| As OCC Disappears
Protests to PNC Loss of 1/3 of
Staff Cited for Delay on FOIA
Too
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY/SOUTH
BRONX, Oct 21 – As US
bank regulators loosen rules -
including the FDIC moving to
eliminate public comment
altogether on branch expansion
applications - now big banks
are moving to get bigger, most
recently PNC and now Fifth
Third.
On PNC -
FirstBank, Inner City Press
asked the OCC why the two
timely oppositions filed by
Fair Finance Watch are not on
the OCC's web page of public
comments, and now this from
the OCC, with caveat included:
"Good evening,
Mr. Lee: Thank you for
your comments regarding the
proposed PNC Bank,
N.A./FirstBank merger.
In reviewing the link to the
OCC's site that you provided
in your email, a couple of
things come to mind as
possible reasons why comments
regarding the PNC business
combination application do not
appear here: - Comments
are received outside of the
established public comment
period for the application,
thus not constituting valid
comments for the purposes of
the particular application
[Note: both comments were
timely]
Delay in
processing as we have lost
roughly 1/3 of our workforce
since January 2025 due to
buyouts and retirements.
[Note: As the OCC brags about
moving faster to rubberstamp
applications, its skeleton
staff cite delay. But:]
These are my own
possible reasons to explain
why comments have not appeared
on this site as I do not work
in the area that maintains
this information. These
possible reasons do not
reflect the official position
of the OCC with regards to
recording adverse comments.
Duly noted
- and candor appreciated.
On October
6 the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency
moved to follow the FDIC in
cutting out the public, even
as it delays on FOIA on PNC,
and deletes applications like
Nubank's while letting the
comment period run (out) -
"The OCC is
proposing to amend its
regulations to simplify
licensing requirements for
corporate activities and
transactions involving
national banks and federal
savings associations" - but on
Regulations dot gov, nothing.
we'll have more on this.
See, Sept 10,
2025, American Banker,
BankThink: "The FDIC is taking
the 'community' out of CRA
enforcement," by Matthew R.
Lee, here
***
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