As
Whistleblower
Exposes Fed
& Goldman,
FOIA Requests
Show CIT
Capture
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 26
-- The secret
recordings of
then
Federal
Reserve
examiner
Carmen Segarra
about Goldman
Sachs and
regulatory
capture should
trigger
oversight
hearings in
Congress, and
the
break-up of
Goldman Sachs
and its peers.
But
this type of
sleaze is
the rule, not
the exception.
Inner City
Press
routinely
submits
Freedom of
Information
Act requests
for
communication
between the
Fed
and banks
applying for
mergers.
Most
recently, the
Fed has
extended its
deadline for
responding to
Inner
City Press'
request on CIT -
OneWest,
on which it
purported to
close
its public
comment period
on September
24:
FOIA
Request No.
F-2014-00380
Dear
Mr. Lee,
On
August 27,
2014, the
Board of
Governors
("Board")
received
your
electronic
message dated
August 26,
pursuant to
the Freedom of
Information
Act ("FOIA"),
5 U.S.C. §
552... On
August 28,
2014, the
Board’s
Freedom of
Information
Office made an
interim
production of
responsive
documents
consisting of
the public
portion
of the
application by
CIT Group Inc.
and Carbon
Merger Sub LLC
to
acquire and
merge with IMB
HoldCo LLC,
and thereby
indirectly
acquire
voting shares
of OneWest
Bank...
Pursuant to
section
(a)(6)(B)(i)
of
the FOIA, we
are extending
the period for
our response
until October
9, 2014, in
order to
consult with
two or more
components of
the Board
having a
substantial
interest in
the
determination
of the
request. If
a
determination
can be made
before October
9, 2014, we
will respond
to you
promptly.
How
can the public
be shut out
before it has
the basic
information it
has
requested?
Tellingly,
when
lawyers leave
the Federal
Reserve's
Legal
Division, many
go to
white shoe law
firms that
submit bank
merger
applications
to the same
people they
until recently
worked with or
supervised.
Inner City
Press,
Bronx-based
Fair Finance
Watch and NCRC
have
repeatedly raised
this to the
Fed,
without
meaningful
response.
So
here's hoping
that Carmen
Segarra's
courage, in
secretly
making the
recordings and
then releasing
them, leads to
increased
oversight of
and reform at
the Fed.
The
problem is,
while some in
Congress are
willing to
criticize the
Fed, the real
parties in
interest here
are
the largest
banks and
investment
banks in the
country. Who
in
Congress will
directly
challenge
those? Watch
this site.
, 
