by Matthew R. Lee, Patreon Substack
SOUTH BRONX / SDNY, July 8 – 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, here
Then merger proxy disclosed "approvals could be delayed or not obtained at all, including due to any or all of the following: an adverse development in any party’s regulatory standing or any other factors considered by regulators in granting such approvals, governmental, political or community group inquiries, investigations or opposition; changes in legislation or the political environment, including as a result of changes of the U.S. executive administration, or Congressional leadership and regulatory agency leadership." Ya don't say...
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
