By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN
SDNY / SOUTH BRONX, Aug 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.
On May 4, 2023, TD Bank and First Horizon Bank announced the termination of their merger agreement, citing uncertainty about the timetable to obtain regulatory approvals.
In late August TD belatedly acknowledged "“\The Bank has been responding to formal and informal inquiries from regulatory authorities and law enforcement concerning its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance program, both generally and in connection with specific clients, counterparties or incidents in the U.S., including in connection with an investigation by DOJ... The Bank is cooperating with such authorities and is pursuing efforts to enhance its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance program. While the ultimate outcome of these inquiries and investigations are unknown at this time, the Bank anticipates monetary and/or non-monetary penalties to be imposed.”
Fair Finance Watch noted when the banks bragged that the deal was "on track" and that TD was already integrating with First Horizon - without required regulatory approvals: "TD Bank Group said in a statement Wednesday [Nov 2], 'Teams at both TD and First Horizon are working together to ensure a seamless integration experience for our customers as we prepare to introduce First Horizon customers to TD Bank. We will provide more details on that when full regulatory approval is received.'"
Fair Finance Watch asked, shouldn't that have been IF approval is received? And how was it legal to be working together without merger approvals?
Now First Horizon Bank Corp. CEO D. Bryan Jordan spins to CNBC that the banks "never assumed regulatory approval was a given." Really? Watch this site.
Earlier arrogance (and testimony) here.
Inner City Press will be inquiring under the Freedom of Information Act. Watch this site.
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