Fed Qs on Protested Webster Merger As
Sterling National Bank Is Sued SDNY For
China Wires
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH BRONX /
SDNY, Nov 5 – 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 on
November 5, it was sent a copy
of the Federal Reserve's
additional letter to Webster
and its (ex-Fed) outside
counsel: "November 5, 2021
Dear Ms. Patricia A. Robinson,
This letter refers to the
application filed by Webster
Financial Corporation,
Waterbury, Connecticut
(“Webster”), for the prior
approval of the Board of
Governors of the Federal
Reserve System (the “Board”),
to acquire Sterling Bancorp
(“Sterling”), and thereby
indirectly acquire
Sterling National Bank. Based
on staff’s review of the
current record, the following
additional information is
requested. Please
provide your responses to the
items listed below. Supporting
documentation should be
provided as appropriate.
1. You have
indicated that Sterling Bank
and Webster Bank do not have
any current plans to
consolidate, relocate or close
any branches before
consummation of, or
otherwise unrelated to,
the proposed transaction.
Confirm if that is still the
case and confirm that
any anticipated branch
closures, consolidations, or
relocations that may occur
following the merger
will be conducted in a manner
consistent with Webster Bank’s
branch closing policies
and procedures and the branch
closing requirements contained
in section 42 of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Act
(12 U.S.C. § 1831r-1). If not,
discuss why not. Your
response should include a copy
of any applicable policies and
procedures, to the
extent not already
provided.
2. Provide an
updated version of the
application’s Confidential
Exhibit C ‘Balance
Sheets, Income
Statements, Regulatory Capital
and Asset Quality’. The
statements and
information provided should be
as of September 30, 2021.
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.
cc: Inner City
Press/Fair Finance Watch"
Also in the
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
on July 12, it emerged that
Sterling has been sued for
allowing the unauthorized
wiring to China and Singapore
of $12 million in funds from
NJ-based contractor Niram.
This is an adverse managerial
resources factor to be raised
to / acted on by the Federal
Reserve, including under the
new antitrust Executive Order.
Watch this site.
There are also 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
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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