| Fulton Financial
Disparities Raised on $243M Deal
Bank Dismissive Now FRB
Rubberstamps
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack SDNY/SOUTH
BRONX, Feb 19 – 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. So on
December 8 Fair Finance Watch
filed with the Federal Reserve
and the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency -
in advance - against Fulton
Financial's newest merger
proposal, under the Community
Reinvestment Act. The Fed
directed Fulton to make its
branch closing plans public,
as it did with Fifth Third -
but on the day the comment
period is set to expire,
Fulton refused. Immediate FOIA
request and comment: Now
at 4:41 pm on the day the
comment period is set to
expire, Fulton refused to
comply with the FRS' request
it make its branch closing
thoughts public, as the FRB
Cleveland made Fifth Third on
Comerica
do.
Weimmediately filed a FOIA
request. On January 30
Fulton Bank - or tellingly
only its outside counsel
Dimitri Nionakis of Holland
& Knight - filed a short
and dismissive response, not
addressing the specific branch
closing issues raised nor the
consumer complaints. FFW
noted that Fulton had a seat
on the FRB of Philadelphia's
board, and FOIA-ed what
safeguards are in place. Still
no documents, but on January
20 the FRBP wrote to FFW: "the Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of FFC
and Fulton Bank, N.A.,
Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
serves on this Reserve Bank’s
board of directors. As stated
in the Application
Acknowledgement Letter sent to
FFC and in the Reserve Bank’s
letter acknowledging the
comment you submitted on
December 8, 2025, the Board of
Governors of the Federal
Reserve System (“Boardâ€) is
processing the above-noted
Application and is considering
your comment dated December 8,
2025, in reviewing that
Application." Then an
enigmatic, "No further action
will be taken with respect to
your email received by the
Board on January 12, 2026."
Including by the Board? Later on
January 20 Inner City Press
submitted its third timely
comment, noting with support another
comment. With branch closings
still withheld, and conflicts
unresolved, the comment period
must be extended. Watch this
site.
Fulton Bank NA in Delaware in
2024 made 199 mortgage loans
to whites, and only 24 to
African Americans. Meanwhile
it denied five applications
from African Americans, and
only 68 from
whites.
This is
disparate.
Fulton Bank NA in Pennsylvania
in 2024 made 2381 mortgage
loans to whites, and only 181
to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 111
applications from African
Americans, and only 616 from
whites. On January 15,
the Fed told Fulton to make it
branch closing plans public."
But they haven't been. And on February
19, the Fed rubber-stamped the
deal, reciting that FFW
"objected to the proposal,
alleging that, in 2024, Fulton
Bank made fewer home loans to
African American individuals
as compared to white
individuals in Delaware,
Maryland, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia. 26
The commenter also alleged
that Fulton Bank denied home
loan applications of African
American individuals at a
higher rate than those of
white individuals in Maryland,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Virginia. 27 Additionally, the
commenter stated that Fulton
Bank has closed many branches
between August 1, 2024, and
December 8, 2025, and alleged
that Fulton Bank would close
branches in New Jersey
following the acquisition of
Blue Foundry Bank. 28 ...
Fulton has not made any final
decisions to close or
consolidate branches in Inner City Press, which has opposed the FDIC's moves to close itself to public scrutiny - American Banker op-ed here - will be submitting FOIA requests on all this. The FDIC said it will eliminate public notices because it does not receive enough public comments. That is now changing. Watch this site.
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