| Fed Rubber Stamps
PNC First Bank as Favors PNC
Secrecy and OCC Upholds
Withholding
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
FEDERAL COURTHOUSE,
Dec 11 – As PNC Bank has grown
it has become more disparate
in its lending. After its CEO
Bill Demchak announced a $4.1
billion proposal to buy
FirstBank and bragged, "We
just effectively bought
Colorado," Fair Finance Watch
prepared an early filing to
the regulators demanding
scrutiny and
hearings.
This takes place
as the regulators, led by the
FDIC, are seeking to eliminate
public notice and limit public
comment. See, e.g., American
Banker, Sept 10, 2025, "The
FDIC is taking the 'community'
out of CRA enforcement," by
Matthew R. Lee, here
On
September 13 Fair Finance
Watch filed challenges with
the Federal Reserve and OCC,
and Inner City Press filed
Freedom of Information Act
requests, see below.
On December 11
the Federal Reserve rubber
stamped the application. We'll
have more on this.
Compare OCC
denial of expedited processing
here
to FRB grant of identical
request here
Inner City Press
appealed.
On October 20 the
Federal Reserve belatedly
asked PNC questions, now on
Patreon here
On October 28,
the Fed provided Fair Finance
Watch with its email to PNC
asking why did it did not
respond to FFW's September 18
comment within the time
granted. Instead, PNC late
submitted a breezy letter
saying it "welcomed hearing
from the two commenters who
expressed concerns regarding
the Proposed Transaction:
Matthew Lee, Esq. of Fair
Finance Watch" then citing
15 suborned
letters.
On October 15 the
OCC provided some responsive
documents - but withheld in
full 435 pages, while
providing suborned letters
from supportive commenters who
have PNC on their Board of
Directors (can you say,
conflict of interest) or who
name support. OCC responsive
documents in Inner City Press'
CloudDocument here.
Appeal was
immediately filed, for action
before the comment period
expire.
But the OCC
waiting under November 24 to
deny the FOIA appeal and
rubberstamp its withholding of
417 pages in full. This while
PNC has applied to the OCC to
close seven more branches,
having just closed three
others. We'll have more
on this, and on PNC Bank, NA.
New issues have
arisen that FFW will raise in
its second comment.
From the
filings:
Fair
Finance Watch has long been
concerned about PNC.
Fair Finance Watch has
reviewed the just-released
2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure
Act data of PNC, not reviewed
in any Community Reinvestment
Act performance
evaluation.
In state
after state, PNC for African
Americans has (many) more
denials than originations,
while the opposite is true for
white borrows. The pattern is
striking:
In New
York, where PNC recently and
unceremoniously closed a
deposit facility, PNC in 2024
denied 52 applications from
African Americans while making
fewer, only 28 loans - while
it made fully 289 loans to
whites and denied only 252
applications. This follows the
same PNC pattern and is
disparate.
In
Colorado, which PNC CEO's says
the bank has now "effectively
bought," PNC in 2024 denied 12
applications from African
Americans while making only 17
loans - while it made fully
422 loans to whites and denied
only 244 applications. This is
disparate.
In Arizona, where PNC lists 60
branches and now proposes to
further expand, PNC in 2024
denied 15 applications from
African Americans while making
only 22 loans - while it made
fully 796 loans to whites and
denied only 466 applications.
This is disparate.
There are more states.
There are
many more - including
regarding the debanking the
OCC said will now be
considered in connection with
merger and other applications
- to be addressed at the
requested hearings.
Watch this site.
***
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