| Sterling Webster Merger Is Sued Twice
in SDNY After CRA Protest By Fair Finance
Watch
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH BRONX /
SDNY, June 29 – The proposed
merger of Webster Financial
Corp. and Sterling Bancorp has
been challenged, on disparate
lending and regulatory
evasions, first to the Federal
Reserve and the OCC.
On June
25, the Fed asked the banks a
series of questions, below and
full letter on Patreon here
Now Inner
City Press can report that, in
the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York alone, at least two
lawsuits have been filed
against the ill-conceived
proposed merger. Will the
banks settle those, while
doubling down on their
contempt for the Community
Reinvestment Act? The
lawsuits:
Elaine Wang sued
Sterling and its directors,
including Fernando Ferrer, for
violations of the Security
Exchange Act of 1934. In
short order, Alex Ciccotelli
sued them as well, along with
Webster. Inner City Press is
following the case.
Fair
Finance Watch has found that
in 2019 in its home state of
Connecticut, Webster National
Bank made 3147 mortgage loans
to whites, with 1364 denial to
whites - while making only 71
loans to African Americans
with fully 99 denials to
African American. This is
significantly worse than other
banks in the state; the merger
must be denied.
The Fed on June
25 wrote, copying Fair Finance
Watch: "Respond to the public
comment opposing the
transaction, submitted June 3,
2021. Among other
things, the public comment
generally criticizes Webster
Bank’s fair lending
performance. The commenter
also asserts that the CRA data
of Sterling Bank is
unreliable... Please
provide your written response
and supporting documentation
via E-Apps to Michael
Sumrell at the Federal Reserve
Bank of Boston. In addition,
in accordance with the
Federal Reserve’s ex parte
procedures, provide a copy of
the public portion of your
response (together with
any attachments) directly to
the commenter." Watch this
site.
Fair
Finance Watch has found even
worse disparities for Webster
in New York, and on June 3
filed a formal protest with
the Federal Reserve in DC and
Boston, and then with the
Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency. The comments and
FOIA request (to the Fed) have
been acknowledged. But still
no formal response to the
charges from Webster. Maybe to
game the system they have
snail mailed it? Watch this
site.
***
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