As
Federal
Reserve
Rebuffs FOIA,
Shields
Capital One
and M&T,
For Now
By
Matthew R. Lee
SOUTH
BRONX, January
7 -- The
Federal
Reserve is covering
up the
performance of
Capital One on
commitments it
made before
getting
approval for
its protested
acquisition of
ING DIRECT.
The
Fed is
withholding
over 2200
pages
responsive to
an Inner City
Press
request under
the Freedom of
Information
Act filed in
April for
"records
concerning
Capital One's
compliance,
since the
FRB's
approval order
on Capital One
- ING DIRECT,
including with
Capital
One's
commitments to
open branches
and lend $180
billion."
After
delaying
ruling from
April until
January 2012,
Governor
Jerome Powell
on January 2
denied access
to each and
every page,
calling it
supervisory
and
confidential
business
information
and saying
that no
"segregable"
portion could
be identified
or released.
The
FOIA
appeal denial
is online here.
How
can the public
assess the
Federal
Reserve's
credibility in
following
up on the bank
commitments it
relies on in
its own merger
approval
orders, if the
Fed insists on
withholding
every single
record?
Inner
City Press,
along with
other members
of NCRC, has
put this
question
to the Federal
Reserve Board.
Governor
Daniel
Tarullo,
previously in
charge of FOIA
for the Fed,
told Inner
City Press he
understood the
problem.
But
nothing was
done. Now
pro-industry
Governor Jerome
"Jay"
Powell,
previously of
Deutsche Bank
and the
Carlyle Group,
has been
put in charge
of FOIA
and as
forseen he
is denying
appeal after
appeal.
After
delaying more
than 40 days
to rule on
Inner City
Press' FOIA
appeal
of
withholdings
about the
proposed
merger of M&T
and Hudson
City
Bancorp,
challenged by
NCRC members
including ICP,
Powell in a
seven page
ruling found
that the Fed
mis-invoked
FOIA
exemptions 6
and 8 -- but
then refused
to release the
information,
now invoking
exemption 4.
Seems they
just make it
up as they go
along.
In
another
pending merger
case, from
FirstMerit's
submission to
the
Federal
Reserve about
Citizens
Republic the
Fed provided
this to
Inner City
Press under
FOIA:
"To
facilitate
secure email
exchanges with
the Federal
Reserve,
please
see the
attached file
and link
thatcontain
instructions
for
registering
with the Zix
e-mail system.
The web
address is
https://
WITHHELD"
That
is, even the
way / address
through which
banks
communicate
with the
Fed is
withheld from
the public.
This
is at odds,
for example,
with FOIA
appeal
responses
obtained this
year by Inner
City Press
from other
Federal
agencies, such
as even,
on a first
appeal, the Broadcasting
Board of
Governors and
its Voice of
America.
In other FOIA
news, Inner
City
Press is a
media amicus
in
this
just
filed brief
in McBurney
v.
Young,
No. 12-17 of
the US Supreme
Court.
The
advocacy,
especially
given the harm
done to
communities
and
taxpayers by
the Fed's
mis-regulation
and bailouts,
continues. The
proposed
merger of
Investors and
Roma is being
looked at. On
another
pending
merger, back
in August,
Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch
wrote to
Customers
Bancorp for
its mortgage
data,
expressing
some concerns.
A
month later,
at the
deadline, some
data was
provided. It
was
disparate and
Inner City
Press comments
on Customers'
Acacia
application.
There were
questions from
the Federal
Reserve, some
FOIA
requests.
Now,
Customer's has
passed back
the drop-dead
date from
December 31 to
January 31.
But how do
they know it
will be
approved by
then? Maybe
they are
communicating
through the
Fed's "secret"
window.
Watch this
site.
, 
