| NYS DFS
Moves On Small Business Lending
Disparities After OKing Valley
-Westchester
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Story
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL COURT / S
Bronx, Nov 4 – Whether
or not the U.S. Community
Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced under the new
Administration and its
regulators remains an open
question. But the acquisition
by disparate lending Valley
National Bank of The
Westchester Bank in New York
was a litmus test for the NYS
Department of Financial
Services which the agency
failed, under Cuomo ally Linda
Lacewell who left August 24.
Now this:
DFS proposes to collect data,
still stalled at the Federal
level ever since Dodd Frank,
which it was will allow "DFS
to consider banking
institutions’ record of
performance in helping to meet
the credit needs of minority-
and women-owned businesses and
banking institutions’
participation in technical
assistance programs for small
businesses and minority- and
women-owned businesses in the
Department‘s CRA
examinations.
Among its provisions, the
proposed regulation details
how institutions must collect
and submit the necessary data
to DFS while abiding by fair
lending laws. Banks will be
required to ask whether a
business applying for a loan
or credit is minority- or
women-owned and report to the
Department the details of
applications, such as the
date; type of credit applied
for and amount; and whether
the application was approved
or denied; as well as whether
the applicant is a
minority-owned business, a
women-owned business, or both;
the size of the business; and
the location of the
business. The
proposed regulation is subject
to a 60-day comment period
following publication in the
State Register. The Department
of Financial Services will
then review all received
comments and issue a revised
proposal or a notice of
adoption of the final
regulation." Click here
for more. Fair Finance Watch,
and Inner City Press for
transparency, will stay on
this.
Back on August
14, Fair Finance Watch (with
Inner City Press on the FOIA)
filed the below with the NYS
DFS:
New York State Department of Financial
Services Attn: Linda A. Lacewell, Acting
Superintendent of Financial Services And
Office of the General Counsel One State
Street, New York, New York
10004-1511 Re: Timely Initial
Comment Opposing Application of Valley
National Bank to acquire The Westchester
Bank
Dear [Outgoing] Superintendent Lacewell,
General Counsel and others at
NYSDFS: This is a
timely first comment opposing and requesting
an extension of the NYS DFS public comment
period on the Applications by Valley National
Bank to acquire The Westchester
Bank.
The applicant Valley National Bank in
2020 in New York State based on its disparate
marketing made 1080 mortgage loans to whites,
with 83 denials to whites -- while making only
51 loans to African Americans, with seven
denials. This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and others lenders, in NYS -
this is outrageous. This is a pattern.
The applicant Valley National Bank in 2020 in
Florida based on its disparate marketing made
859 mortgage loans to whites, with 119 denials
to whites -- while making only 45 loans to
African Americans, with eight denials.
This is far out of keeping with the
demographics, and others lenders, Florida -
this is outrageous.
Beyond its lending disparities, Valley
National Bank is being sued for
mis-categorizing and underpaying those who
work for it. See, e.g., PALERMO v. VALLEY
NATIONAL BANCORP (D.N.J. 2020) - submitted for
the record, and in light of the new merger
review Executive Order.
There is no public benefit to this
proposal.
Valley National Bank should be precluded
from acquiring these
branches: Yonkers 1900
Central Park Avenue, Yonkers, NY
10710 Corporate
Headquarters 12 Water Street, White Plains,
NY Mamaroneck Store
Front Mamaroneck 305 Mamaroneck Avenue,
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
Mount Kisco storefront Mount Kisco 51 South
Moger Avenue, Mount Kisco, NY
10549 Ossining,
240 S. Highland Avenue Ossining 240 S.
Highland Avenue, Ossining,
NY Brook Storefront
Rye Brook 800 Westchester Ave, Rye Brook, NY
10573 Thornwood
storefront Thornwood 994 Broadway, Thornwood,
NY 10594 White Plains
storefront White Plains 464 Mamaroneck Avenue,
White Plains, NY 10605
But
even after DFS purported to reach out to Fair
Finance Watch, it was rubber stamped,
and Inner City Press' FOIL requests to
DFS are all long delayed. We'll have more on
this.
Watch this
site.
***
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