| Lakeland Bank DOJ
Deal Left Disparities So
Protest & Fed Asks
of DOJ Settlement
Withheld
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SOUTH BRONX, NY,
Jan 19 – When
the US
Department of
Justice sued
and
immediately
settled with
Lakeland Bank
for fair
lending
violations, it
announced a
proposed
merger with
Provident
Bank.
As if to sweep it
under the carpet.
And when Fair
Finance Watch looked into it,
it found that the DOJ
settlement did not address in
any way the banks' disparities
in New York. So on December 1,
the FDIC's comment deadline,
it filed a protest, with Inner
City Press on the FOIA.
Jump cut to March
15, 2023, when Provident's
Deputy General Counsel filed a
letter with the New York Fed,
cc-ing Rodgin Cohen - only on
New Jersey, nothing on the
disparities in New York.
On January 18
Provident asked two Board
questions - by withholding the
entire answers. Inner City
Press immediately FOIAed: "
The January 18 response
recites then states: Provide
an update to all action items
included in the Consent Order,
reflecting those items which
have been completed and any
other pertinent updates,
including, but not limited to,
the status of any deliverables
required under the Consent
Order that have not yet been
completed. Please refer to the
attached Confidential Exhibit
1 for a response to this
Item. The entire
response is withheld, about
fair lending compliance,
including public commitments
that are unfulfilled. This
cannot stand; the information
must be provided before the
Board acts in any way on the
application (other than
denial.) Inner City
Press / Fair Finance Watch is
a timely protestant to the
application; this is also
again request that the FRB
begin putting all applications
online, since the Fed has a
new electronic system for
applicants. What is the
rationale for not doing this,
and allowing for delay for the
public and community
organizations? In these
contexts, this comment period
should be extended."
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
|
,
