| Regulatory
Double Talk Triggers PacWest Merger
Proposal Like Link Bank Doomed Bid
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SOUTH BRONX, July
25 – Pennsylvania,
California, Delaware and
Virginia are portrayed as
diverse and ever progressive
places. But their banks, not
so much.
Consider
for example the proposed
merger on the rebound between
New York-based Link Bank and
Partners Bancorp, which
recently broke off its
proposed deal with OceanFirst.
Inner City Press
and Fair Finance Watch have
long exposed redlining - and
in this vein, on May 6 they
filed a Community Reinvestment
Act challenge with the Federal
Reserve, below.
Now on July 25,
amid winks from the US bank
regulators about approving
such mergers, PacWest is
rushing to combine with Banc
of California. Will the
regulators throw out the
window their claims of renewed
vigor, to encourage yet more
mergers? Watch this site.
This is a
timely first comment on the
Applications of LINKBANCORP,
Inc. Camphill, Pennsylvania;
to acquire Partners Bancorp,
Salisbury, Maryland, and
thereby indirectly acquire The
Bank of Delmarva, Seaford,
Delaware, and Virginia
Partners Bank, Fredericksburg,
VA "and more."
Since Partners
Bancorp's attempt to sell
itself to Ocean Bancorp died
amid reports of regulator
concern, documents in that
regard should be provided (and
made part of the record on
this application), too.
Fair Finance
Watch has been reviewing
LinkBank including its 2021
HMDA data not taken into
account in any CRA exam and
finds it troubling.
In
Pennsylvania in 2021, Link
Bank made 49 HMDA-reported
loans to whites - and only TWO
to African Americans, worse
that its peers. When one
expands the review to include
loans beyond Pennsylvania,
Link Bank's loans in 2021 to
whites increase to 53, but to
African Americans remains the
same insufficient
TWO.
Virginia
Partners Bank is only slightly
better. In 2021 it made 48
HMDA reported loans and only
THREE to African Americans.
While insufficient, that is
still more than Link Bank's
TWO. A terrible bank would be
acquiring a bad bank, and
making it even worse.
After
Inner City Press' comments
were filed, LINKBANK's outside
counsel Luse Gorman PC by
Agata S. Troy and Benjamin
Azoff rather than addressing
the disparities argued that
they have no merit, including
lying to the Federal Reserve
that the FDIC considered them
substantive, then urging the
FDIC to reconsidering. This
should not be countenanced -
rather than conditional
approval, denial is called
for.
If the regulators
at the Fed and FDIC mean what
they claim, this application
should be denied. Watch this
site.
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a
month helps keep us going and grants you
access to exclusive bonus material on our
Patreon page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2023 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
