After Investors Bank was put on conditions, CRA protests Amgalamated, Bronx branch closure

After Investors Bank was put on conditions, CRA protests Amgalamated, Bronx branch closure

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC – gUK – Honduras – ESPN

FEDERAL COURT / S Bronx, Dec. 5 – Whether the United States Community Reinvestment Act will be re-enforced until the new administration and its regulators is an open question. And not only the proposed acquisition of Investors Bank by Citizens Bank NA, but also Amalgamated – Amalgamated will be litmus tests.

On December 4, after filing with the FDIC, Inner City Press filed with the Federal Reserve:

“Dear Chairman Powell, Secretary Misback and other FRS members: This is a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the FRB’s public comment period on Amalgamated Financial Corp., New York , New York ; to merge with Amalgamated Investments Company, and thereby indirectly acquire Amalgamated Bank of Chicago, both of Chicago, Illinois

As the FRBNY should know, Amalgamated Bank New York scandalously shut down branches, including at 94 Burnside Avenue in the South Bronx, when its customers needed them most. This prompted Fair Finance Watch to take a closer look. And Amalgamated is not what it claims to be. In 2020 in New York City, Amalgamated made just 41 home loans to African Americans, while turning down more (67) – compared to its 962 loans to whites, with LESS denials to whites (577). That the closure of Burnside Avenue is having a negative impact is recognized even by state regulators:

“October 7, 2020 (TR-CRB) AMALGAMATED BANK 275 Seventh Avenue (Fourteenth Floor, New York, NY 10001 In accordance with Article 28-c of the Banking Act, the Superintendent of Financial Services noted that the closure of the branch at 94 East Burnside Avenue, Borough of Bronx, City of New York 10453, will result in a significant reduction in financial services in the affected community. ”

The comment period should be extended; evidentiary hearings should be held; and on the current case, the request should not be approved.

ICP is also not sure why this request, made by a New York institution to purchase one in Chicago, is listed in the Federal Register with the Philadelphia FRB:

“A. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (William Spaniel, Senior Vice President) 100 North 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19105-1521. Comments can also be sent electronically to Comments.applications [at]
phil.frb.org: 1. Amalgamated Financial Corp., New York, New York; merge with Amalgamated Investments Company, and thereby indirectly acquire Amalgamated Bank of Chicago, both of Chicago, Illinois. ”

It is imperative that a review of the South Bronx branch closure (s) by the local FR bank, and not at random in another district. “

Meanwhile, Investors Bank is one of the most disparate banks in New York State, where in 2020 it granted just three mortgages to African Americans, while denying seven applications entirely. African Americans. In contrast, it granted 164 loans to whites while refusing only 76 requests from whites.

Inner City Press raised the 2019 disparities with the FDIC – and on July 30 was contacted by the FDIC that it was placing rare conditions on investors. Letter here. This was raised at the request of citizens, as investors gleefully ask for the rubber stamp of a new branch, not in the communities she highlighted, but at 111 Broadway. What about the NYSDFS? What about the Administration and President Powell? Where’s the beef?

Look at this site.

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