| OCC Is Petitioned To Review Anchorage
Paxos Protego & Nicolet - MBank Merger,
Test for Hsu
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SOUTH BRONX, May
20 – In the declared wind-down
of the Coronavirus pandemic,
at least in the U.S., and
after a fintech and
crypto-currency proponent
replaced as Acting Comptroller
of the Currency by Michael Hsu
from the Federal Reserve,
Nicolet National Bank with
only six loans to African
American versus 2,800 to
whites has applied to the OCC
to buy MBank.
Fair
Finance, with Inner City Press
on the FOIA, has opposed it,
see below. While awaiting to
see what the Hsu OCC will do,
he has received a letter
from Senator Sherrod
Brown:
"I am concerned
about a number of national
trust charters granted by the
prior leadership of the OCC.
Shortly after former Acting
Comptroller Brian Brooks left
the OCC to join Binance, a
cryptocurrency exchange,
several nontraditional firms
that specialize in digital and
cryptocurrency activities -
including Paxos, Protego, and
Anchorage – received
conditional national trust
charters from the OCC.1 As you
may be aware, I have long been
concerned about the OCC’s
expansive view of its
authority to grant charters to
financial and non-financial
companies.... A firm that
cannot meet the rigorous
requirements applicable to
other banks should not be
allowed to present itself to
the public as a bank. Paxos,
Protego and Anchorage seek to
broaden access to
cryptocurrencies and other
risky and unproven digital
assets and emerging
technologies to traditional
bank customers. "
From Inner
City Press / Fair Finance
Watch: "Office of the
Comptroller of the
Currency Acting
Comptroller Hsu and
Central District Office
Director for District
Licensing 425 South Financial
Place, Suite 2700 Chicago, IL
60605
Re: Timely First
Comment on Application by
Nicolet National Bank to
acquire mBank - application
must be denied, and referral
made, based on striking
disparities
Dear Acting
Comptroller Hsu & others
at OCC:
This is a timely
first comment opposing and
requesting an extension of the
OCC's public comment period on
the Applications by Nicholet
National Bank to acquire
mBank.
Shockingly, the applicant
Nicolet National Bank in the
state of Wisconsin in 2019
made 2,800 HMDA-reported
mortgage loans to white - and
only SIX to African
Americans.
Beyond this
disparity which requires
denial of this merger
application, compare to the
industry as a whole in the
state of Wisconsin in 2019:
171,953 loans to whites, 2926
to African
Americans.
The industry as a
whole in Wisconsin in 2019
made 58.7 loans to whites for
every loan to an African
American.
For
Nicolet National Bank, the
ratio was FOUR HUNDRED AND
SIXTY SEVEN loans to whites
for every loan to an African
America.
There is more to be said, but
on this outrageous record,
evidentiary hearings and
referrals are required, and
the merger application must be
withdrawn or denied." Watch
this site.
Previously, on April 3, Inner
City Press filed this: "Dear Acting
Comptroller, Mr. Lybarger, and others in the
OCC: This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an extension of the
required OCC's public comment period on the
application by SoFi Interim Bank to acquire
Golden
Pacific.
This is a major proposal, by a fintech in
which SoftBank has a large
stake.
Inner City Press / Fair Finance
Watch opposed SoFi's previous, suspended
attempt to get into banking. Since then the
questions have only grown.
As to SoftBank, the dispute regarding
another of its holdings, WeWork, portends the
type of problems that regulators like the OCC
are directed to keep out of, not invite into,
the banking system. See also, for now, this
This stealth proposal - it appears that Golden
Pacific does not even report HMDA data - is a
cynical attempt to game the regulatory system.
See, e.g., "SoFi (NYSE:IPOE) is becoming a
bank with its $22.3 million acquisition of
Golden Pacific Bancorp (OTCPK:GPBI). Golden
Pacific is a California-based community bank
regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency and with $150 million in assets.
The acquisition which will be paid for in cash
builds on SoFi's current application to obtain
a national bank charter with the OCC. On
closing of the acquisition, the fintech
company will switch its current bank
application to a change of control
application. This should accelerate the
timeline for SoFi's attainment of a national
bank charter." Inner City
Press opposes that CIBC application as well -
but this application clearly should not be
approved. Public hearings are needed, and
requested.
For the above reasons, including
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and
restrictions, the comment period should not
yet start or should extended, until in person
public hearings can be held." Watch this site.
***
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