A nongovernmental organization focused on fairness in the financial services industry has come out against People’s United Bank’s proposed acquisition of the parent company of Farmington Bank.
New York City-based Fair Finance Watch has told the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency in public comments that it opposes the transaction because of People’s United Bank’s history of unfair lending practices.
In the New York City metropolitan area in 2014, People’s United made 82 home purchase loans to white borrowers and zero to African Americans or Latinos, Fair Finance Watch alleges in its complaint.
In 2015 in this same area, People’s United made 110 home purchase loans to white borrowers, one to an African-American borrower and four to Latino borrowers. In 2016, the bank made 144 home purchase loans to white borrowers and one to African-American borrowers, according to Fair Finance Watch.
“This is systematic redlining,” Matthew Lee, executive director of the organization, wrote in an email to the OCC. “This proposed acquisition could not legitimately be approved and People’s United should be referred for prosecution for redlining by the Department of Justice and CFPB.”
For refinance loans in the New York City metropolitan area in 2014, People’s United made 24 loans to white borrowers, one to an African-American and four to Latino borrowers, according to Fair Finance Watch. In 2016, the bank made 165 loans to white borrowers and two to African-Americans.
In the Hartford metropolitan area, according to the organization, People’s United in 2016 made 162 home purchase loans to white borrowers, 10 to African-Americans and 14 to Latinos.
A longtime activist, journalist and lawyer, Lee is known for his coverage of the banking industry’s treatment of low-income communities of color around the world. He has raised objections to a number of previous bank mergers and also covers the United Nations closely. Earlier this year, Lee was temporarily banned from the United Nations building and stripped of his press credentials.
