal, cc-ing one of its former FRB Staff Counsels now representing M&T. Isn't getting up to date information, instead of data more than a year old, enough of a reason to put the comment in the record?
March 17, 2014So Umpqua Bank has committed to commit - it has told the Federal Reserve that it will (or would) submit a CRA plan sixty days after it consummates its proposed acquisition of Sterling Bank. But will Umpqua's plan be made public? And will it be able to be enforced?
March 10, 2014Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch got M&T's 2013 HMDA LAR and filed supplemental comments:
On behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch and its members and affiliates (collectively, "ICP"), this is a supplemental comment opposing, and requesting public hearings on, the applications by M&T to acquire Hudson City Savings Bank.
ICP is a timely commenter on this application. It has assumed that the comment period would be re-opened, based on the substantial adverse issues that have stalled the application. Now, we have begun analyzing the 2013 HMDA-LAR of M&T Bank and find disparities which the FRB must consider, and should inquire into.
In 2013, in data not taken into account in any CRA performance evaluation, M&T Bank made some 1849 loans to African Americans, 100 of them, or 5.41 percent, over the rate spread. It denied 26.26% of applications from African Americans.
To whites, by contrast, M&T Bank made fully 21,660 loans, only 648 of them or 2.99% over the rate spread. It denied only 13.3% of applications from whites.
Thus, M&T Bank was 1.81 times more likely to confine African Americans to loans over the rate spread than whites; M&T Bank denied the applications of African Americans 1.97 times more frequently than those of whites.
Also, M&T Bank has proposed closing 10 branches in New York. Comment should be accepted on these, as they impact the accessibility of banking services to low and moderate income communities.
March 3, 2014Alongside the proposal(s) to have US Post Offices offer some banking services, in Montana they are exploring setting up a state-owned non-profit bank, based on State Bank of North Dakota...
In the United Kingdom, there are increasing calls for a community reinvestment act -- as Royal Bank of Scotland tries to sell its Chicago-land branches to US Bancorp, and to spin off Citizens Bank...
Under review in New York are Ocwen's affiliates Home Loan Servicing Solutions Ltd., which has bought mortgage-servicing rights from Ocwen, and Altisource Portfolio Solutions SA, which provides IT services to Ocwen...
February 24, 2014Mercantile in denial: the bank's CFO Chuck Christmas said last week, of the protested and delayed and unresolved FirstBank proposed acquisition, "There's nothing that has come up as far as we know in our communications that could cause us any angst." That's part of the problem, that they don't care or is in denial... But is the Federal Reserve enabling it?
The Fed's Eric Kollig
declined to comment when asked
about Mercantile Bank of
Michigan, whose CFO Chuck
Christmas is dismissive of the
CRA questions raised not only
by Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch, but also by the
Fed (and FDIC)....
From
@FinanceWatchOrg: Now
@UmpquaBank
responds, sort of, to Qs by #FederalReserve
on CRA plan, ICP/FFW protested
Sterling: http://www.innercitypress.org/ump4fed020714.pdf …
see,
https://twitter.com/FinanceWatchOrg
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has put in a third comment on US Bank - RSB / Charter One:
On behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch (ICP) this is a third timely comment on the application of US Bank to acquire 94 branches from RBS Citizens / Charter One and close or consolidate some still unknown number of them.
We write at the stated deadline for comments again requesting an extension of the comment period as, having belatedly received the "public" portion of the application, we find therein NO disclosure of the branches that would be closed.
After for example the precedent of Huntington (and, in the Northeast, of Rockville and United in Connecticut and Massachusetts), both of which disclosed which branches they would close during the comment period, Huntington even re-starting the comment period to do so, to not extend this comment period on 93 branches would be a major step backward for the OCC.
ICP submitted a first comment and request for at least the public portions of the application, on January 11. While the comment has been acknowledged, so far ICP has seen no questions put to US Bank by the OCC, nor any portion of the application. This stands in contrast to other Federal regulators processing of, for example, earlier still pending applications by Umpqua and Mercantile in Michigan. (The FDIC has also posed questions to Mercantile, see for the record http://www.innercitypress.org/merc1fdicicp012914.pdf).
The OCC should not be more lax, or less transparent. Information should be provided and the comment period should be extended.
On the current record, hearings should be held and the applications / notices should not be approved.
February 17, 2014
In Michigan, Mercantile Bank's initial response to the critique of its lending record levied by Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch involved getting individual borrowers of color to submit to the Federal Reserve letter that seemed like the statements of captured pilots or more recently, Kenneth Bae in North Korea.
Now the FDIC has asked Mercantile some questions; click here for some of Mercantile's responses, provided to Inner City Press two weeks after they were submitted to the FDIC. We'll have more on this.
February 10, 2014With the comment period on US Bank's application to acquire 94 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland set to expire on February 20, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has put in a second comment:
Re: Second timely Comment Opposition and Requesting Hearings and an Extension of the Comment Period On the Applications of US Bank to Acquire 94 Branches from RBS Citizens' Charter One
Dear Director for District Licensing and others in the OCC:
On behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch (ICP) this is a second timely comment on the application of US Bank to acquire 94 branches from RBS Citizens / Charter One and close or consolidate some still unknown number of them.
ICP submitted a first comment and request for at least the public portions of the application, on January 11. While the comment has been acknowledged, so far ICP has seen no questions put to US Bank by the OCC, nor any portion of the application...
In its January 11 comment, ICP analyzed the 2102 Chicago MSA HMDA data of US Bank NA (Ohio). In this second submission we look more closely at Ohio.
In the Cincinnati Ohio MSA for conventional home purchase loans in 2012, US Bank made 336 such loans to whites, only 16 to African Americans and only three to Latinos. For the home purchase loans in Table 4-1 in this MSA in 2012, US Bank made 225 such loans to whites, only 21 to African Americans and only three to Latinos. Thus, cumulated for all home purchase loans in this MSA in 2012, US Bank made 561 such loans to whites, only 37 to African Americans and only six to Latinos.
For refinance loans in the Cincinnati Ohio MSA in 2012, US Bank made 1232 such loans to whites, only 44 to African Americans and only six to Latinos. Its denial rate for whites was 18.2% but fully 35.7% to Latinos and 29.6% to African Americans. This is disparate.
In the Akron Ohio MSA for conventional home purchase loans in 2012, US Bank made 34 such loans to whites, only one to an African American and NONE to Latinos. For the home purchase loans in Table 4-1 in this MSA in 2012, US Bank made 13 such loans to whites, only one to anAfrican American and again none to Latinos. Thus, cumulated for all home purchase loans in this MSA in 2012, US Bank made 47 such loans to whites, only two to African Americans and NONE to Latinos.
For refinance loans in the Akron Ohio MSA in 2012, US Bank made 192 such loans to whites, only six to African Americans and again none to Latinos. Its denial rate for whites was 18.5% but fully 36.4% to African Americans. This is disparate.
In the Cleveland Ohio MSA for conventional home purchase loans in 2012, US Bank made 92 such loans to whites, only six to African Americans and NONE to Latinos. For the home purchase loans in Table 4-1 in this MSA in 2012, US Bank made 58 such loans to whites, five to African Americans and five to Latinos. Thus, cumulated for all home purchase loans in this MSA in 2012, US Bank made 150 such loans to whites, only 11 to African Americans and only five to Latinos.
For refinance loans in the Cleveland Ohio MSA in 2012, US Bank made 478 such loans to whites, only 21 to African Americans and only 14 to Latinos. This is disparate. Such disparities exist throughout US Bank's franchise, as we will further present including at the requested public hearings.
We are also timely putting into the record consumer complaint information [attachments]
Again, US Bank has a record of closing branches, and in connection with this proposed acquisition announced on January 7, US Bank spoke of "some overlap" between branches but "said it’s too early to say whether any will be closed." Chicago Tribune, January 7, 2014.
US Bank should have to disclose which branches it would close, during the comment period, as for example Huntington Bank recently had to do in connection with its smaller proposal to acquire Camco's Advance Bank. In that case, Huntington re-applied and gave public notice of which branches it would close -- that should be done here.
To those who claim predatory lending is over, note that the founder of First Franklin Andy Pollock is back, with a new subprime lender called WDB Funding. We'll have more on this.
January 27, 2014In a speech to the ABS Vegas Conference on January 22, Michael Stegman said for the Obama administration, "We support the repeal of GSE affordable housing goals." This is progressive? Where Stegman saied "Owning a home is not right for everyone," it seemed to some that he was saying "Owning a home is not A right for everyone."
Why would Stegman, for the Administration, come out against localities trying to use eminent domain to protect underwater homeowners? Is putting these views in the mouth of an adviser like Stegman the Administration's trial balloon?
Finally, for now, on the continuation of predatory subprime lending, we note that the founder of First Franklin Andy Pollock is back, with a new subprime lender called WDB Funding...
January 20, 2014Why do we press for disclosure of how many and which bank branches would be closed or consolidated DURING the regulators' comment periods on a proposed merger? Well, here is a recent example:
Simmons First National’s acquisition of Little Rock-based Metropolitan National bank to result in 28 branch closures, 12 in Northwest Arkansas
The anticipated list of branch closures resulting from Simmons First National’s acquisition of Little Rock-based Metropolitan National bank was made public by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency this week.
Pine Bluff-based Simmons filed applications to close 27 branches with the OCC on Dec. 19.. The 27 branches are slated to cease operations on March 22.
Simmons operated 10 branches in Benton and Washington counties prior to the acquisition, having since opted to shutter five of those locations. Metropolitan operates 12 branches in Northwest Arkansas, fully seven of which will be shuttered. "Analysts have said Metropolitan was a real estate play in Northwest Arkansas given its physical property and inability to grow deposits to sustainable levels in this market." This was public benefit?
January 13, 2014After US Bank announced on January 7 it would seek to acquire 94 branches from RBS Citizens' Charter One, but that it is "too early" to say which of these it would close, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch four days later filed an initial comment with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency:
Dear Director for District Licensing and others in the OCC:
This is a request in advance for a full copy of, and a timely comment requesting an extension of the OCC's public comment period on the Applications of US Bank to acquire 94 Branches from RBS Citizens' Charter One and close some as yet unknown number of them.
US Bank has a record of closing branches, and in connection with this proposed acquisition announced on January 7, US Bank spoke of "some overlap" between branches but "said it’s too early to say whether any will be closed." Chicago Tribune, January 7, 2014.
US Bank should have to disclose which branches it would close, during the comment period, as for example Huntington Bank recently had to do in connection with its smaller proposal to acquire Camco's Advance Bank. See, e.g., "Huntington plans 9 branch closings in Camco deal," by Evan Weese, Columbus Business First, Dec 23, 2013. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2013/12/23/huntington-plans-9-branch-closings-in.html
In that case, Huntington re-applied and gave public notice of which branches it would close -- that should be done here.
While this disclosure of branches which would be closed, the OCC should extend the comment period. For now, to ensure consideration, US Bank NA (Ohio)'s 2012 HMDA data reflect that in the Chicago MSA for home purchase loans both conventional and subsidized, US Bank made a smaller portion of its loans to Latinos than did even the aggregate, including lenders not subject to the Community Reinvestment Act.
For conventional home purchase loans in the Chicago MSA in 2012, US Bank made 1083 such loans to whites, 78 to African Americans and only 77 to Latinos. That is, US Bank made 14 such loans to whites for each loan to a Latino, a bigger disparity than is the case with the aggregate.
For the home purchase loans in Table 4-1 in the Chicago MSA in 2012, US Bank made 268 such loans to whites, 68 to African Americans and only 60 to Latinos. That is, US Bank made 4.47 such loans to whites for each loan to a Latino, a significantly bigger disparity than is the case with the aggregate.
Such disparities exist throughout US Bank's franchise, as we will further present along with RBS issues including at the now-requested public hearings. Also to ensure consideration and action as quickly as possible, we are entering this into the record, from the American Banker newspaper of January 4, three days before this proposal was announced:
Banks Keep Offering Deposit Advances, Six Weeks After Crackdown
U.S. Bank [is] still offering deposit advances six weeks after regulators finalized sweeping guidance that raised doubts about the product's viability. As of Friday afternoon, the two big banks were still offering the product — which bears a strong resemblance to the payday loan — on their websites, with terms that appear out of compliance with the guidance. Judging from public statements, the banks' primary regulator has not blessed the product's continuation, even in the short term. The Office of Comptroller of the Currency, which issued the guidance alongside the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., says the document became effective in late November, and there is no grace period.
"Banks that fail to comply with the guidance should expect that the OCC will take appropriate supervisory action, and enforcement action if necessary, to prevent harm to consumers, ensure compliance with appliance laws, and address any unsafe or unsound banking practice or violations of law associated with these products," OCC spokesman Bryan Hubbard says in an email...
U.S. Bank declined to say whether they have made any changes to their deposit advance products since the guidance was issued in late November. But a review of their websites suggests that what they're currently offering is not in compliance with the guidance.
The guidance contains a provision stating that banks should allow at least one statement cycle (which is typically a month) to elapse between the repayment of one deposit advance and the offer of a second loan. Yet... U.S. Bank's site says that the bank may limit access to the product if a customer uses it in nine consecutive statement cycles.
So did the OCC mean what it said? This is a timely request for public hearings.
The comment period should be extended to accept further HMDA analysis as well as information on the prospective branch closings.
On the current record, hearings should be held and the applications should not be approved.
January 6, 2014The Community Reinvestment Act should be enforced throughout the country (and world), and across the full spectrum of banks. On that principle, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch's challenge to Mercantile Bank's application to acquire FirstBank in Michigan proceeds. When last we reported, Mercantile tried to rebut FFW's analysis of its lending disparities by submitting self-serving letters, for example one from a borrower of saying, "I am a person of color."
Now we can report, as Mercantile did not, that the bank is being sued for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The facts at issue are more relevant to the Federal Reserve, and on the merger, than the letter Mercantile solicited and submitted. Watch this site.
On January 3, the Federal Reserve announced that "the Board has enlisted the services of executive recruiting firm DiversifiedSearch to assemble a broad and diverse pool of candidates, both internal and external, from which to select Ms. [Sandra] Braunstein's successor." Given the financial industry's domination of the rest of the Federal Reserve System including several Governors, we believe that consumers and community groups should play a role in the selection process.
While Inner City Press is also focused on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement's threat to globalize the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act circumvention of freedom of the press, exemplified by a August 14, 2013 bad faith DMCA complaint by Reuters UN bureau chief to get a document leaked to Inner City Press banned from Google's search, TPP would also institutionalize the type of deregulation which led to the 2008 predatory lending meltdown. So it should be opposed - watch this site.
Given "Needs to Improve" CRA ratings by the FDIC:
Bank of the South PENSACOLA
FL - NI
Builders Bank CHICAGO IL -
NI
Commercial Bank of
California COSTA MESA CA -
NI
There were deserved but too-small enforcement actions against PNC, Ocwen and Ally; on the smaller bank project, an industry consultant hyped it up:
A recent article published in American Banker,
Consumer Advocates force tougher CRA enforcement on smaller banks
demonstrates three important dynamics in the enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act:
- Enforcement is getting tougher
- Enforcement is focusing on smaller banks and may affect M&A deals as well as CRA performance ratings
- Consumer groups are driving the first two dynamics - you must be aware that Consumer Advocates may influence your regulator's attitude regarding your CRA performance. At the very least, they will force examiners to ask more questions and demand more information.
For 3 years GeoDataVision has advised clients that regulatory enforcement of CRA is getting more "robust" (a favorite Washington bureaucratic expression for tougher, more adversarial relations between bankers and their regulators). This more aggressive enforcement of CRA is not only borne out in the numbers of banks failing their CRA exams, it is now being reflected in the regulatory scrutiny of merger and acquisition deals too.
Perhaps even more troubling, is the growing focus of community activists on smaller banks too. Not only do these groups represent a public relations nightmare, they also can exacerbate the attitude of regulators too. Matthew Lee, the author of the American Banker article, is a good case in point. Mr. Lee not only terrorizes big banks, he intimidates regulators too. His fingerprints are on many public objections to bank mergers. He is a voice regulators find hard to ignore. And although he mostly focuses on the major banks, he has been demonstrating a growing interest in smaller banks too.
This makes it all the more imperative that your bank have a formal CRA Risk Management program in place. As the old saying goes, "Forewarned is Fair warned". Neglect your CRA performance at your own peril and the consequences could be very big and very costly.
We
actually agree with
that...
December 23, 2013
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch commented to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Huntington / Advantage, saying that they must be made to disclose how much branches, with 22 to be acquired, would be closed or consolidated, and now received this (and publishes it) --
Regarding the public comment period for the merger of Advantage Bank, Cambridge, OH with and into The Huntington National Bank, Columbus, OH, please be advised that the bank has republished the merger and therefore, the new public comment period end date is January 8, 2014. As indicated previously, public comments should be submitted to: Director for District Licensing, One Financial Place, Suite 2700, 440 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60605
What is behind this?We have just put Huntington's filing online here: http://www.innercitypress.org/huntingtonadv1icp121813.pdf
What would be the benefit of this proposed merger to consumers? Some of the planned closures are more than two miles apart.
Inner City Press' initial November 29 filing asked for an extension of the OCC "comment period particularly because there is as yet no Federal Reserve Board comment period. Huntington has said it is acquiring the holding company, Camco, so one expects an FRB application. But so far, none."
Huntington's December 18 submission to the OCC argues that no Federal Reserve application should be required, and states that "Huntington will seek confirmation from the Federal Reserve that no application is required."
Inner City Press has (Dec 21) opposed that, in a filing with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington arguing that "an application should be required, particularly because it is now belatedly disclosed that Huntington would close or consolidate fully 9 over the 22 branches it would acquire along with Camco. There are also holding company issues that ICP intends to raise once the FRB application is filed. As simply one example, managerial issues are raised by embezzlement of elderly customers' funds: http://www.wdtv.com/wdtv.cfm?func=view§ion=5-News&item=Former-Bank-Manager-Sentenced-for-Embezzlement13431
Inner City Press has now (Dec 21) told the Fed what it told the OCC on November 29:
Huntington's 2012 HMDA data reflect that in the sample MSA of Toledo, Ohio, for conventional home purchase loans Huntington made 287 such loans to white, and only ONE each to African American and Latino applicants. In Table 4-1, Huntington made 97 such loans to white, and only seven to African Americans and one to a Latino applicant.
Cumulated for all home purchase loans in 2012 in the Toledo MSA, Huntington made 384 loans to whites, only EIGHT loans to African Americans and only TWO loans to Latinos. This is outrageous.
In a second sample MSA of Detroit, Michigan for conventional home purchase loans in 2012 Huntington made 68 such loans to white, and only THREE to African Americans and one to a Latino applicant. In Table 4-1, Huntington made 24 such loans to white, and only one to an African American and NONE to Latino applicants.
Cumulated for all home purchase loans in 2012 in the Detroit MSA, Huntington made 92 loans to whites, only FOUR loans to African Americans and only ONE loan to a Latino applicant. Huntington denied 8 of 12 applicants from African Americans. This is outrageous.
On the current record, the FRS should -
must -- require an application from Huntington.
And the OCC should hold public hearings, and on
the current record deny, Huntington's application
to acquire Advantage and close / consolidate fully
NINE of its 22 branches. Watch this site.
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch commented to the Federal Reserve about the lending record of Michigan's Mercantile Bank back in October; in November after begging the Fed to essentially ignore the issues raised, the bank told the SEC it would probably not close the deal by the end of the year.
Now, Mercantile has gone low. Its submissions to the Fed have gotten shrill; it has reached out to individual borrowers of color (and to ostensible civil rights and even religious groupings) asking them for letters to CEO Michael Price to give the Fed about how they never felt discriminated against. Click here for one sample letter: http://www.innercitypress.org/mercbankasia120213.pdf
This approach cannot be allowed to prevail. Watch this site.
December 9, 2013CRA Shifts to Smaller Banks, With Conditions Imposed on Investors Bancorp, Delay for Mercantile and VCBI: Why?
By Matthew R. Lee
With fewer mergers by big banks, Community Reinvestment Act focus has shifted to mid-sized banks and, on at least three proposed deals, the regulators have taken additional time to review lending disparities identified by CRA commenters.
The Investors Bancorp - Roma Financial Corporation, MHC deal to which the Federal Reserve Board gave conditional approval on December 3 was protested back on March 1 by Inner City Press (Fair Finance Watch), which also commented in October on the proposed Mercantile - FirstBank deal in Michigan.
The Fed's Investors - Roma order says that
"as a condition of its approval, the Board has determined that the audit committee of the board of directors of Investors Bancorp must issue a written report to the board of directors of Investors Bancorp that shall include: an assessment of Investors Bank’s consumer compliance risk systems, processes, and procedures; an assessment of compliance with any reports or recommendations made by any state or federal agency issued in the last five years with respect to consumer compliance; and recommendations for improving the consumer compliance risk program, if necessary."
This is a rare condition for the Federal Reserve to impose, at least on consumer compliance. But as Inner City Press' March 1 comment set forth, in the New York City Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2011, Investors made 220 home purchase loans to whites, and only two such loans to African Americans. That's hard to do in New York.
Likewise, in examining the 2012 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data of Michigan's Mercantile Bank, Inner City Press found that in the Grand Rapids MSA for conventional home purchase loans, Mercantile Bank lent only to whites. Its mortgage company made 42 such loans to whites, none to African Americans or Latinos.
After Inner City Press put this and other date in an October comment on Mercantile's application to acquire Alma, Michigan-based FirstBank, the Federal Reserve asked Mercantile a round of questions on November 6, and another on November 26. These included:
"Describe any other community outreach efforts (e.g., credit needs ascertainment, marketing / advertising, and product development) by Mercantile to make credit available to residents throughout the bank's assessment areas, including to African America or Hispanic individuals or residents of minority census tracts in those areas, including in the Grand Rapids MSA.
"Mercantile stated (page 11) that, effective in 2013, the monthly reports to the bank's CRA Committee include the number of minority loan applications and originations and that these changes were implemented to bring focus to the bank's efforts to increase the number of minority loan applications. Indicate when this expanded reporting began..."
Could it be too little, too late? On November 26, Mercantile filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its plan to close the deal by the end of the year, and for FirstBank to not file a 2013 SEC Form 10-K, no longer held.
Another proposed merger in Virginia, of United Bancshares and Virginia Commerce Bancshares (VCBI) has similarly been delayed by comments by NCRC and members, including Inner City Press. United Bancshares went out and hired the Sullivan & Cromwell law firm, to try to push its application through with the Federal Reserve.
Is this a trend? It would seem so. In discussions between Inner City Press and a pro-industry cynic (that is, an arbitrageur), theories emerged such as that regulators have "excess capacity" or feel some responsibility for the subprime lending triggered meltdown of 2008.
In the alternative, as community and consumer groups turn their attention to smaller banks and find disparities that had heretofore escaped their scrutiny, they bring them to the attention of regulators who, at least for now, seem to take them more seriously.
The lesson for banks might be to clean up and improve their lending records before applying for mergers. Or to not set aggressive closing dates and then have to extend them. On this, we agree with the arbitrageur.
December 2, 2013Back in October, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch commented to the Federal Reserve against Michigan's Mercantile Bank's application to acquire FirstBank, highlighting disparities in Mercantile's lending.
The Federal Reserve asked Mercantile a first round of questions on it; Mercantile told the Fed it really, really needed to close the deal by the end of the year, so FirstBank wouldn't have to file an SEC 10-K for 2013.
Conversing
with
the media in Michigan, Inner
City Press noted that for
example in the Warren-Troy
MSA, Mercantile in 2012 made
17 refinance loans to
whites, none to African
Americans.
November 29, 2013: "Mercantile and Firstbank merger will likely be delayed, Consumer protection group alleges Mercantile Bank loaned no money to minorities in 2012," by Eric Young, Ogemaw County Herald
The Fed has asked more questions, click here, and Mercantile has now told the SEC:
"Due to the timing of certain regulatory processes and approvals, Mercantile Bank Corporation expects that its previously announced merger with Firstbank Corporation will not be completed on January 1, 2014, as previously disclosed."
Watch this site.
November 25, 2013Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch commented on Mercantile Bank's application to the Federal Reserve to acquire First Bank, based on disparate lending in Michigan. Now (November 20) Mercantile argues against the Fed having extended its review, arguing that to go beyond December 31 might mean First Bank would have have file an SEC Form 10-K for 2013. But what would giving in to this kind of argument mean for CRA?
On Michigan-based Talmer's proposal to acquire MICHIGAN COMMERCE BANK, BANK OF LAS VEGAS, INDIANA COMMUNITY BANK and SUNRISE BANK OF ALBUQUERQUE, ICP also commented to the FDIC, thusly:
With a comment period running to November 24, the FDIC has provided notice of this (no mention of Talmer)
Prepared On: Saturday, November 23, 2013
20132291 MICHIGAN COMMERCE BANK 2950 STATE STREET SOUTH
ANN ARBOR , MI Regular Merger 10-28-2013 11-24-2013 Chicago
Merger Information: Institutions Involved in this Merger:
BANK OF LAS VEGAS
1700 WEST HORIZON RIDGE PARKWAY, SUITE 101
HENDERSON , NV
INDIANA COMMUNITY BANK
511 WEST LINCOLN AVENUE
GOSHEN , IN
SUNRISE BANK OF ALBUQUERQUE
219 CENTRAL AVENUE NORTHWEST
ALBUQUERQUE , NM
As an initial matter, this is a request that the FDIC immediately send by email all non-exempt portions of the above-noticed applications / notices for which the Applicants have requested confidential treatment -- as well as any application(s) by Talmer, and if this IS the Talmer application, an explanation why Talmer is not mentioned. If that it the case, new notice (and an extended comment period) must be provided.
Reviewing the 2012 HMDA data just released by the FFIEC (and largely unaddressed in existing CRA performance evaluations and fair lending exams), ICP has examined Talmer's and Michigan Commerce Bank's home purchase and refinance lending.
In the Warren-Troy MSA for conventional home purchase loans in 2012, Talmer made 401 such loans to whites, and only eight to African Americans, only four to Latinos. In Table 4-1, Talmer made 88 loans to whites, two to African Americans and NONE to Latinos.
In the Detroit MSA for conventional home purchase loans in 2012, Talmer made 38 such loans to whites, and NONE to African Americans or Latinos. to Latinos. In Table 4-1, Talmer made 98 loans to whites and again NONE to African Americans or Latinos. This is outrageous.
In all MSAs, Talmer has a strangely high percentage of "withdrawn" applications, that should be inquired into in the public evidentiary hearing ICP is requesting.
Michigan Commerce Bank was hardly better, make loans essential only to whites in the Holland, Kalamazoo and even Detroit MSAs, with a strangely high percentage of "race not available" applications, that should be inquired into in the public evidentiary hearing ICP is requesting.
Neither BANK OF LAS VEGAS nor SUNRISE BANK OF ALBUQUERQUE show up in the FFIEC's HMDA database.
INDIANA COMMUNITY BANK shows up only in the Elkhart MSA, making conventional home purchase loans only to whites.
For the record, "Law360, New York (November 22, 2013, 5:19 PM ET) -- Capitol Bancorp Ltd. on Friday received a bankruptcy court's approval of its bid to sell off its remaining subsidiary banks for $4 million in cash and a $90 million equity contribution despite creditors' cries that the sale offers them almost no recovery. The bank holding company can sell the banks to Wilbur Ross-controlled Talmer Bancorp Inc. under its proposed plan of liquidation following U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marci B. McIvor's order greenlighting the transaction. The banks include Michigan Commerce Bank, Indiana Community Bank, Bank of Las Vegas..."
This ignores the need for regulatory approval including CRA review, and the abysmal record sketched above.
On the current record, hearings should be held and the applications / notices should not be approved.
November 18, 2013So ex-regulator Tim Geithner is cashing out to private equity firm Warburg Pincus -- which has at least a 20% stake in Sterling, the Spokane-based bank that Umpqua has applied to the Federal Reserve to acquire for $2 billion. So $400 million of that would go to Warburg Pincus. This insider deal, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has commented on, including on Home Mortgage Disclosure Act disparities and prospective branch closings.
Meanwhile Michigan's Mercantile, trying to buy FirstBank, has responded to the Federal Reserve but withheld from Inner City Press three exhibits in their entirety, while telling the Fed they want to close the deal so to set up a conference call. Inner City Press contests the withholding, and any "ex parte" call, having now formally asked to be be notified of and allowed to be on any such call. Watch this site.
November 11, 2013Two weeks after Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch filed comments on the proposed acquisition by Mercantile or FirstBank, the Federal Reserve on November 6 asked Mercantile some questions, including about CRA and fair lending, here: http://www.innercitypress.org/frb1mercbank110613.pdf
They were given eight business days to answer (and send a copy); their shareholders meet on the proposal on December 12...
Another challenge we're watching is to to application of Midland States Bancorp of Effingham, Illinois, to acquire Heartland Bank, filed from St. Louis, Missouri....
Meanwhile be aware: in one week the comment period will close on Umpqua's application to acquire Sterling Financial Corporation...
Among proposed mergers we're looking at:
In North Carolina, NewBridge Bancorp and CapStone Bank... In Washington State, Heritage Financial Corporation and Washington Banking Company.Also in the Pacific Northwest, Bank of the Cascades outbidding Banner Bancorp to try to buy Idaho's Home Federal Bank. Up in Alaska, Northrim BanCorp announced a proposal to buy Alaska Pacific Bancshares. And Huntington Banchares' proposal to acquire Advantage Bank. The analysis: "Mergers and acquisitions were virtually nonexistent in Ohio following the recession, with only 16 bank deals from 2008-12." But now they're back - and so are we.
November 4, 2013So Goldman Sachs' bank has been given an "Outstanding" CRA rating, trumpeted in the Wall Street Journal. GS is given CRA credit for lending to the CitiBank program. But since the bike racks are all below 60th Street in Manhattan and in gentrified or gentrifying parts of Brooklyn -- a veritable redlining map -- why does this get CRA credit? It's a scam...
October 28, 2013So ICP / Fair Finance Watch commented to the Fed on Mercantile Bank Corporation to merge with Firstbank Corporation. Reviewing the 2012 HMDA data recently released by the FFIEC (and largely unaddressed in existing CRA performance evaluations and fair lending exams), ICP has examined Mercantile's and its mortgage company's home purchase, refinance and home improvement lending in its Grand Rapids, Michigan headquarters MSA and finds them outrageous.
In 2012 in the Grand Rapids MSA for conventional home purchase loans, Mercantile Bank lent ONLY to whites. Its mortgage company made 42 such loans to whites, NONE to African Americans or Latinos.
In 2012 in the Grand Rapids MSA for refinance loans, Mercantile Bank lent ONLY to whites. Its mortgage company made 159 such loans to whites. It had a 100% denial rate for African American applicants.
In 2012 in the Grand Rapids MSA for home improvement loans, both Mercantile's bank and mortgage company lent only to whites.
This is outrageous.
The day after the proposed merger was announced, Michigan News reported:
"Executives of Mercantile Bank Corp. and Firstbank Corp. of Alma pronounced they have no seductiveness in relocating into Southeast Michigan after they finish a 'merger of equals' they announced Thursday, Aug. 15. 'The brief answer is no,' pronounced Firstbank Chairman Tom Sullivan, when asked if a joined bank would find acquisitions in Southeast Michigan during a discussion call. 'We have no seductiveness in relocating into Southeast Michigan,' pronounced Sullivan, who will offer as chair of a joined bank for a initial year of a merger. 'I don’t trust that in being of any seductiveness."
Really?
October 21, 2013As JPMorgan Chase tries to buy its way out from what it did with predatory lending, it is troubling that the government would be agreeing that less than one third of what Morgan Chase pays would be for the "struggling homeowners" who got hurt: $4 billion, versus $9 billion in fines. For shame...
October 14, 2013Of course a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act is welcome. But why is the non-bank fine so much more, per violation, than the bank?
On October 9 the CFPB announced that "Mortgage Master, a nonbank headquartered in Walpole, Mass., had significant data errors in the 21,015 mortgage loan application" -- and that "Mortgage Master will pay $425,000."
As to the bank, CFPB said "Washington Federal, a bank headquartered in Seattle, Wash., had significant errors in the 5,785 mortgage loan applications" -- and that "Washington Federal will pay $34,000 in civil penalties."
So on one-fourth of the non-bank's application, the bank Washington Federal paid a miniscule mine less than one-tenth of the non-bank's. What gives?
October 7, 2013
This week, along with the IMF pushing for faster foreclosures in Ireland, we highlight a CRA protest by another group: in California, to PacWest.
IMF in Ireland Wants Faster Repossession, Ignored Fall-Out from Austerity, QsBy Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 4 -- The idea of a kinder and gentler International Monetary Fund under Christine Lagarde was belied again Friday with the release, first under embargo, of the IMF's staff report on Ireland. Among other recommendations, the IMF calls for faster foreclosures or repossession. From Paragraph 24:
"Strengthening Ireland’s repossession framework could further support progress in durable loan modifications... Court proceedings and enforcement of court orders can be lengthy, adding to resolution costs where a change in ownership is the only available solution, and underminingborrowers’ incentives to engage on concluding loan modifications and to adhere to the revised debt service schedule.... Based on a terms of reference agreed with EC, ECB, and IMF staff, they will also appoint an internal expert group to review the length, predictability, and cost of proceedings, including relative to peer jurisdictions, and to propose remedies by end 2013."
So: faster evictions, reduction in borrowers' leverage. On the embargoed press conference call, on which it was not clear how questions were selected, the IMF's Ireland Mission Chief Craig Beaumont also called for faster fiscal consolidation: that is, merger. Where will it lead?
In the IMF's biweekly media briefing on September 26, Lagarde spokesperson Gerry Rice answered a question about the depreciation of the rupee in Pakistan by saying not only is it not the IMF's fault, the IMF will solve it.
A journalist down from the UN asked Rice about the view that the rise of "Golden Dawn" in Greece is related to austerity policies. Oh no. Of course not.
From New York, Inner City Press has asked the IMF about Sudan (and South Sudan, and Palestine) --
On Sudan and the deadly protests there of the elimination of fuel subsidies, does the IMF have any view if the elimination was implemented too quickly? What is the status between the IMF and Khartoum, including on any debt relief?
On South Sudan, what is the status of discussions on a Rapid Credit Facility and a government program to be monitored by IMF staff?
On Palestine, what is the IMF's view of yesterday's Communique by the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee?
Watch this site.
From the LA Business Journal, CRC "has noted that regulators rate CapitalSource as 'outstanding' in those activities, but PacWest has a “low satisfactory” rating. Kevin Stein, the Reinvestment Coalition’s associate director, said his group, which includes member organizations in Los Angeles, wanted to make sure CRA activities were considered due to the size of the merger. 'It would be in the top 10 in the state,' he said. 'That’s a substantial institution. As institutions grow, we think they have an increasing obligation to serve their communities.' PacWest executives on Friday did not immediately return calls for comment."
Typical. We'll have more on this.
September 30, 2013
Investors Bancorp, trying to buy Gateway Community Financial Corporation MHC in New Jersey despite its disparate record in New York, has been asked to explain disparities. And its response to the Federal Reserve gets personal: like saying an application from "two Black / African American applicats was denied for delinquent Credit History."
Meanwhile, "The deal between the two New Jersey banks, which would see Short Hills-based Investors acquire the smaller Robbinsville-headquartered Roma in a transaction valued at roughly $452 million, had been scheduled to close Monday. But the two bank-holding companies said in a news release today the new deadline will be Nov. 30."
September 23, 2013Striking down in DC with all the talk on house of Corker Warner is that the bill, if it moves forward, probably won't be that one. Rather the chairmen will take over, with Johnson - Crapo. A new chance to raise money. A new chance to sell input.
Also, despite claims by the Administration they are firming behind Mel Watt, few predict that will move, or even be pushed for.
September 16, 2013Beyond Umpqua - Sterling, there's the $151 million Michigan merger proposed between Mercantile and Firstbank Corp, trying to become the "third-largest bank headquartered in Michigan." Last week a merger was proposed in Indiana, between Old National Bancorp, "the largest financial services holding company headquartered in Indiana," and Tower Financial Corporation. In North Carolina, there's the August 28 proposed merger of Hendersonville, N.C.-based 1(st) Financial Services Corp. and Mountain 1(st) Bank into First Citizens Bank. Watch this site.
September 9, 2013Blast from the past: when Adams Bank and Trust applied to open a new branch in Nebraska, the Federal Reserve Board got "public comments received from prospective competing banks in Colby and from residents of the surrounding areas. The commenters assert that their community’s demographic and economic characteristics would not profitably support another branch and that the area’s financial services needs are adequately met by the financial institutions currently operating there." Saying "we don't want more banks" was one of the bases for the "convenience and needs" concept in US banking law... It sure looks innovative:
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced proposed Slumlord Prevention Guidelines (SPG). The guidelines include new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations from the Department of Financial Services (DFS)and Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of Financial Services that incentivize banks -- but how, without meaningful comment periods and processing on mergers?
This NY Dep't of Financial Services, so far, is LESS open to CRA comments that its predecessor. Watch this site.
September 2, 2013After Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch and other NCRC members filed challenges with the FDIC to the application of Renasant Bank to buy F&M Bank in Mississippi, the FDIC has issued a rare "condition approval," in cluding that
"1. The Bank will execute its plan to conduct an assessment of the small business and residential real estate credit needs of the post-merger assessment areas;
2. Based on the Bank's assessment of small business and residential credit needs, the Bank will continue to conduct focused advertising to solicit qualified small business and residential real estate applicants. The Bank will budget marketing funds to specify the types of advertisements to be utilized and the expected audience based on the demographics for the area of circulation;
3. The Bank will establish annual outreach goals to elevate awareness of the Bank's mortgage and small business products in each market or assessment area through the community based organizations it supports and other means deemed appropriate;
4. The Bank will monitor its level of home mortgage lending by market or assessment area taking into account borrower race, ethnicity, income and geographic location, with a goal of its levels being similar to peer lending or the demographic characteristics of each area within three years. The Bank will determine the peer group based upon factors such as market share, asset size, number and location of branches in the market, and volume of lending. The peer group must be approved by the Corporation;
5. The Bank will continue its efforts to expand its team of mortgage originators to solicit increased levels of qualified residential real estate borrowers consistent with its annual goals; and
6. The Bank will develop an Action Plan ("Plan") that addresses the aforementioned provisions, and upon Board approval of such Plan, the Bank will provide a copy to the Corporation, and will also provide quarterly updates detailing its progress in meeting the goals listed in the Plan.”
August 26, 2013As Bank of America moves to close some drive-thru tellers, the OCC tells the public they can comment -- but only on the CRA exam. Per the Observer, Bill Grassano, spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said the public can file comments with the regulator to explain how they are being hurt by changes a bank is making. Those comments go into a bank’s CRA record and are considered as part of a bank’s CRA examination, he said. Bank of America would not have to notify the OCC of the drive-up teller lane closures as long as the branches they are connected to remain open, Grassano said.
What a drive-thru loophole...
August 19, 2013Amid Bank Mergers & High-Cost Consumer Loans, Subprime Summers for Fed?
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW
YORK -- Despite being bailed out by
the public and some now waning
populist rhetoric from Washington, the
continuing bank merger proposals show
no concern for the public or for job
loss.
Why should they, when President Obama considers Larry Summer, on the Board of Directors of the no-doc (and thus subprime) Lending Club, to head the Federal Reserve?
The
biggest proposed bank merger in the US
in the past month is the $2.3 billion
agreement between Pacific Western Bank
and CapitalSource Bank, to have a
"national commercial lending arm."
The comment? No "benefits for current clients of either bank. This is typical of this sort of deal. Management and Wall Street think it's just dandy. Meanwhile, employees lose their jobs and customers see more fees."
But the investment bankers, of course, get paid.
Then in Arkansas there's Liberty BancShares and Home BancShares, proposing to form a $7 billion bank with 92 branches in Arkansas (#2 in that state, to Arvest) and 59 outside the state. Governor Mike Beebe appeared at the press conference in support of the merger, which would lead to job loss. That's politics.
In the Carolinas, there's Forest Commercial Bank into Carolina Alliance Bank in upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina, branches in Spartanburg, SC, Asheville, NC, and Hendersonville, NC, a loan production office in Charlotte and a proposed branch office to be located in Seneca, SC. But who would benefit?
Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch while
considering those three has now
commented to the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency against
Republic Bank's proposal to buy
H&R Block Bank. As stated, both
institutions have a history of high
cost lending to consumers, through tax
refund anticipation loans and
otherwise. See,
"Steve Trager: Pending
H&R Block bank deal could return
Republic Bank to being mega tax
refund provider," Insider
Louisville, July 11, 2013
Even if Republic denies that headline from its headquarters city, public hearings should be held on what Republic would do with H&R Block's "Emerald Card" program, particularly given its subsidiaries and their plans: Republic Prepaid Systems, "an issuing bank to offer general purpose reloadable prepaid debit, payroll, gift and incentive cards through third party program managers" and Republic Credit Solutions, "preparing to pilot short-term consumer credit products through multiple channels.”
Reviewing 2011 HMDA data, the most recent data available (and largely unaddressed in existing Community Reinvestment Act performance evaluations and fair lending exams), ICP has examined Republic Bank & Trust Co's refinance and home improvement lending in the Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati MSAs.
In the Louisville MSA in 2011 for refinance loans, Republic 40.4% of applications from African Americans, versus on 20% of applications from whites. Its denial rate for Latinos was even higher: 45.5%
For home improvement loans, Republic denied 50% of application from African Americans versus 24.8% of applications from whites. Its denial rate for Latinos was 100%.
In the Cincinnati MSA in 2011, Republic made 27 refinance loans to whites and NONE to African Americans, nor Latinos. It made seven home improvement loans to whites, none to African Americans (denial rate 100%) nor Latinos.
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch also commented to the Federal Reserve on the application by Chile's Banco De Credito E Inversiones to buy City National Bank of Florida. The current parent Bankia is surrounded by controversy and litigation, including involving the Spanish central bank with the Managing Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde mentioned as a witness, in connection with its bailout that is related to this proposed sale.
Reviewing 2011 HMDA data, ICP has examined City National Bank of Florida's home purchase and refinance lending in the Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando MSAs.
In the Fort Lauderdale MSA in 2011 for refinance loans, City National Bank of Florida made 15 such loans to whites, and NONE to African Americans or Latinos. It denied all three of the applications it received from Latinos.
In the Orlanda MSA in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans -- the only kind of home purchase loans City National Bank of Florida makes or reports -- it made 53 such loans to whites, only eight to Latinos and only TWO such loans to African Americans.
In the Miami MSA in 2011 for refinance loans, City National Bank of Florida made 54 such loans to whites, only 16 to Latinos and only ONE such loan to an African American applicant.
Analysis
now proceeds on other proposed
acquisitions. Watch this site.
August 12, 2013
While less than responsive to CRA comments, last week "New York's top financial regulator ordered 35 online payday lenders to stop offering loans there that violate state laws capping annual interest rates at 16 percent. The state also sent letters to 117 banks, asking them to help 'cut off' payday lenders from the global network used by banks to send money and collect payments." Could that be used on other industries?
Meanwhile in the UK, according to the FT, "Gareth Thomas, chair of the Co-op party, said that 'an urgent expansion of credit unions to offer low-cost financial services is overdue to help those whose budgets are stretched and for whom a payday lender can mean a fast ticket to increasing debts.' Likewise the Co-op is looking to the US Community Reinvestment Act for inspiration, which requires banks to work with community lenders in areas where they have only a limited presence." Well, that's ONE part of what the CRA is about...
August 5, 2013Opposition to the Corker - Warner proposal continues to grow: it would eliminate the Affordable Housing Goals and replace them with... nothing.
July 29, 2013So Larry Summers has been "speaking at internal meetings at Citi beginning in 2012, Mr. Summers attended small gatherings of clients 'where he provides insight on a broad range of topics, including the domestic and global economy,' a Citigroup spokesman said. The bank wouldn't say how much it is paying him," per Damian Paletta. Next!
It's worth noting, as Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch did, that Fed Governor Jerome Powell, denier of FOIA appeals, was previously with Deutsche Bank and the Carlyle Group...
July 22, 2013Through the revolving door from the CFPB: "Raj Date helped write new rules for U.S. mortgage underwriting as deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Board. Now he’s building a company that will offer loans to borrowers blocked by the agency’s standards. Date left the CFPB in January to found Washington-based Fenway Summer LLC."
And TO the CFPB, from Capital One: "Sartaj Alag will serve as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to taking on this role, Mr. Alag had established the Bureau's Office of Consumer Response and had worked in the private sector both as President of a Capital One subsidiary and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company."
Reforms needed.
July 15, 2013The Corker - Warner bill, getting a lot of play for being bipartisan, would hurt homeownership and low income housing -- what would happen to the affordable housing goals? This will be a focus going forward.
July 8, 2013
Deutsche Bank, which got involved as a direct subprime lender and as a trustee, has been accused by the City of Los Angeles of facilitating illegal evictions. Its attempts to get the case dismissed were rejected in April by the court.
And so now a settlement for a mere $10 million, of which Deutsche Bank brags it is not paying anything, that would be the services and the securitization trusts. When does immunity become impunity?
Just filed: a timely first comment on the applications by Investors Bancorp, MHC and Investors Bancorp (collectively, “Investors Bancorp”) to acquire Gateway Community Financial Corporation, its MHC and GCF Bank.
Reviewing 2011 HMDA data, the most recent data available (and still largely unaddressed in existing CRA performance evaluations and fair lending exams), ICP has now examined GCF Bank's home purchase, refinance and home improvement lending in the Camden MSA. It is disparate, and Investors' record give no assurance it would improve.
In the Camden MSA in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans, GCF Bank made 30 such loans to whites, and NONE to African Americans or Latinos. The only applications it received from an African American and Asian applicant, it denied. (There was no Table 4-1.)
For refinance loans in the Camden MSA in 2011, GCF Bank made 111 such loans to whites, only one to an African American and none to Latinos. Its denial rate for African Americans was 6.9 times higher than for whites.
In the Camden MSA in 2011 for home improvement loans, GCF Bank made 32 such loans to whites, and NONE to African Americans or Latinos.
Would Investors improve this? No. ICP has reviewed Investors Bank's home purchase and refinance lending in the New York City MSA and finds it outrageous.
For the record on this application: In the NYC MSA in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans, Investors Bank made 220 such loans to whites, and only TWO such loans to African Americans. Its denial rate for Hispanics was FIVE TIMES higher than for whites. (There was no Table 4-1.)
For refinance loans in the NYC MSA in 2011, Investors Bank made 183 such loans to whites, only three to African Americans and only four to Hispanics. Its denial rate for Hispanics was 3.59 times higher than for whites.
In the Long Island MSA in 2011, Investors Bank made 33 home purchase loans to white - and none to African Americans. It made 31 refinance loans to whites and none to either African Americans or Hispanics.
On the current record, Investors Bancorp's applications should not be approved.
In the still proposed Roma transaction, at least 57 would be laid off. How many might be laid off here? Investors' management is not transparent, as simply one example on the questions raised about the Roma proposal. And now this one. Its CEO has been quoted, “We just had a pretty good exam with the Federal Reserve at the holding company. They had one or two comments on enhancing the dividend policy.” It is in that context that we are requesting all communications between the Federal Reserve System and Investors for the past year....
July 1, 2013Bottom feeders: First Cash Financial Services has acquired 19 “large-format” U.S. pawn stores in the Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth markets, operating primarily under the Valu + Pawn brand. First Cash CEO Rick Wessel said in a June 25 press release release that the deal gives the company a new presence in the Houston market and expands its existing store base in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. The price for the all-cash asset purchase transaction was about $70 million, funded mainly with the company's revolving credit facility. The operations and earnings of the Valu + Pawn stores have been consolidated into First Cash, effective with the closing of the transaction June 25. Watch out...
June 24, 2013M&T's (cheap) anti money laundering deal with the Fed will probably move the deal along faster -- but the deal makes it pretty clear that the money laundering loophole is in Wilmington Trust, which the Fed let M&T buy in 2011.
So what does it say about the Fed's merger reviews? The Fed should come up with a plan to improve itself, in 60 days (and approve no merger during that time.) Compare the Fed not even fining M&T, while state regulators last week fined even an accounting firm which helped a bank (Standard Chartered) conceal money laundering...
June 17, 2013In Virginia, where's the public benefit? Union First Market Bankshares CEO G. William Beale says he would close at least 10 branches if allowed to acquire Charlottesville, Va.-based StellarOne Corporation. So why should he be allowed?
June 10, 2013
Hedge funds that profited on the way down from the collapses, for example Paulson & Company, the Carlyle Group's Claren Road Asset Management and Perry Capital, are now buying up the preferred shares of Fannie Mae with a eye to taking it private.
They are buying in the markets, with little disclosure or oversight, and lobbying in DC. Also in the mix is James Millstein, "fixer" of AIG, now ready to cash in through, what else, Milstein & Company.
On the other side, Fannie Mae has become a grab-bag, with fees imposed on mortgages for entirely unrelated government goals. Who wouldn't want such a pinata?
Renasant Bank has tried to rebut criticism to the FDIC of racial disparities in its lending patterns by saying the following: "Many barriers are psychological in nature." But can you blame the victim for this:Reviewing 2011 HMDA data, in the Memphis MSA in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans, Renasant made 60 such loans to whites, and only TWO such loans to African Americans, and only ONE to a Hispanic.
For Table 4-1, Renasant made 46 such loans to whites, and only FOUR such loans to African Americans, and only THREE to Hispanics.
Cumulated home purchase lending in this MSA: Renasant made 104 home purchase loans to whites, and only SIX such loans to African Americans, and only FOUR to Hispanics. This is inconsistent with other lenders' demographics of lending in this MSA.
For refinance loans in the Memphis MSA in 2011, Renasant made 112 such loans to whites, and only SIX such loans to African Americans, and only ONE to a Hispanic. This is inconsistent with other lenders' demographics of lending in this MSA.
In the Atlanta MSA in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans, Renasant made 27 such loans to whites, and NONE to African Americans or Hispanic.
For Table 4-1, Renasant made 16 such loans to whites, and only ONE such loans to an African American, and only ONE to a Hispanic.
Cumulated home purchase lending in this MSA: Renasant made 43 such loans to whites, and only ONE such loans to an African American, and only ONE to a Hispanic. This is inconsistent with other lenders' demographics of lending in this MSA.
For refinance loans in the Atlanta MSA in 2011, Renasant made 204 such loans to whites, and only TWELVES such loans to African Americans, and NONE to Hispanics. This is inconsistent with other lenders' demographics of lending in this MSA.
Psychological?
June 3, 2013How can Goldman Sachs purport to report on its Business Standards Impact, for 27 pages, and not even MENTION its subprime servicer Litton, and its recent shorting on compensation for victims?
May 27, 2013So Spain's Bankia SA is proposing to sell its City National Bank of Florida and its 26 branches to Chilean bank Banco de Credito e Inversiones SA for $882.8 million. That's the proposal...
May 20, 2013Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch submitted timely comments on May 17, beginning:
Re: Proposed Changes to Interagency Q&A, and general comment about the need for more rigorous and transparent enforcement of CRA on merger and expansion applications
OCC: Docket ID OCC-2013-0003
Federal Reserve: Docket No. OP-1456
FDIC: Attention: Comments on CRA Interagency Q&A
To Whom It May Concern:
On behalf of Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch ("ICP"), this is a timely comment on the proposed changes to the Inter-agency CRA Q&A (the "Q&A"). As you will hear from other members of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), the Q&A should have gone much further, and fall far short of the comprehensive revisions to the CRA regulation needed to keep pace with the changes in the banking industry.
Beyond the comments below, ICP would like to emphasize to the agencies that since CRA is only enforced on applications to merge or expand, it is essentialy that the agencies' processing of such applications, particularly when CRA comments are filed, must become more rigorous and more transparent. Recently ICP's experience is of information being withheld, insufficient questions being asked, and many of the answers also withheld. This undermines CRA.
See this week's Federal Reserve Report for more.
May 13, 2013Oops! Rust Consulting short-changed those already ripped off on servicing by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Hear the Fed scramble: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20130508a.htm
May 6, 2013Funny how banks are. There's a CRA protest to Investors' Bank's application to buy Roma in New Jersey, and Investors Bank had to disclosed it last week on a conference called. But they wouldn't say much about it. So a reporter from the Newark Star-Ledger called Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch, and we sent him a copy. He wrote a story, here; http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/04/investors_roma_bank_merger_sti.html the bank apparently wouldn't give him their response.
Here's their record:
Reviewing 2011 HMDA data, the most recent data available (and largely unaddressed in existing CRA performance evaluations and fair lending exams), ICP has examined Investors Bank's home purchase and refinance lending in the New York City MSA and finds it outrageous.
In the NYC MSA in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans, Investors Bank made 220 such loans to whites, and only TWO such loans to African Americans. Its denial rate for Hispanics was FIVE TIMES higher than for whites. (There was no Table 4-1.)
For refinance loans in the NYC MSA in 2011, Investors Bank made 183 such loans to whites, only three to African Americans and only four to Hispanics. Its denial rate for Hispanics was 3.59 times higher than for whites.
In the Long Island
MSA in 2011, Investors Bank made 33 home
purchase loans to white - and none to African
Americans. It made 31 refinance loans to
whites and none to either African Americans or
Hispanics.
Watch this site.
Talk about absurd: the FDIC writes:
“Your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act request dated April 22, 2013 for the entire application of Renasant Bank, Tupelo, MS was received by the FDIC’s FOIA/Privacy Act Group and assigned a Log Number. Please be advised that the FOIA allows 20 business days from date of receipt to process your request.”
Which puts it AFTER the slated May 2 expiration of the comment period...
Takes one to know one: John Kanas of BankUnited claims “regulators should have applauded Chairman and CEO Robert Wilmers and M&T Bank for taking over a 'weakened' institution like Hudson City Bancorp Inc. and 'approved on the spot.' But the delayed deal approval until M&T strengthens its Bank Secrecy Act compliance programs 'poured cold water on [it] and put it off for God knows how long.'” That's per SNL Financial.
We on the other hand would say, why let a bank lax on money laundering take over a very disparate bank?
April 22, 2013
The (laundered) buck doesn't stop here, apparently: when M&T held its conference call on April 15, after having to admit regulatory problems will delay its challenged merger proposal with Hudson City Savings Bank, CEO Robert Wilmers wasn't on it.
He left CFO René Jones to take questions about his failure. Not a good sign.
Revolving door: OCC Chief Counsel Amy Friend is recusing herself for a year from discussions on the Dodd-Frank Act's Volcker rule in order for her to avoid conflicts of interest, according to SNL Financial. The conflict of interest stems from Friend's previous stint with consulting agency Promontory Financial Group LLC before she joined the OCC in February. While she worked with Promontory as a managing director, she advised a number of large institutions that are now being overseen by the OCC on matters related to the Volcker rule.
Friend handled former clients such as Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., Morgan Stanley, American Express Co., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Grosvenor Capital Management LP, LPL Financial Holdings Inc., MidCountry Financial Corp., National Australia Bank Ltd., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., and Fidelity Investments, a group of companies headed by FMR LLC, while she was in Promontory Financial. According to an OCC memorandum, Friend will recuse herself for a year from OCC business that involves her former employer as well as Morgan Stanley or five other former clients. She will not be recusing herself from OCC matters that involve former clients that she has not worked with for 12 months prior to her departure from Promontory.
Revolving door...
April 15, 2013M&T has been challenged under CRA since the fall - and now may be delayed even longer:
“M&T has learned that the Federal Reserve has identified certain regulatory concerns with M&T's procedures, systems and processes relating to M&T's Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering compliance program... M&T and Hudson City believe that the timeframe for closing the transaction will be extended substantially beyond the date previously expected. M&T and Hudson City intend to extend the date after which either party may elect to terminate the merger agreement if the merger has not yet been completed from August 27, 2013 to January 31, 2014.”
So in The Bronx in 2012, Citigroup denied the mortgage applications of African American 2.4 times more frequently then whites. In Manhattan, Citi's disparity at 2.63. And to the two groups, Citigroup made TEN TIMES as many loans in Manhattan as in The Bronx...
April 8, 2013In
2012 Subprime Disparities
at Key, US Bank &
SunTrust as
Fed Lax
SOUTH BRONX NY, April 7, 2013 -- In its second study of the just-released 2012 mortgage lending data, Inner City Press and Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch have found that a range of regional banks including KeyCorp, US Bank NA and SunTrust Mortgage continued with high cost loans and disparities by race and ethnicity in denials and higher-cost lending.
2012 is the ninth year in which the data distinguishes which loans are higher cost, over a federally-defined rate spread of 1.5 percent over Treasury bill yields.
The
just released data show that KeyCorp
confined African Americans to
higher-cost loans above this rate
spread 2.51 times more frequently
than whites in 2012, Fair Finance
Watch has found.
KeyCorp denied the applications of African Americans 1.76 times more frequently than those of whites.
KeyCorp confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.53 times more frequently than whites in 2012, the data show. It denied the applications of Latinos 1.44 times more frequently than those of whites.
SunTrust Mortgage confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above this rate spread 2.50 times more frequently than whites in 2012; for Latinos its disparity was 1.50.
US Bank NA confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above this rate spread 1.74 times more frequently than whites in 2012; for Latinos its disparity was 1.97. There are some irregularities in US Bank NA's data that Inner City Press will be further raising.
“Even after the bailouts, lending disparities grew worse and not better," said Fair Finance Watch. "Regulatory laxity, at least on fair lending, has continued despite the financial meltdown caused by predatory lending."
In 2012, Toronto Dominion or TD Bank denied the applications of African Americans 1.75 times more frequently than those of whites. For both PNC and Regions the disparity for African Americans was 1.57.
"The Federal Reserve is becoming more and more bank-friendly, including with recent Freedom of Information Act appeal denials by Governor Jay Power, formerly a hedge funder and Deutsche Bank official Jay Powell. It remains unclear if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will get to this problem," Fair Finance Watch continued. "The disparities in the 2012 mortgage data of these banks further militate for aggressively watchdogging and breaking up these banks."
Instead, the Fed allowed the creation of a fifth mega-bank in Capital One when it acquired ING DIRECT and the subprime assets of HSBC. In 2012, Fair Finance Watch has found, HSBC denied the applications of African Americans 1.34 times more frequently than those of whites.
Also in 2012, fully 9.93 percent of Capital One's morgage loans to African American were higher cost loans, versus 7.61 percent of Capital One's loans to whites. To Latinos, the percentage was even higher: 10.31 percent.
And so Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press have re-doubled watchdogging. Last week it studied the 2012 lending of the “Big Four” -- Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
The data show that Citigroup confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above this rate spread 2.09 times more frequently than whites in 2012, Fair Finance Watch found.
Citigroup confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.83 times more frequently than whites in 2012, the data show.
For JPMorgan Chase, the disparity for
African Americans in 2012 was 1.7; for Bank of America it was
1.61; for the largest of Wells Fargo's many HMDA data reporters,
the disparity for African Americans in 2011 was up to 2.32.
Regulators had allowed Hudson City in 2011, for conventional home purchase loans in the New York City Metropolitan Statistical Area, to make 765 such loans to whites and only FIVE to African Americans (and only 44 to Latinos). Meanwhile, Hudson City denied the applications of African Americans 3.21 times more frequently then those of whites.
In
March 2013 Inner City Press and Fair
Finance Watch began a challenge to
Investors Bancorp's application to
acquire Roma. In the NYC MSA in 2011
for conventional home purchase
loans, Investors Bank made 220 such
loans to whites, and only TWO such
loans to African Americans. Its
denial rate for Latinos was FIVE
TIMES higher than for whites.
On
April 5, Investors Bancorp announced it will try
to also acquire $300 million
Gateway Community Financial Corp
- this also will be opposed, on the current record.
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act required that the 2012 data be provided by March 31, following March 1 joint requests by Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press. Several banks still did not provide their data by the deadline, despite confirming receipt of the request. Further studies will follow: watch this site.
April 1, 2013
SOUTH BRONX NY, March 30, 2013 -- In the first study of the just-released 2012 mortgage lending data, Inner City Press and Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch have found that the Big Four banking behemoths Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo continued with high cost loans and disparities by race and ethnicity in denials and higher-cost lending.
2012 is the ninth year in which the data distinguishes which loans are higher cost, over a federally-defined rate spread of 1.5 percent over Treasury bill yields.
The just released data show that Citigroup confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above this rate spread 2.09 times more frequently than whites in 2012, Fair Finance Watch has found.
Citigroup confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.83 times more frequently than whites in 2012, the data show.
“Even after the bailouts, lending disparities grew worse and not better," said Fair Finance Watch. "Regulatory laxity, at least on fair lending, has continued despite the financial meltdown caused by predatory lending."
For JPMorgan Chase, the disparity for African Americans in 2012 was 1.7; for Bank of America it was 1.61; for the largest of Wells Fargo's many HMDA data reporters, the disparity for African Americans in 2011 was a whopping 2.32.
"The Federal Reserve is becoming more and more bank-friendly, including with recent Freedom of Information Act appeal denials by Governor Jay Powell, formerly a hedge funder and Deutsche Bank official Jay Powell. It remains unclear if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will get to this problem," Fair Finance Watch continued. "The disparities in the 2012 mortgage data of these banks further militate for aggressively watchdogging and breaking up these banks."
Instead, the Fed allowed
the creation of a fifth mega-bank
in Capital One when it acquired
ING DIRECT and the subprime
assets of HSBC.
In 2012, Fair Finance Watch has found, fully 9.93 percent of Capital One's mortgage loans to African American were higher cost loans, versus 7.61 percent of Capital One's loans to whites. To Latinos, the percentage was even higher: 10.31 percent.
And so Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press have re-doubled watchdogging. Challenged by the groups in 2012 and still pending, with FOIA issues, are applications by Customers Bancorp and by M&T, to acquire Hudson City Savings Bank.
Regulators had allowed Hudson City in 2011, for conventional home purchase loans in the New York City Metropolitan Statistical Area, to make 765 such loans to whites and only FIVE to African Americans (and only 44 to Latinos). Meanwhile, Hudson City denied the applications of African Americans 3.21 times more frequently then those of whites.
In March 2013 Inner City Press and Fair Finance Watch began a challenge to Investors Bancorp's application to acquire Roma. In the NYC MSA in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans, Investors Bank made 220 such loans to whites, and only TWO such loans to African Americans. Its denial rate for Latinos was FIVE TIMES higher than for whites.
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act required that the 2012 data be provided by March 31, following March 1 joint requests by Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press. Several banks did not provide their data by the deadline, despite confirming receipt of the request. Further studies will follow: watch this site.
March 25, 2013
On March 22 an NCRC discussion ranged from the Federal Reserve withholding too much information under the Freedom of Information Act to allowing former Legal Division staffers to re-appear advocating before the people they used to work with, or under.
While we've always liked her, the case in point was Patricia Robinson, formerly of Fed legal, now representing banks on mergers. Is it appropriate? How to know, given the redactions? We will continue on this.
March 18, 2013Why not Mel? Mel Watt, that is, to replace DeMarco as FHFA director...
So the Securities & Exchange Commission has allowed Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America to block shareholders' proposals that directors explore the break-up of these banks. Strange, after the financial meltdown and bailouts...
March 11, 2013
It's been a while but a showdown may be brewing, with Warren Traiger, now with BuckleySandler, previously defending GreenPoint which is now Capital One. Game on!
March 4, 2013
Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch has filed a timely to the applications by Investors Bancorp, MHC and Investors Bancorp (collectively, “Investors Bancorp”) to acquire Roma Financial Corporation MHC, Roma Financial Corporation, Roma Bank and RomAsia Bank (collectively, “Roma”).
Reviewing 2011 HMDA data, the most recent data available (and largely unaddressed in existing CRA performance evaluations and fair lending exams), ICP has examined Investors Bank's home purchase and refinance lending in the New York City MSA and finds it outrageous.
In the NYC MSA in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans, Investors Bank made 220 such loans to whites, and only TWO such loans to African Americans. Its denial rate for Hispanics was FIVE TIMES higher than for whites. (There was no Table 4-1.)
For refinance loans in the NYC MSA in 2011, Investors Bank made 183 such loans to whites, only three to African Americans and only four to Hispanics. Its denial rate for Hispanics was 3.59 times higher than for whites.
In the Long Island MSA in 2011, Investors Bank made 33 home purchase loans to white - and none to African Americans. It made 31 refinance loans to whites and none to either African Americans or Hispanics.
On the current record, Investors Bancorp's applications should not be approved.
February 25, 2013
In American Samoa, Bank of Hawaii plans on March 15 to close its branches, which hold over 50% of the territory's deposits. There has not been enough public outreach; we also note that Bank of Hawaii is run by former FDIC official Donna Tanoue. For shame....
February 18, 2013
Hitting a new low, Customers Bancorp on its application to the Federal Reserve to acquire Acacia Federal Savings Bank has tried to withhold from Inner City Press the entirety of its response to Fed questions. We will be pursuing - the documents, and Customers Bancorp. Watch this site.
February 11, 2013
And now we know: while the Federal Reserve told community groups that the comment period on Live Oak – Government Loan Solutions, published in the Federal Register, had been in error, internally the lawyer for Live Oak asked the Fed on December 21, “Are we close on the Live Oak notice? I know the comment period has not closed quite yet, but I will be out of the office most of next week, so I thought I would check in this morning.”
The comment period still open, but the Fed “close” to deciding and approving anyway. This is shameful. An appeal is being filed with the withheld information, presumably even more shameful.
February 4, 2013
Talk about grading of the curve: last Fall Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch began challenging Customers Bancorp, then on its proposal to buy Acacia. Now, Customers tells the Federal Reserve that "Fair Lending training is required annually of all employees with customer contact. It is administered via an online, self-paced course through the Edcomm Learning Management System. The employee is required to demonstrate adequate mastery of the course materials by completing a test at the conclusion of the course and obtaining a passing grade (minimum 80% correct).
80% is good enough for fair lending?
January 28, 2013
And now it can be told, or published:
a second timely comment on the applications by Guido Hinojoso to acquire control of Anchor Commercial Bank. On October 21, 2012, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch requested that the FRS immediately send by email all portions of the applications / notices for which Guido Hinojosa and his outside counsel have improperly requested confidential treatment.
Some of these arrived some eleven weeks later, but with redactions to basic managerial information such as the answer to "have you ever been dismissed from past employment" including in the banking field. Biographical, 2b. Similarly, the FRB has redacted all answers about past bank merger applications, if they were denied (Biographical 5) including a paragraph answer about Change in Control (5b) and lawsuits (5e). Such information must be released; ICP has filed a timely FOIA appeal and the comment period must be extended in light of these improper withholdings.
Even in what is released, there are reasons to schedule the hearing ICP timely requested. Guido Hinojosa is a shareholder in a bank, Sunrise, subject to a Prompt Corrective Action Directive.
In "Confidential" Exhibit 1D, the Fed still redacts with whom Fortaleza partnered. That must be released.
Still partially redacted Exhibit 1G lists $500,000 purchase of shares in Sunrise Bank in 2011, and $5,500,000 for Anchor Commercial Bank in 2012. But it is now 2013. Was the gun jumped? Has this plan changed? The rest of the page is blacked out and must be released, and the comment period extended.
The "relationship to Notificant" column for both Patricio Hinojosa Jimenez and Jorge Hinojosa Jimenez is redacted - why? A member of CBIFSA's board of directors is redacted in full -- why? These must be released.
The Recitals, Definitions and much of "Subscription" of the Subscription Agreement are redacted - why? This must be released.
In "Turnaround," the "Summary of the Bank's Condition" is redacted - this must be released.
The "Commitments" (Confidential Exhibit 3) are withheld - but must be released. ICP has appealed this and all other redactions and withholdings.
Again, Hinojosa's role in Banco La Paz must be inquired into and considered in this proceeding, under the CIBC Act.
For now, Anchor Commercial Bank in 2011 for conventional home purchase loans in the West Palm Beach MSA made only three loans, all to whites.
On the current record, the applications / notices should not be approved.
January 21, 2013
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request from Inner City Press, the Federal Reserve has released some of its questions to M&T -- but not the answers. The Fed asked "Discuss what measures M&T will take to prepare for a wind down of the Transaction Account Guarantee Program" and "page 9 of Confidential Exhibit Q indicate that M&T plans to sell Hudson City’s investment portfolio and unwind Hudson City’s wholesale funding."
The answer are entirely withheld - we will be appealing. Watch this site.
January 14, 2013
On January 10, President Barack Obama nominated for the post of Treasury Secretaryformer Citigroup-er Jack Lew.
Given Citigroup's role in predatory lending and the global financial meltdown, some are asking how could a senior Citigroup official during the critical time from 2006 through 2008 be Treasury Secretary?
Others counter-argue that Lew worked for Tip O'Neill, the Speaker of the House from Massachusetts, albeit in 1979.
And when Obama made the announcement, he mentioned O'Neill and Bill Clinton, then said Lew had been with "one of our largest investment firms." Say it - Citigroup! Lew didn't mention it either. But we will. Watch this site.
January 7, 2013
The total lack of accountability of the Federal Reserve Board and of those it purports to regulate, for example Capital One which was fined $150 million in July 2012 for predatory practices, is on display in a Freedom of Information Act appeal denial issued on January 2 by Governor Jerome Powell, to Inner City Press.
Upholding in full the withholding of over 2000 pages of records related to Capital One's compliance or non-compliance with commitments it made during its NCRC protested purchases of ING DIRECT and HSBC's subprime credit card operations, Powell ruled that not one page, or even a portion of a page, would be released.
This is at odds, for example, with FOIA appeal responses obtained this year by Inner City Press from other Federal agencies. In other FOIA news, Inner City Press is a media amicus in this just filed brief in McBurney v. Young, No. 12-17 of the US Supreme Court.
But the Federal Reserve, along with Capital One, will have to be addressed in 2013. Watch this site.
ICP has published a book about the CRA-relevant topic of predatory lending - click here for sample chapters, a map, and ordering information. CBS MarketWatch of April 23, 2004, says the the novel has "some very funny moments," and that the non-fiction mixes "global statistics and first-person accounts." The Washington Post of March 15, 2004, calls Predatory Bender: America in the Aughts "the first novel about predatory lending;" the London Times of April 15, 2004, "A Novel Approach," said it "has a cast of colorful characters." See also, "City Lit: Roman a Klepto [Review of 'Predatory Bender']," by Matt Pacenza, City Limits, Oct. 2004. The Pittsburgh City Paper says the 100-page afterword makes the "indispensable point that predatory lending is now being aggressively exported to the rest of the globe." Click here for that review; click here to Search This SiteClick here for CRA Reporter Archive 2005-2012
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive 2003-2004
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive 2002
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #2 2001
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #1 2001 (Jan. 1 - March 31, 2001)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #5 2000 (Sept. 25 - Dec. 31, 2000)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #4 2000 (July 17-September 25, 2000)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #3 2000 (May 29-July 17, 2000)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive 2000 #2 (March 27-May 22, 2000)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive 2000 #1 (Jan.-Mar. 27, 2000)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #6 (Nov. 15 - Dec. 31, 1999)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #5 (Oct.- Nov. 8, 1999)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #4 (Aug.-Sept., 1999)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #3 (June-July, 1999)
Click here for CRA Reporter Archive #2 (April.-May, 1999)
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