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.
***
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.
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
