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FDIC Deems Challenge
to Ameris Bank Merger With
Atlantic Coast A Formal
Protest, Radio Silence
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK, February
10 – The bank with the worst
record in the United States for
gouging consumers with overdraft
fees, Ameris, has applied to the
Federal Reserve and FDIC to buy
Atlantic Coast Bank in Florida,
and thereafter Hamilton State
Bancshares. On January 29, Fair
Finance Watch filed formal
opposition to both with the
Federal Reserve, citing the
gouging, Ameris' disparate
mortgage lending record in
Atlanta, Georgia and Florida,
and the Community Reinvestment
Act. Inner City Press has
requested records under the
Freedom of Information Act. The
Fed acknowledged the filing on
January 30 and sent it to
Ameris' lawyer Jody L. Spencer
at Rogers & Hardin, LLP. On
February 6, the FDIC ruled that
it is a formal protest, letter here on Patreon. And
still no response at all from
Ameris, which says it wants to
the deal(s) done fast...
From Fair Finance Watch's (and
Inner City Press') filing with
the Fed: "This is a timely first
comment opposing and requesting
an extension of the FRB's public
comment period on the
Application by Ameris Bancorp to
merge with Atlantic Coast
Financial Corporation, and
thereby directly acquire shares
of Atlantic Coast Bank in
Jacksonville, Florida. Fair
Finance Watch has reviewed
Ameris' lending in 2016, the
most recent year for which Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
data is available, in both the
Atlanta and the Jacksonville
Metropolitan Statistical Areas
(MSAs) and finds both to be
disparate. In the Atlanta MSA in
2016 for refinance loans, Ameris
denied the applications of
African Americans 3.75 times
more frequently than those of
whites. Ameris made 152 such
loans to whites, only 16 to
African Americans and only eight
to Latinos. In the Atlanta MSA
in 2016 for home purchase loans,
Ameris denied the applications
of African Americans 2.11 times
more frequently than those of
whites. Ameris made 582 such
loans to whites, only 206 to
African Americans and only 48to
Latinos. In the Jacksonville MSA
in 2016 for home purchase loans,
Ameris denied the applications
of African Americans 2.69 times
more frequently than those of
whites. Ameris made 203 such
loans to whites and only SEVEN
to African Americans. In the
Jacksonville MSA in 2016 for
home improvements loans, Ameris
made five such loans to whites
and none to African Americans or
Latinos. In the Jacksonville MSA
in 2016 for refinance loans,
Ameris denied the applications
of African Americans 2.2 times
more frequently than those of
whites. Ameris made 100 such
loans to whites and only FOUR to
African Americans. This is
disparate. Fair Finance Watch
also reviewed Ameris' home
purchase lending in the
Tallahassee MSA in 2016: Ameris
denied the applications of
African Americans 3.78 times
more frequently than those of
whites. Ameris made 147 such
loans to whites and only FIVE to
African Americans. Ameris is
systemically disparate. Also for
the record, and to be addressed
at the requested evidentiary
hearings: “Georgia bank socking
customers with overdraft fees,”
Atlanta Journal Constitution,
January 3, 2017: “Ameris Bank
collected the most
overdraft/insufficient fund fees
per account of any U.S. bank,
says the analysis, which is
based on federal government data
from the first three quarters of
2016. Ameris collected an
average of about $176 per
account.. The No. 2 bank on the
list of the top 10 collected an
average of about $131 per
account. The national average
was $17.76.” This is
predatory. Ameris gobbled up
Jacksonville Bank and now seeks
Atlantic Coast. Would branched
be consolidated or closed? This
must be addressed, including at
the requested evidentiary
hearings. We note that Ameris is
already trying to look beyond
this challenged proposal, to try
to acquire Hamilton State
Bancshares, Inc. and Hamilton
State Bank. We also hereby
oppose that; the two proposal
should be consolidated and
hearings held on both. On the
current record, Ameris'
application should be denied."
To head the
UN-affiliated International
Organization for Migration
(IOM), the US on February 2
nominated Ken Isaacs of the
group Samaritan's Purse,
active in Sudan and elsewhere.
Inner City Press at the UN has
been pursuing the story it
first exposed of UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres
having recently met Sudan's
Omar al Bashir, indicted for
genocide in Darfur by the
International Criminal Court,
without even notifying the ICC
in advance, as required. So
after the US nomination, Inner
City Press visited Isaac's
Twitter account, to see if
he'd opined on Guterres'
unprecedented move. Isaacs'
Twitter account, @KenIsaacs1,
was accessible to the public;
he had re-tweeted about the
Nunes memo. But by February 3,
the account was protected, not
accessible. Photo here.
Perhaps it's a function of the
upcoming election among IOM
member states, the scrutiny of
involved officials - like
Guterres himself. But what
*does* Isaacs think of
Guterres meeting with Bashir,
indicted for war crimes in
Sudan, without even telling
the ICC in advance, and not
disclosing it until Inner City
Press asked at the UN noon
briefing on January 29?
Question here.
Watch this site. Today's UN of
Antonio Guterres, who just met
with ICC indictee Omar al
Bashir, and his Deputy Amina
J. Mohammed who has refused
Press questions
on her rosewood signatures
and now the refoulement of 47
people to Cameroon from "her"
Nigeria, has become a place of
corruption and censorship. On
January 30 as Inner City Press
sought to complete its
reporting for the day on
Guterres' Bashir meeting and
Mohammed's Cameroon no-answer,
it had a problem. It was
invited to the month's UN
Security Council president's
end of presidency reception,
6:30 to 8:30 - but with its
accreditation reduced by
censorship, it could not get
back into the UN after 7 pm,
to the already delayed UN
video. It ran to at least
enter the reception - but the
elevator led to a jammed
packed third floor, diplomats
lined up to shake the outgoing
UNSC president's hand. Inner
City Press turn to turn tail
back to the UN, passing on its
way favored, pro-UN
correspondents under no such
restriction. Periscope here.
Inner City Press has written
about this to the head of the
UN Department of Public
Information Alison
Smale, in Sepember
2017 - no answer but a new threat - and this
month, when Smale's DPI
it handing out full access
passes to no-show state media.
No answer at all: pure
censorship, for corruption.
Smale's DPI diverted funds
allocated for Kiswahili,
her staff say, now saying they
are targeted for retaliation.
This is today's UN. Amid UN
bribery scandals, failures in
countries from Cameroon to
Yemen and declining
transparency, today's UN does
not even pretend to have
content neutral rules about
which media get full access
and which are confined to
minders or escorts to cover
the General Assembly.
Inner City Press,
which while it pursue the
story of Macau-based
businessman Ng Lap Seng's
bribery of President of the
General Assembly John Ashe was
evicted by the UN Department
of Public Information from its
office, is STILL confined to
minders as it pursues the new
UN bribery scandal, of Patrick
Ho and Cheikh Gadio
allegedly bribing President of
the General Assembly Sam
Kutesa, and Chad's Idriss
Deby, for CEFC China Energy.
Last week Inner
City Press asked UN DPI where
it is on the list to be
restored to (its) office, and
regain full office - and was
told it is not even on the
list, there is no public list,
the UN can exclude,
permanently, whomever it
wants. This is censorship, and
has been accepted and even
encouraged by what has become
the UN Censorship Alliance,
which accepted funds from Ng
Lap Seng's South South News
and had Inner City Press
ejected from the UN Press
Briefing Room as it inquired
into the story.
When this UNCA
held its annual meeting on
January 29, it could barely
reach quorom (Periscope here);
it covered over the glass
doors of the clubhouse the UN
gives it with a sign board.
Disgruntled members forwarded the
"agenda" -- "1) Introduction of the new
2018 UNCA Executive Committee. 2)
Presentation of UNCA sub-committees and
their upcoming agendas. 3) Presentation
of 2017 UNCA & UNCA Awards
financials. 4) UNCA 70th anniversary. 5)
Other matters." We'll have more on this.
***
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