| On Fifth Third Bid for
Comerica CRA Protested Fed Says
Filed But Not Online so New
Request
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY/SOUTH
BRONX, Nov 4 – As US
bank regulators loosen rules -
including the FDIC moving to
eliminate public comment
altogether on branch expansion
applications - now more big
banks are moving to get
bigger.
On
October 6, amid the pending
PNC - FirstBank and Pinnacle -
Synovus proposals, Fifth Third
announced it will apply to buy
damaged Comerica Bank. On
October 8-9, it was opposed,
to the Fed and OCC.
Inner City Press submitted a
Freedom of Information Act
request to the Fed, the same
it has used on other mergers,
always resulting in expedited
treatment.
But on
October 16, the Fed for the
first time denied expedited
treatment on Fifth Third -
Comerica and Direct Express.
Inner City Press appealed,
asking that the Governors
answer: what changed?
The
Federal Reserve explained it
was because the application
has not been filed yet. Fine.
On November 4 the Fed wrote to
Inner City Press to submit a
few FOIA request. So:
"We submitted a
request on Oct 8 but expedited
processing was denied, I have
come to understand because the
application was not yet filed.
Today I was told by the
Reserve Bank that it was filed
- the most recently online H2A
is from October 31 - and was
told: "If you seek any
additional information
regarding this application
under the Freedom of
Information Act ("FOIA"), you
must submit a request to the
Board’s Freedom of Information
Office." So it seems we must
submit this FOIA request along
with re-request for expedited
processing. We filed on
October 8, and now, in order
to ensure getting all record
responsive before the comment
period ends - since it's not
in the most recent H2A I don't
know when that it. Please
expedite, without delay to
consult with other parts of
the FRS."
Still at 8
pm on Nov 4, notice of the
application was still not on
the Fed's website. Inner City
Press raised just this to
Governor Michelle Bowman at
the FRBKC's hearing on EGRPRA
on October 30. Watch this
site.
Fair
Finance Watch filed:
Dear
FRB Chair Powell, Comptroller
Gould:
This is an early first comment
on, the proposal and
applications by Fifth Third to
acquire Comerica. Beyond the
lending disparities
preliminarily identified
below, the US government's
Direct Express payment program
was removed from Comerica,
part of its weakening, and
given to Fifth Third, which
now applies to acquire
Comerica. Public hearings are
needed, and hereby
required.
Fair
Finance Watch has long been
concerned about Fifth
Third. Fair Finance
Watch has reviewed the
just-released 2024 Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data
of Fifth Third, not reviewed
in any Community Reinvestment
Act performance
evaluation.
In state
after state, Fifth Third for
African Americans has (many)
more denials than
originations, while the
opposite is true for white
borrows. The pattern is
striking, starting with two
states Fifth Third and
Comerica overlap
in:
In
Michigan, the state Comerica
abandoned for Texas, Fifth
Third in 2024 denied 249
applications from African
Americans while making fewer,
only 177loans - while it made
fully 4189 loans to whites and
denied only 1688 applications.
This is disparate [there
are more states]
From
the many complaints against
Fifth Third, there's a major
one by the CFPB itself...
Inner City
Press, which has opposed the
FDIC's moves to close itself
to public scrutiny - American
Banker op-ed here
- has now submitted FOIA
requests on all this. The FDIC
said it will eliminate public
notices because it does not
receive enough public
comments. That is changing,
starting now. Watch this site.
***
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