Federal Reserve Says No Records on Conflicts Despite Silicon Valley Bank on FRBSF Board

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

FEDERAL COURT, Jan 28 – The Federal Reserve Board, currently proclaiming its independence, claims it has no records at all about considering or trying to address the conflict of interest of having banks on the boards of directors of its Federal Reserve Banks.

 This despite the obvious conflict and controversy of having had Silicon Valley Bank on the board of the FRBSF. Inner City Press on January 28 filed this FOIA appeal:

On behalf of Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press and in my personal capacity, this is an immediate FOIA appeal of the Board's January 28 denial of our January 12 FOIA request for Fulton Financial's branch closing answer to the AI request they put it in a public exhibit - precisely the type of information made public after FOIA request in Fifth Third - Comerica, after an identical request, and a directly challenge, to be presented to the Governors, to the Denial's statement that

"With respect to item 2 of your request, staff searched Board records but did not locate any documents responsive to this portion of your request. Therefore, we are unable to provide you with any responsive information."    Item 2 was "[2] all records reflecting FRS including FRB of Philadelphia considering of possible conflicts of interesting [sic] in having Fulton’s CEO on the FRB of Philadelphia’s Board of Directors while the FRB of Philadelphia considers Fulton’s merger applications including deciding how to treat adverse comments and whether to sent [sic] copies of AI letters and allow withholding of answers to AI letters. The request, for context, includes FRS consideration of bank and bank holding company respresention [sic] on the boards of the other Reserve Banks."  

The item / request obviously includes Reserve Banks beyond FRB of Philadelphia.   Inner City Press understands from sources that the FRS has internally sought to address criticism of having had Silicon Valley Bank on the board of the FRBSF, and SVB's subsequent failure.   To say there are no record is not credible - this appeal must be presented directly to the Governors.

   On December 29, OceanFirst, which settled charges of redlining earlier this decade, announced it will apply to buy Flushing Bank in New York.  OceanFirst was on the board of the FRB of Philadelphia.

  Fair Finance Watch has opposed it, in comments filed January 2 with the Federal Reserve Board which recently allowed a $7 billion mega-merger to proceed with no Fed review. OceanFirst's record should preclude this. and this proposed deal. 

  In 2024 OceanFirst made 1399 loans to whites - and only 94 to African Americans. In Connecticut, for example, it made loans only to whites, none to African Americans.  

 In Pennsylvania its ratio of loans to whites to loans to African Americans was 4.5 to 1. In New York, it was 7 to 1.

This proposal is being opposed along with the OCC's moves to exclude the public, and to withhold documents under FOIA from Inner City Press and others until comment periods close.

On January 7 the Federal Reserve replied: "The Federal Reserve Bank of Phiadelphia received your correspondence on January 2, 2026, regarding a future application by OceanFirst to acquire Flushing Bank. The Federal Reserve has not yet received an application by OceanFirst to acquire Flushing Bank. Accordingly, no immediate action will be taken on the correspondence dated January 2, 2026. If a filing is received in the next three months, your comment may be considered as part of the application record for the filing."

MAY be considered? Watch this site.

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Zac Efron Served as Bait for Rape Alexander Brothers Live Tweeted Trial Testimony Says

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 27 –    During the first day of the criminal trial against the Alexander brothers, the Government's first witness described being attracted to going to a small party at actor Zac Efron's loft in the Manhattan's Meatpacking District - and ending up raped by Alon Alexander.    In a sense, Zac Efron functioned as bait for rape, according to the testimony.    Why was an summer intern invited to this gathering in Efron's loft, where she drank and was given Molly and then taken by another guest and raped?    One can imagine a corporate host being sued. But from Efron? No response, it seems.    Inner City Press live tweeted the testimony, here More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.

JPM Chase Challenged on Debanking & Epstein as FLA Case Cited But OCC Says No Hearing

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY / SOUTH BRONX, Jan 27– JPMorgan Chase's apparent enabling of sex trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as its "debanking," have been formally raised by Fair Finance Watch on November 24 to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, opposing JPMC's applications including to open eight branches while closing in low and moderate income communities. 

   As the US bank regulators including the OCC under Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould move to limit public notice and participation in review of banks' applications for approvals, and purport to take seriously debanking and even banks' enabling of sex trafficking, this was a test.

On December 2, the test was failed. The OCC wrote: " Dear Mr. Lee: The OCC has decided not to extend the public comment period. Your request for a public hearing did not appropriately describe the nature of issues or facts to be presented in such a hearing. Therefore, your request for a public hearing was denied."

 On January 23, FFW filed:

 Re: Timely Comment on Branch Applications and JPM Chase & debanking (second comment after Nov 2025) 

To Comptroller Gould and To Whom it May Concern at the OCC:   

 On behalf of Fair Finance Watch and in my personal capacity there are timely comments opposing JPMorgan Chase NA's branch applications listed below, all submitted this month and having comment periods running through today January 23 or later. These comments are timely.  

  First, note that in November FFW commented to one including about JPM Chase's debanking. The OCC's response on December 2 was to say that no hearing was necessary - and to do nothing.    Today we are putting into the record before the OCC the complaint against Chase and its CEO for debanking filed in Florida including as to Plaintiff 401 MEZZ VENTURE, LLC is a limited liability company organized in Delaware with its principal place of business in Florida. 4. Plaintiff 401 NORTH WABASH VENTURE, LLC is a limited liability company organized in Delaware with its principal place of business in Florida. 5. Plaintiff THC MIAMI RESTAURANT HOSPITALITY, LLC is a limited liability company organized in Delaware with its principal place of business in Florida.    We are re-requesting a hearing.  Here are the pending branch applications we are commenting on

  Also for the record on these and all other JPM Chase applications before the OCC, now and until at least the end of the year: JPM Chase has been exposed as having enabled sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, including a current Congressional inquiry into Suspicious Activity Reports it should have filed by didn't.    

Also, on the issue of debanking which the OCC (and Comptroller) have said they take so seriously, for the record on these and all other JPM Chase applications, consider:  "Strike CEO Jack Mallers said JPMorgan Chase closed his bank accounts without a proper explanation last month, prompting concerns of debanking of crypto CEOs. "Last month, J.P. Morgan Chase threw me out of the bank," Mallers wrote on social media platform X on Sunday. "It was bizarre. My dad has been a private client there for 30+ years." When Mallers inquired why his accounts were closed, he said JPMorgan’s only response was: "We aren’t allowed to tell you.'"

Despite the Florida case, the OCC on January 26 wrote to FFW: "January 27, 2026  Sent by email to lee@fairfinancewatch.org  Matthew Lee, Esq., Executive Director Fair Finance Watch Post Office Box 10013, Chinatown Station New York, New York 10013 Re: Branch Filings JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Columbus, Ohio, Charter Number 8 Control Numbers: 2026-BranchNew-344538; 2026-BranchNew-344540; 2026-BranchNew-344542; 2026-BranchNew-344544; 2026-BranchNew-344553; 2026-BranchNew-344554; 2026-BranchNew-344559; 2026-BranchNew-344560; 2026-BranchNew-344564; 2026-BranchNew-344591 Dear Mr. Lee: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) acknowledges receipt of your email of January 23, 2026, transmitting comments regarding the above referenced branch filings. In your emails, you request that the OCC extend the public comment period and hold a public hearing on the branch applications. The OCC has decided not to extend the public comment period. Your request for a public hearing did not appropriately describe the nature of issues or facts to be presented in such a hearing. Therefore, your request for a public hearing was denied."

This is boilerplate. The OCC doesn't actually care about - or believe in the existence of - debanking at all, it seems. Watch this site.

See,  American Banker, BankThink: "The FDIC is taking the 'community' out of CRA enforcement," by Matthew R. Lee, here.

   Again, the only enforcement mechanism of CRA is its consideration on applications for deposit facilities: branches.  A hearing is requested, timely opposition made.

Thank you for your attention, /s/ Matthew Lee, Esq. Executive Director Fair Finance Watch

Watch this site.

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As Coinbase Applied for OCC Charter Withheld Policies Now Late Answer Nothing on WLTC

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SOUTH BRONX/SDNY, Jan 27 – With the US Congress passing the cryptocurrency GENIUS Act, Ripple Labs as well as Circle and others, have applied for banking charters to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.   Now Coinbase has applied. Inner City Press has FOIAed the many withheld exhibits.

  On October 11 Fair Finance Watch filed a timely comment with the OCC, including:

   FFW is troubled that Coinbase is trying to withhold basic policies, amid compliance including privacy violations. Also, this should be subject to the Community Reinvestment Act; inquiry is needed into Coinbase's vague statement that "Coinbase’s products and services are designed to enable individuals and small businesses across the economic spectrum to benefit from the unique advantages presented by crypto assets." How? Inner City Press has submitted a FOIA request for the policies, and request for expedited treatment. The comment period should be extended.  

  Note for example that  "Coinbase already knew about the leak of its customers’ data a full four months before the major breach. In practice, the crypto-exchange had declared in May to the SEC that it was aware of the fact that hackers had accessed employee data “without work necessity” in the “previous months.” The insider employees have been located at its outsourcing partner, TaskUs. The key episode of this affair occurred in Indore, India, where the TaskUs employee was caught photographing the work computer screen with her personal cellphone. According to five former employees of the company, the woman was involved in an illicit operation of transferring sensitive Coinbase customer data to hacker groups, possibly in exchange for bribes.

The application states that it would be exempt from the Community Reinvestment Act - FFW disagrees... Consider: ”A new class action lawsuit alleges Coinbase collects and shares biometric data without first obtaining user consent. Plaintiffs Scott Bernstein, Gina Greeder and James Lonergan filed the class action complaint against Coinbase on May 13 in Illinois federal court, alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (IFCA). According to the lawsuit, Coinbase uses facial recognition technology to verify users’ identities but fails to obtain the required consent from users before collecting their biometric data. The lawsuit claims that Coinbase’s identity verification process involves users uploading a photo of their government-issued ID and a selfie. The company then uses facial recognition software to analyze and compare the images, generating a unique digital representation of the user’s face, known as a face template or face scan. However, the plaintiffs allege that Coinbase does not inform users that their biometric data is being collected or provide them with the required notice and consent forms, which is a violation of the BIPA. Coinbase allegedly shares users’ biometric data with third-party vendors The lawsuit further alleges that Coinbase shares users’ biometric data with third-party vendors, such as Jumio and Onfido, without obtaining users’ consent. These vendors provide the facial recognition software used by Coinbase, and the lawsuit claims that they also store users’ biometric data on their servers. "

   The policies must be made public, the comment period must be extended and on the current record, the application must be approved.

   FFW wrote in October that it would have more to say when it receives responses to its and Inner City Press' FOIA requests.

Months later on January 27, 2026 the OCC wrote to Inner City Press: "Good afternoon Mr. Lee, After further review, I see that we processed the Coinbase application in 2026-00045-F, which was provided to you yesterday, January 26, 2026. We are also processing the second portion of your request (communications) in 2026-00045-F, so we will close this request as a duplicate. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to discuss first. Thank you, Pauline."

Inner City Press wrote to the OCC: "This is a FOIA request for the withheld portions of the pending applications of Foris DAX National Trust Bank, World Liberty Trust Company, N.A. and Augustus National Bank, National Association. On these application basic information has been confined to so-called "Confidential" exhibits."

Later on January 27 the OCC belated confirmed receipt about Augustus National Bank, NA - but still nothing about World Liberty Trust Company, even as the OCC says its reviews are apolitical. We'll have more on this.

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As US v Alexander Brothers Trial Starts Alon Counsel Asks Moore Why Took Molly

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 207 – Amid the news of the arrest of the Alexander brothers in Miami on SDNY sex trafficking charges, in the SDNY Magistrate Court on the morning of December 11, 2024 the superseding indictment was "wheeled out" to District

On August 21 Oren Alexander retained two of the defense lawyers in Sean Combs' recent trial, Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos, amid pre-trial skirmishes.

On November 7 Inner City Press filed opposition to the Alexander brothers' extensive redactions, on PACER here and on DocumentCloud here

Late on December 11 Marc Agnifilo docketed his Brady letter - now on Patreon here.

On January 12, the courtroom was abruptly sealed after defense counsel referred to sealed memo not visible in the docket on PACER. Inner City Press filed a letter with the Court, on DocumentCloud here.

Here is a court drawing of jury selection, courtesy to Inner City Press from Elizabeth Williams - on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

Late on January 20 lawyer Evan Torgan - whose name is not to be mentioned in front of the anonymous jury - wrote in to quash subpoenas, under seal (his letter on Patreon here).

More / extra on X for Subscribers here and on Substack here

On January 27 the trial began - Inner City Press live tweeted it - with openings and then the first witness, under the pseudonym Katie (or Katy) Moore. On cross, Alon's lawyer Srebnick asked her pointedly why she took Molly at the now defunct club Provocateur.

More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

 This case is USA v. Alexander, et al., 1:24-cr-676 (Caproni)

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Melania Trump Moves to Dismiss Wolff Defamation Case or Transfer it to SDFL

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 26 – Journalist Michael Wolff filed a defamation lawsuit against Melania Trump in New York State court on October 21, 2025. 

 On December 29, Melania Trump through counsel filed a Notice of Removal to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which Inner City Press closely covers and where it found it. The notice says that she is a resident of Florida and therefore diversity jurisdiction applies. 

  Her lawyers also wrote that "plaintiff falsely and maliciously asserted that Mrs. Trump was somehow 'involved' in the 'scandal' relating to Jeffrey Epstein [and] initiated this action in an improper effort to preempt a potential defamation lawsuit against him by Mrs. Trump." 

On January 26 Melania Trump's lawyers moved to dismiss, or to transfer the case to the Southern District of Florida.

More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here

The SDNY case is Wolff v. Trump, 1:25-cv-10752 (Vyskocil)

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Enova CashNetUSA Bid for Grasshopper Bank Opposed by FFW to OCC Still Silent on WLTC

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SOUTH BRONX/SDNY, Jan 26 – Amid the FDIC's bid to eliminate public notice of and public comment on branch applications, the OCC is entertaining an application by a Enova, the parent of high cost lender CashNetUSA, to acquire Grasshopper Bank, already deeply engaged in AI banking.

On January 26 Fair Finance Watch filed:

  "opposition to the applications of Enova, parent of the high-cost payday lender CashNetUSA, to become a national by seeking to acquire Grasshopper Bank.    To allow a payday lender already fined by the CFPB to become a bank would be a new low.     "Enova used bank account information it had purchased from online lead generators, overwriting the bank account information that borrowers had authorized Enova to use... Enova cancelled loan extensions it had granted to certain consumers and in most instances debited such consumers’ bank accounts for the full loan payment instead of only a smaller loan extension fee" etc

  Now they want (to become) a national bank? Public hearings are necessary.  Combine this with Grasshopper's use of artificial intelligence in banking - a topic not yet scrutinize enough by the regulators, see for example Fifth Third and Brex, with Brex now being acquired by Capital One - and the need for public hearings on this CashNetUSA/Enova - Grasshopper (AI) proposal is all the more clear.

Meanwhile money laundering settler Bunq is applying to the OCC for a bank, along with a higher profile application by WLTC also protested by FFW.

 While Inner City Press simultaneously challenged Bunq and WLTC, by 7 pm on January 14 the OCC had only acknowledged FFW's comment on Bunq - nothing on WLTC - even now on January 26, while the comment period is running, set to expire on February 9 after a January 6 filing.

 This as the OCC says its reviews are apolitical.

Or perhaps it is just incompetence: on January 26, the OCC sent a FOIA response: "Good morning Mr. Lee, Your request 2026-00059-F is a duplicate of your previous request 2026-00045-F, which we have already received and are processing. As a result, we will administratively close the duplicate request and continue processing the original request."

But the requests are entirely different: they are about entirely different digital bank applications. And still the comment periods run...

See, e.g., Sept 10, 2025: https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/the-fdic-is-undercutting-a-key-element-of-the-cra  

 But now the Federal regulator(s) blithely propose(s) to eliminate public notice and public comment on banks' proposals to expand.  The above-quoted reasoning is that few comments are filed. So, that is now changing.

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UN Staff Call Out OIOS As New Book UN Betrayals Profiles Guterres and His Failures

 Patreon Book Substack

NEW YORK, Jan 24 – As the UN moves in 2026 to pick a new Secretary General, as its last one Antonio Guterres fails on Ukraine, Gaza and basic transparency, staff call for the Office of Internal Oversight Services he has corrupted to be eliminated and replaced. They sent to Inner City Press:

"OIOS is mandated to act independently, objectively, and in good faith under General Assembly resolution 48/218 B and Article 97 of the UN Charter. UNDT and UNAT jurisprudence consistently require investigations to be thorough, balanced, and grounded in reliable and verifiable evidence.

In recent cases, including Tribunal Order No. 002 (NY/2025) and Judgment UNDT/2024/055, serious concerns arise regarding selective fact-finding and undue alignment with management positions. Such practices are incompatible with the Tribunal’s settled requirement that oversight bodies rigorously test allegations against exculpatory evidence. Where investigations lack objectivity and independence, resulting disciplinary decisions cannot be sustained in law. Meaningful structural reform is therefore required to restore credibility and ensure compliance with established jurisprudence, including consideration of dissolving OIOS and internal legal counsel functions and outsourcing oversight to independent external mechanisms or advanced AI-based systems."

  This follow a new book being published. 

 It is "United Nations Betrayals: From Election Stolen by Guterres to Bribes and Banning of the Press," by Matthew Russell Lee (who quickly discloses that he has been ousted and banned from the UN by Guterres, for his reporting). 

 A noted by New York Magazine on Lee's Maximum Maxwell book, at times here he uses the character Kurt Wheelock, who first appeared in his Predatory Bender.  

 The book begins with Guterres beating out female candidates for the UNSG post, after a murky year being paid by Lisbon-based Gulbenkian Foundation. The book digs into the bid by the China Energy Fund Committee, convicted of UN bribery, for Gulbenkian's oil company. Readers can draw their own conclusion, including on the need for SG campaign finance disclosure in 2026. 

  Part of the book in italics delves into the UN Correspondents Association and its efforts to throw Lee out. They appear again in the afterword / novella, "Whacking Qaddafi," which was first mentioned in the New Yorker magazine's Talk of the Town piece about Lee. It addresses more countries: from India to Pakistan, Guinea to Guinea Bissau. 

 The main text addresses UN failures in Sri Lanka - including the UNCA connection - Cameroon, Western Sahara, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, Gaza and elsewhere. UN Betrayals indeed - this should be the first of a series.

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As Capital One Bids on Fifth Third Partner Brex Reconsideration Sought of Fed Comerica OK

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY/SOUTH BRONX, Jan 23 – As US bank regulators loosen rules - including the FDIC moving to eliminate public comment altogether on branch expansion applications - now more big banks are moving to get bigger.

   On October 6, Fifth Third announced it would apply to buy damaged Comerica Bank. On October 8-9, it was opposed, to the Fed and OCC, by Fair Finance Watch.

After FOIA requests, the list of 80 branches Fifth Third would close was exposed by Inner City Press, and covered in Michigan press. But on January 13, while speaking loudly about independence, the Fed rubber stamped Fifth Third's application, calling many concerns irrelevant to it and spinning the branch closures.

On January 23, FFW filed a timely request for reconsideration with the Fed:

"The Approval, at n. 32, recounted that FFW 'asked the Board to consider the risks of Fifth Third’s recently announced partnership with a fintech firm that uses artificial intelligence for its commercial credit card and expense management platform' - then dismissed the issue, and the hearing request.    

"Well, on January 22, 2026 this fintech - which the Board left unnamed - Brex announced it would be sold to Capital One. See, e.g., "Capital One agrees to acquire credit card, stablecoin payment enabler Brex" and "Capital One stock drops nearly 8% after Brex buy."      How can a putative competitor - Capital One - own Fifth Third's partner Brex? The Board must consider this new fact, new since January 13, on connection with the request for reconsideration, and otherwise.    There is much in the Board's approval which is dismissive and wrong, but FFW will focus this request for reconsideration on new fact involving Fifth Third's partnership with Brex, now to be owned by Capital One.     The approval should be reconsidered, and other actions taken."

  On December 1 Fifth Third filed with the Fed, but is seeking to withhold from the public, the many branches it would close if it gets Fed approval. FFW immediately challenged with withholding under FOIA - and has noted to the Fed that the proposed deal has been sued in Delaware, where there is a January hearing. The comment period must remain open, including until all branch closings are disclosed.

On November 10, after a contemptuous response by Fifth Third's Kala Gibson, the fight has spread to five more states.

 Fifth Third's EVP of "Corporate Responsibility" Kala Gibson wrote in urging a rubber stamp from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, saying that HMDA data proves nothing. He is speaking for CEO Tim Spence, who bragged on the day of announcement how fast he could obtain an approval. Well let's see.

  In state after state, Fifth Third for African Americans has (many) more denials than originations, while the opposite is true for white borrows. The pattern is striking, starting with two states Fifth Third and Comerica overlap in:   

   In Michigan, the state Comerica abandoned for Texas, Fifth Third in 2024 denied 249 applications from African Americans while making fewer, only 177loans - while it made fully 4189 loans to whites and denied only 1688 applications. This  is disparate [there are more states] They are worse in Florida...

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