By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
BBC-Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN NY Mag
SOUTH BRONX / SDNY, May 3 – Amid talk about renewed serious in Washington about merger review including under the Community Reinvestment Act, there are questions.
Today's question is why banks' acquisitions of fintech are not subject to CRA, or apparently to any pre-consummation review at all. Witness: "Truist acquired Long Game, a fintech startup that has raised millions in venture capital, executives have told TechCrunch exclusively."
So such an acquistion can take place with no public notice, just an "exclusive" to a trade publication? "
Neither company disclosed what Truist paid for Long Game, or the company’s revenues, saying only it was 'growing year over year' Led by co-founder and CEO Lindsay Holden, Long Game has raised funding from investors such as Vestigo Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Thrive Capital, and Collaborative Fund." Congress should close this loophole.
Because when there is review, there can be impact. Fair Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA challenge First Internet Bank's application to buy First Century. Their records were so bad it was delayed, and now the deal is dead, Inner City Press story here. (Industry press turns it into a story of slow regulators, rather than as it was, bad CRA record).
Also on mergers, the FDIC's Request for Information, on which Fair Finance Watch commented weeks ago, is still on the FDIC's website with no updates - or uploads of comments submitted - since April 13. So it is impossible to know what the industry is saying. We'll have more on this.
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