| OCC Protest
of South State-Atlantic Capital Under CRA,
How Will Hsu Differ from Before?
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL COURT / S
Bronx, Sept 4 – Whether or not
the U.S. Community
Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new
Administration and its
regulators is an open
question.
Now the proposed
acquisition by South State of
Atlantic Capital Bank in
Georgia will be a litmus test.
South State is so disparate
that in South Carolina in 2020
for mortgage loans to African
Americans it had more denials
(147) than loans made (133) -
while making six loans to
whites for every denial to a
white applicant.
On August 17,
Fair Finance Watch and Inner
City Press on the FOIA) filed
a comment with the Federal
Reserve Board, below.
Now on September
4, Fair Finance Watch has
commented to the Office of the
Comptroller Currency, which
some say has changed for the
better. We'll see.
As to the Fed,
which denies FOIA requests
after five months, here,
on August 25, this strange
response: "Dear Mr.
Lee,
This is to acknowledge receipt
of your email to the Office of
the Secretary for the Board of
Governors of the Federal
Reserve System (Board) dated
August 17, 2021, regarding the
proposal of South State
Corporation to merge with
Atlantic Capital Bancshares,
Inc., and thereby indirectly
acquire Atlantic Capital Bank,
NA. To date, South State
Corporation has not filed an
application with the Federal
Reserve System.
Currently, the public comment
period for the proposal will
end on September 20,
2021.
If
an application is filed within
the next three months from the
date your comment was sent,
your correspondence will be
made part of the record, and
the Board will evaluate your
comment. We will also
send a copy of the public
portions of the application as
soon as possible after the
application is
received.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Snow Senior
Examiner Supervision,
Regulation, and Credit
Federal Reserve Bank of
Atlanta
Integrity. Excellence.
Respect."
How can there be
a comment period with
expiration date, if there is
no application? Inner City
Press asked, and on August 26
is told:
"Our procedures
provide that advance notice in
the Federal Register may be
requested in advance of a
filing. The comment period end
date applies to the Federal
Register notice, which was
filed in advance of the
application being filed."
What
- the comment period running
to its conclusion, before any
application to comment on is
available? This seems far too
bank-friendly. How does it
relate to the administration's
Antitrust Memo? Watch this
site.
Dear Chair
Powell, Secretary Misback and
others in the FRS:
This is a timely first
comment opposing the
Applications of South State
Corporation to merge with
Atlantic Capital Bancshares,
Inc., and thereby indirectly
acquire Atlantic Capital Bank,
NA .
Fair
Finance Watch has been
tracking South State Bank
NA: The applicant's
South State Bank NA in 2020 in
Florida based on its disparate
marketing made 5721 mortgage
loans to whites, with 1019
denials to whites -- while
making only 143 loans to
African Americans, with 48
denials. This is far out of
keeping with the demographics,
and other lenders, in Florida
- this is outrageous.
This is a
pattern. South State Bank NA
in 2020 in South Carolina
based on its disparate
marketing made 3048 mortgage
loans to whites, with 537
denials to whites -- while
making only 133 loans to
African Americans, with fully
147 denials. This is far out
of keeping with the
demographics, and other
lenders, in South Carolina.
The denials to African
Americans are...
outrageous.
Perhaps most
relevant, South State is
disparate in the state it is
trying to make this
acquisition to impose and
expand its practices. South
State Bank NA in 2020 in
Georgia based on its disparate
marketing made 4068 mortgage
loans to whites, with 451
denials to whites -- while
making only 494 loans to
African Americans, with 120
denials. This is far out of
keeping with the demographics,
and other lenders, in Georgia
- this is outrageous.
The comment
period should be extended;
evidentiary hearings should be
held; and on the current
record, the application should
not be approved.
Inner City
Press (and Fair Finance Watch,
on the HMDA) will have more to
say about this. Watch this
site.
***
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