| As Hancock
Whitney Bank Tries to Expand
in Florida Disparate Lending
and FDIC Contempt
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack FEDERAL
COURT,
June 2 รข€“ Hancock Whitney Bank
proposes to expand in Florida
by buying Orlando-based One
Florida Bank. Fair Finance
Watch, after the Federal
Reserve refused to act to
ensure public access to Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act
data, has commented to
the FDIC on the 2024 HMDA
data: This is a timely
first comment on the
application by Hancock Whitney
Bank to acquire One Florida
Bank. The FDIC's website says
the application was submitted
on June 1, with no comment
period set yet. This
opposition is submitted at the
earliest possible time.
Fair Finance Watch has
reviewed the 2024 Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data
of Hancock Whitney Bank, not
reviewed in any Community
Reinvestment Act performance
evaluation. Hancock
Whitney Bank in 2024 in
Mississippi, made 375 mortgage
loans to whites (with only 105
denials) while making only 41
loans to African Americans and
denying fully 50 - that is,
more - applications from
African Americans. This is
disparate. Hancock
Whitney Bank in 2024 in
Louisiana, made 1408 mortgage
loans to whites (with only 437
denials) while making only 263
loans to African Americans and
denying fully 209 applications
from African
Americans.
Hancock Whitney
Bank in 2024 in Texas, made 71
mortgage loans to whites (with
only 35 denials) while making
only FOUR loans to African
Americans and denying fully
nine - that is, more -
applications from African
Americans. This is
disparate.
Hancock Whitney Bank in 2024
in Florida, made 416 mortgage
loans to whites (with only 119
denials) while making only 30
loans to African Americans and
denying fully 26 applications
from African Americans. (One Florida in
2024 in Florda made 34 loans
to whites and only two to
African Americans). We
are requesting public
hearings, and complete copy of
the
application.
FFW notes in the
FDIC's pending proposal RIN
3064-AG10: "the FDIC has
received a limited number of
public comments in response to
subpart C applications....
Therefore, the FDIC is
proposing to eliminate the
public notice and related
public comment period from
subpart C and to make
conforming changes to subpart
A of 12 CFR part 303 of the
FDIC Rules." See,
e.g., American Banker, Sept
10, 2025, "The FDIC is taking
the 'community' out of CRA
enforcement," by Matthew R.
Lee, https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/the-fdic-is-undercutting-a-key-element-of-the-cra
The Community
Reinvestment Act specifies
that "the appropriate Federal
financial supervisory agency
shall (1) assess the
institution's record of
meeting the credit needs of
its entire community,
including low- and
moderate-income neighborhoods,
consistent with the safe and
sound operation of such
institution; and (2) take such
record into account in its
evaluation of an application
for a deposit facility by such
institution."
That is, the only enforcement
mechanism of CRA is its
consideration on applications
for deposit facilities:
branches, and proposed mergers
like this one. But now
the FDIC has blithely
eliminated 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. This
comment period should be
extended, evidentiary hearings
should be held; and on the
current record, the
application should not be
approved.
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Friday, June 5, 2026
As Hancock Whitney Bank Tries to Expand in Florida Disparate Lending and FDIC Contempt
