| Fed Rubber Stamps
PNC Reciting Fair Finance Watch
Comments But No Rebuttal So AI
Next
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.
While preparing for PNC's sure
to be coming next bank-grab as
PNC expands in AI and crypto,
FFW commented twice, as noted
by the Fed:
"The Board
received two timely adverse
comments on the proposal, both
from the same commenter.32 The
commenter objected to the
proposal, alleging that, based
on data reported under the
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
of 1975 (“HMDA”), 33 PNC Bank
made fewer home loans to
African American individuals
as compared to white
individuals nationwide,
including in Pennsylvania,
Michigan, Texas, Florida,
Indiana, Maryland, New York,
Alabama, Colorado, the
District of Columbia,
Illinois, Georgia, Arizona,
Virginia, California,
Missouri, New Jersey, North
Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee,
Delaware, Massachusetts,
Kentucky, South Carolina, and
Wisconsin in 2024. The
commenter also alleged that
PNC Bank denied home loan
applications of African
American individuals at a
higher rate than those of
white individuals. 34 The
commenter requested that the
Board consider and hold
hearings regarding a consumer
complaint submitted by an
unknown customer of PNC Bank
to the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (“CFPB”)
regarding an allegation that
the consumer’s account was
frozen by the bank without
explanation, which was
published on the CFPB’s
consumer complaint database
(“CFPB database”). The
commenter also more generally
requested that the Board
review consumer complaints in
the CFPB’s database regarding
PNC Bank."
But there
is no rebuttal. Game on - as
PNC promotes crypto trading,
orders staff back to the
office only to fire then for
AI - and to outsource
decisions to AI. It will all
be opposed.
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.
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.
Watch this site.
***
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