| Webster Proposed Sterling Merger Is
Challenged to Fed Based on Disparities, Weak
PPP Lending
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH BRONX /
SDNY, June 3– The proposed
merger of Webster Financial
Corp. and Sterling Bancorp has
now been challenged, on
disparate lending and
regulatory evasions.
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.
Now 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:
Webster's record
in New York State is even more
disparate. In 2019 in NYS,
Webster Bank based on its
disparate marketing made 356
mortgage loans to whites, with
178 denial to whites - while
making only EIGHT loans to
African Americans with fully
10 denials to African
American.
Webster has also
under performed in PPP
lending: "the head of
Waterbury-based Webster Bank
admitted his company can
improve its performance in
getting money into the hands
of loan applicants.
“Certainly we wanted to help
every small business borrower
and customer of Webster that
we could,” said CEO John
Ciulla, speaking Tuesday on a
conference call. “We got
through approximately 30
percent applications approved
(and) 30 percent funded, plus
or minus a few percentage
points on both sides of
that."
This and Webster's dubious
"health savings accounts"
which it wants excluded from
CRA, must be reviewed in this
proceeding, including in
public
hearings As
to Sterling, Inner City Press
previously exposed it as
having unreliable CRA data,
see, here.
There is no
public benefit to this
proposal.
Among the comments on the
Community Reinvestment Act
submitted to the Federal
Reserve recently is one
from Webster Bank, arguing
that Health Savings Account
"deposits should not be
considered when determining
whether the requirement would
apply or when delineating such
assessment areas" and should
be excluded from the
definition of "retail domestic
deposits."Consequently, HSAs
should also be excluded
from Community
Development Financing Metric.
This is
scam.
Back on
May 2, 2020 Fair Finance
Watch, and Inner City Press on
FOIA, filed a formal challenge
with Otting's OCC to the
application by Webster Bank to
acquire State Farm Bank FSB,
its problematic
health savings accounts, no
less.
Webster has also under
performed in PPP
lending: "the head of
Waterbury-based Webster Bank
admitted his company can
improve its performance in
getting money into the hands
of loan applicants.
“Certainly we wanted to help
every small business borrower
and customer of Webster that
we could,” said CEO John
Ciulla, speaking Tuesday on a
conference call. “We got
through approximately 30
percent applications approved
(and) 30 percent funded, plus
or minus a few percentage
points on both sides of that."
On the CRA comments to the
Fed, see
NCRC's
dashboard, here.
Sterling has
other issues,
which Inner
City Press
previously
documented to
the OCC
leading to
delay. Now
what will the
Fed do, with
Powell and
Brainard
competing to
be the next
Chair?
Watch this
site.
***
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