Federal Reserve Pre-Approves Mergers, BB&T FOIA Release to Inner City Press Shows

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

SOUTH BRONX, July 29 -- This month the Federal Reserve Board quietly announced a willingness to pre-approve, or to indicate a willingness to approve, bank mergers proposals even before the public is made aware of them. 

  To some, this shows how little the regulator has learned from the financial meltdown.

  Inner City Press has also just learned, via a Freedom of Information Act request and appeal, that the Fed has even this year been entertaining bank merger proposals under code names such as "Project Palm," assigned to BB&T's proposal with BankAtlantic. 

   Click here for Governer Jerome Powell's response to Inner City Press' FOIA Appeal. Click here for some of the documents released.  

   The deal is still pending.

  When the Fed on July 11 announced the policy by a "Supervisory Letter," its press release provided a telephone number in Washington for media inquiries. Inner City Press called the number and asked among other things how it would impact review under the Community Reinvestment Act, which involves public notice and comment.

  Inner City Press will not here report the name of the person answering, because it was insisted that no name could be given.

  Rather Inner City Press was directed to the FOIA footnote of the Supervisory Letter, that some records about the pre-approvals will be available, after the fact, under FOIA.

  But while the Fed is pre-approving, the public will have no way to know what records to request. This can be called false transparency.

  Even on BB&T's "Project Palm," it is only now that the Fed releases records half-showing its response to Inner City Press' February 2012 comment on and against the proposal.

  The just-released records show that on February 7, Claudia A. VonPervieux of Fed staff was "working on a draft rejection letter for M.Lee" of Inner City Press when the Fed belatedly realized that the Press was right: public notice had disappeared such that one couldn't know what to comment on.

   And so a brief extension of the comment period was granted, but only for Inner City Press, which did not cure the problem of lack of notice to the public at large. See released e-mails, attached. And so it goes at the Fed.

   Inner City Press is working on another FOIA story with documents due this week from Washington. On both cases, judicial review of denial of access to information on appeal may well be warranted. Watch this site.

In 2011 Subprime Lending Continued Disparate at Citi, Chase & Wells as Fed Lax

By Matthew R. Lee

SOUTH BRONX NY, April 2, 2012 -- In the first study of the just-released 2011 mortgage lending data, Inner City Press and Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch have found that banking behemoths Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo continued with high cost loans and disparities by race and ethnicity in denials and higher-cost lending.

2011 is the eighth year in which the data distinguishes which loans are higher cost, over a federally-defined rate spread of 1.5 percent over Treasury bill yields.

The just released data show that Citigroup confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above this rate spread 3.38 times more frequently than whites in 2011, worse that its 2.25 disparity in 2009, Fair Finance Watch has found.

Citigroup confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 2.42 times more frequently than whites in 2011, worse that its 1.72 disparity in 2009, the data show.

“Even after the bailouts, lending disparities grew worse and not better," said Fair Finance Watch. "Regulatory laxity, at least on fair lending, has continued despite the financial meltdown caused by predatory lending."

For JPMorgan Chase, the disparity for African Americans in 2011 was 2.21; for the largest of Wells Fargo's many HMDA data reporters, the disparity for African Americans in 2011 was 2.28.

"The Federal Reserve is becoming more and more bank-friendly, including with the recent nomination of former hedge funder and Deutsche Bank official Jay Powell for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board. It is still not clear if the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will get to this problem," Fair Finance Watch continued. "The disparities in the 2011 mortgage data of these banks further militate for aggressively watchdogging and breaking up these banks."

Regional bank Keycorp in 2011 confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.70 times more frequently than whites -- more than a third of Keycorp's loans to African American were rate spread or high-cost loans.

U.S. Bancorp in 2011 confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 2.13 times more frequently than whites, worse than in 2010.

Regions Financial in 2011 denied applications by African Americans 2.44 times more frequently than whites.

Comerica, not yet including its Texas-based purchase Sterling, in 2011 confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 2.81 times more frequently than whites

Growing Southern bank BB&T, even absent its subprime unit Lendmark, in 2011 confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 2.59 times more frequently than whites

Fair Finance Watch has continued its enforcement project in the South, most recently raising issues under the Community Reinvestment Act on BB&T's proposal to acquire BankAtlantic. In response, the Federal Reserve Board extended the comment period. Much of BB&T's application has been blacked out or withheld in full, which Inner City Press is challenging under the Freedom of Information Act.

Another acquisition, that of MetLife's deposits by General Electric, has proceeded stealthly with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency belatedly stating that it plays no role in the review since GE is using a Utah-based "non-bank bank." These loopholes, like GE, played a role in the subprime meltdown.

Inner City Press & FFW have also joined others concerned with Deutsche Bank's decertification as a financial services holding company to escape Dodd Frank including its capital adequacy rules -- particularly given Deutsche Bank's role in the subprime scandal, as lender, securitizer and now major forecloser.

Expect these issues to be increasingly scrutinized by Occupy Wall Street and others, given their link to the global meltdown.

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act required that the 2011 data be provided by March 31, following March 1 joint requests by Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press. Several banks did not provide their data by the deadline, most notably Capital One and Bank of America, despite confirming receipt of the request. Further studies will follow: watch this site.

Too Big To Be Fair, Citi, Wells, BofA & JPM Chase Disparate in Subprime Loans in 2009

By Matthew R. Lee, Inner City Press
www.innercitypress.com/toobig1unfair041110.html

NEW YORK, April 11 -- In the first study of the just-released 2009 mortgage lending data, Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch has found that the Big Four survivors of the banking meltdown, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, continued with high cost loans and had worse disparities by race and ethnicity in denials and higher-cost lending than before 2009, Fair Finance Watch concluded.

The just released data show that Citigroup confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above the Federally defined subprime rate spread 2.25 times more frequently than whites, according to Fair Finance Watch. Citigroup confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.72 times more frequently than whites, the data show. 2009 is the sixth year in which the data distinguishes which loans are higher cost, over a federally-defined rate spread.

JPMorgan Chase was even more disparate to Latinos, confined them to higher-cost loans 1.98 times more frequently than whites, almost as pronounced as its disparity between African-Americans and whites, 2.17. HSBC, perhaps due to its shrinking, some say dying, business had disparities of 2.57 for African Americans and 1.61 for Latinos.

For Bank of America's Countrywide Bank FSB, the disparity for African Americans was 2.11 and for Latinos, 1.95.

For Wells Fargo Bank NA, the disparity for African Americans was 2.40 and for Latinos, 2.09. For its subprime affiliate Wells Fargo Funding, the disparities were even worse: African Americans were confirmed to high cost loans four times more frequently than whites.

"Call them 'too big to be fair' -- the banks the regulators have favored, allowing emergency takeovers like JPMorgan Chase's of Washington Mutual, Bank of America's of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, and Wells Fargo's of Wachovia, were the most racially disparate lenders," said Fair Finance Watch. "The regulators did not put any conditions on the mergers or Troubled Assets Relief Program bailouts. As things are going, it will be worse and more disparate in 2010. Global predatory lending seems unlikely to be discussed at the G-20 finance ministers' meeting in Washington later this month. The disparities in the 2009 mortgage data of the big four militate for breaking up these banks."

Regional bank BB&T in 2009 confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.90 times more frequently than whites, and confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.43 times more frequently than whites.

U.S. Bancorp in 2009 confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.72 times more frequently than whites, and confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.71 times more frequently than whites.

Regions in 2009 confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.68 times more frequently than whites, and confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.33 times more frequently than whites.

Several lenders, including a large credit union, exhibited disparities denial rate beween African and Latinos compared to whites in 2009. Citigroup, for example, denied applications by African Americans 1.45 times more frequently than whites, while denying Latinos 1.35 times more frequently than whites. JPMorgan Chase denied applications by African Americans 1.54 times more frequently than whites, while denying Latinos 1.41 times more frequently than whites. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union denied applications by African Americans 2.04 times more frequently than whites, while denying Latinos 1.84 times more frequently than whites.

The law required that the 2009 data be provided by April 1, following March 1 requests by Fair Finance Watch and Inner City Press. Several banks did not provide their data by the deadline. Trustmark and Bank of Hawaii provided their data at the deadline but only in paper format, such that it could not yet be computer-analyzed. Further studies will follow.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/toobig1unfair041110.html

Banker Allison of BB&T in Meltdown Misdirection, Subprime Loans Were Shielded

Byline: Matthew R. Lee of Inner City Press on Wall Street
www.innercitypress.com/cra1allison020109.html

SOUTH BRONX, February 1 -- Given the hundreds of billions of dollars being thrown at banks in response to the subprime lending-triggered meltdown, holding accountable those who turned American finance down the subprime path would seem to be important. Conservatives blame the Community Reinvestment Act, saying that this law enacted in 1977 to combat the redlining of and refusal to lend in inner city areas was something of a time bomb, set to explode 30 years later.

But the explosive growth of subprime lending took place in parts of financial holding companies which are not covered by CRA, like Citigroup's CitiFinancial and similar consumer finance subsidiary in Wells Fargo and HSBC, purchased as Household International. The subprime loans were securitized by investment banks not only like the defunct or swallowed Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, but also Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, entirely outside of CRA, before they ran to the Federal Reserve to get their bailout money.

One tier down the world of finance, the chairman of regional bank BB&T John Allison gave a speech on January 29 in which he blamed the CRA for the financial crisis. This is more than a little ironic, given BB&T's engagement under Allison in subprime lending. When the Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch documented to the Federal Reserve that BB&T's banks referred turned-down loan applicants to their high-cost subprime affiliate Lendmark Financial Services, during the public comment period on BB&T's application for approval to acquire Georgia's Main Street Banks, the Federal Reserve ignored the issues. Click here for 2006 coverage from Inner City Press, and here in 2009 for Lendmark's own website, still reciting "non-conforming mortgage loans" from "104 branch locations throughout Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Delaware."

Click here for the Federal Reserve approval order, which recited from the comments of Fair Finance Watch

"concern about referrals of loan applicants to Lendmark Financial Services ('LFS'), a nonbank subsidiary of BB&T that makes subprime loans. BB&T has represented that it might refer to LFS applications denied by a BB&T subsidiary bank that do not meet the bank's underwriting guidelines. Before making a referral, however, these applications undergo an internal second-review procedure. In addition, BB&T notes that LFS has a policy to refer applicants who meet the Freddie Mac underwriting guidelines to BB&T's subsidiary banks."

But as Inner City Press noted, BB&T's referrals up and down do not use the same standard. On fringe finance the Federal Reserve said that Fair Finance Watch

"expressed concern about BB&T's relationships with unaffiliated pawn shops and other nontraditional providers of financial services. As a general matter, the activities of the consumer finance businesses identified by the commenter are permissible, and the businesses are licensed by the states where they operate. BB&T has stated that it does not focus on marketing credit services to such nontraditional providers and that it makes loans to those firms under the same terms, circumstances, and due diligence procedures applicable to BB&T's other small business borrowers."

BB&T admitted in its responses into the record before the Federal Reserve relationships with 45 payday and other fringe financiers. BB&T under Allison ran headlong into subprime -- as Fair Finance Watch and then the Fed noted, in its order

"A commenter asserted that the Board should, in the context of the current proposal, review BB&T's recently announced plans to acquire the assets of FSB Financial Ltd. ('FSB'), Arlington, Texas, a nonbanking company that purchases automobile-loan portfolios. The FSB acquisition is not related to the current proposal. Moreover, if the FSB acquisition is consummated under authority of section 4(k) of the BHC Act, the acquisition would not require prior approval of the Federal Reserve System. BB&T would require prior Federal Reserve System approval if the acquisition were proposed under sections 4(c)(8) and 4(j) of the BHC Act, and the transaction would be reviewed in light of the requirements and standards discussed above."

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 amended the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and made it easier for subprime lenders to be acquired with no prior review by the Federal Reserve, no public comment period, no CRA review. BB&T John Allison's fulimations notwithstanding, that deregulatory GLB Act, passed in part to legalize after the fact the merger that created Citigroup, is the statute investigators should be looking at. And the acts of subprime-hungry bankers like John Allison of BB&T. We'll have more on this meltdown misdirection, in the spirit of accountability.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/cra1allison020109.html