| As Pinnacle
Bank Synovus Merger Protested
Now Fed Asks About CRA and
GreenSky
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
NASHVILLE,
Oct
9 – Synovus Bank, with a track
record of disparate lending
and consumer complaints, now
proposes to cash out and merge
with Nashville-based
Pinnacle.
But
Pinnacle has its own
disparities, and is
under-regulated by the
Tennessee Commissioner of
Financial Institutions, who
refuses to provide any
documents to anyone but
Tennessee "citizens" (not even
those *in* Tennessee).
So Fair Finance
Watch filed Community
Reinvestment Act challenges
with the Federal Reserve and
the Georgia regulator (both
have confirmed receipt and the
Fed has sent
to Pinnacle) as well as the
recalcitrant Tennessee
regulator, who refuses to give
records or even confirm
receipt of the challenge.
Pinnacle for now seems to
think it has Tennessee in the
palm of its hand, lock stock
and barrel, regulator and
media. But then there's Inner
City Press, and other
states...
On October 9 the
Fed asked Pinnacle nine
multi-part questions,
including "A copy of the CRA
policy to be used by the
combined organization or, if
one is not available, a
projected timeline for
completion. 4. Discuss
the combined organization’s
plans to manage third party
partnership compliance risk
exposure, including, but not
limited to, BHG Financial and
GreenSky, LLC. a. Include in
your discussion anticipated
key leadership positions and
any individuals identified to
fill them; plans for
reporting/Management" - full
letter here.
The Federal
Reserve, while correctly
granting expedited processing
to Inner City Press' FOIA
request about Pinnacle and
Synovus, on October 1 wrote to
say they need yet more time:
"Pursuant to section
(a)(6)(B)(i) of the FOIA, we
are extending the period for
our response until October 16,
2025, in order to consult with
two or more components of the
Board having a substantial
interest in the determination
of the request." Will
processing of the application
be stayed?
Dear Chair Powell
and others in the FRS:
... Fair
Finance Watch has reviewed the
just-released 2024 Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data
of Synovus and finds that
while it made 3.18 loans to
whites for each denial to
whites, it made only 1.7 loans
to African Americans for each
denial to African Americans.
Pinnacle is of even greater
concern. In Virginia, where
Pinnacle received a Low
Satisfactory on the Lending
Test in its most recently (May
2023) CRA performance
evaluation, in 2024 it made
133 mortgage loans to whites,
with 19 denials, but only 13
loans to African Americans,
with fully eight denials...
This
application should not be
approved; particularly in
light of the disparities,
public evidentiary hearings
are needed.
Watch this site.
***
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