Public Meeting Regarding Fleet Financial Group, Inc., and BankBoston Corporation
Wednesday, July 7, 1999
Open Forum
22 MS. SCHWARTZ: Well, I would like to
23 address my brothers and sisters from the federal
24 community. I'm with the U.S. Department of
25 Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency. I
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1 head the Boston District Office covering New England
2 and my brothers and sisters in the audience who are
3 left.
4 I had not originally planned to share
5 comments, because I had spoken at a community
6 hearing which Congressman Capuano and Senator
7 Wilkerson held at the Roxbury Community College.
8 But inasmuch as I reviewed the presentation agenda,
9 and because I was not absolutely sure that you would
10 incorporate the proceedings of that hearing within
11 your review, which I hope you will, I decided just
12 to share a few comments with you.
13 And this particularly responds to Pat
14 Cusick's comments about the sparsity of business-
15 related comments. So, as Bruce was here, Honorable
16 Bruce Bolling, and I and some other folks, we're
17 advocates in the sense that the business community
18 folks, as you know, are out there earning a living,
19 or trying to, so they might not have been here in
20 large numbers.
21 I want to thank you all for finally
22 scheduling this meeting, because it's very, very
23 important, and I have faith in your sensitivity and
24 openness to hear the comments that we all are
25 making.
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1 I would like to say, as you may or may not
2 know, that the Minority Business Development Agency
3 of the United States Department of Commerce is the
4 lead agency in the federal government for minority
5 business development. And we are committed, having
6 survived 30 years, to the development of economic
7 parity for the minority communities in this nation.
8 And therefore, looking at this request or
9 proposal that you're reviewing, to consider allowing
10 the creation of the eighth largest bank in the
11 country, we are particularly concerned that the
12 minority business community be allowed an
13 opportunity for capital access, and in whatever is
14 created, not only in this bank, but in other
15 institutions.
16 As you know very well, the impact of this
17 proposal goes far beyond the New England area, and
18 I'm sure you're aware of that. We've had some
19 testimony here from New York, New Jersey, and I
20 have -- I was away for a few hours, so I'm sure
21 there are other places that Fleet and BankBoston
22 impact. So that becomes very important.
23 I would like to call your attention, when
24 you review the proceedings of that hearing that was
25 held at Roxbury Community College, to the
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1 presentation by the district director of the Small
2 Business Administration for the Commonwealth of
3 Massachusetts. She really laid out some very
4 important figures in terms of business lending,
5 lending to small businesses, in the history of these
6 two banks, and I think you might want to review that
7 in your considerations.
8 Now, I would like to say that the
9 cooperative agreement which is being proposed
10 between the financial institution, as you may
11 approve it as it's proposed, and various community
12 groups, is to be considered and respected, and I
13 surely deeply respect the position of the community
14 groups.
15 I would like to point out, however, that
16 I'm aware that in Philadelphia a very large bank
17 acquired another bank, and there was a commitment
18 made to the community groups about the maintenance
19 of neighborhood branches, and as soon as that bank
20 proposal was approved by the regulatory agencies,
21 those bank branches were totally eliminated. At
22 least that's my information.
23 So what I'm really looking at is that it's
24 up to the Fed, if you'll forgive me using that
25 shorthand version, and the Department of Justice,
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1 the Oversight Committees of the Congress. I'm sure
2 you're aware from today's testimony and from other
3 things that our Congressional delegation in the
4 Commonwealth of Massachusetts is very concerned
5 about the outcome of this, and the fairness of it,
6 and I'm sure that's joined by Congressional people
7 who are involved in the banking committees from
8 across the country.
9 So I really think that the stipulations
10 that you would add on to any agreement to allow this
11 to happen that can be monitored by the regulatory
12 agencies would be extremely important, because of
13 the history of banks violating their commitments
14 that they've made to community groups.
15 I would also like to recommend to you very
16 strongly that you consider allowing the proposal of
17 the community-based banks such as Boston Bank of
18 Commerce to acquire a number of these branches.
19 As you know, I'm sure, over many, many
20 years, it's been the policy of the Federal
21 Government to nourish and support minority-owned
22 banks, and this would certainly be very important,
23 if you could create language in such a way to assure
24 that the community-based banks, as I say
25 particularly Boston Bank of Commerce, be allowed to
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1 acquire these targeted divested branches or proposed
2 divested branches.
3 I guess that I would conclude with that,
4 and we're all, I'm sure, quite exhausted.
5 I have heard the proposal here from at
6 least two or three people to recommend to you that
7 you consider extending the comment period to allow
8 the proposed merging banks to very closely and
9 definitively make a proposal that can be reviewed
10 and hopefully would be fair and then allow for
11 comment period. And I would like to support that,
12 if it's within the realm of your guidelines and
13 possibilities.
14 So I want to thank you for being willing to
15 listen to me. I want to thank you for what I, as I
16 say, trust will be the openness of your
17 considerations, and I would say good evening.
18 HEARING OFFICER SMITH: Thank you.
19 Do we have any other individuals who would
20 like to offer remarks?
21 Mr. Dennis Flynn?
22 MR. FLYNN: First I would like to apologize
23 to the Board for my opening statement. I would like
24 to thank all the panel members, not just the men
25 that are there. I just said "sir" at the beginning.
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1 I notice, going through the panel list,
2 that I seem to be the only veteran here. I'm not
3 representing a veterans' group.
4 I just happen to have had a transaction
5 with Fleet Bank which involved a secured government
6 mortgage product that they have. I was denied the
7 right to negotiate a favorable interest rate
8 according to the Veterans Administration guidelines.
9 Fleet Bank did not even take my application at the
10 time of the loan. My mortgage consisted of
11 approximately 40 pages that were faxed, and these
12 were faxed after the closing date.
13 In processing the VA mortgage, they
14 violated their own internal guidelines, according to
15 their own documents. They violated the Veterans
16 Administration's guidelines that I was to be allowed
17 to negotiate a favorable interest rate. And quite
18 possibly, they violated federal law, but I'm not a
19 lawyer, I'm just someone who is trying to get a
20 house on the GI bill.
21 As I say in the statement, I'm just one
22 veteran to went to Fleet back to get a loan under
23 the GI bill, but am I the only one that has had this
24 type of experience with the Fleet Bank? The Federal
25 Reserve, Veterans Administration and the veterans
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1 population will never know unless you gentlemen and
2 ladies take the time to send these concerns to the
3 proper authorities.
4 Fleet had assured me that we would close on
5 a certain date, and in the middle of the closing, my
6 mortgage loan officer disappeared and never called
7 me anymore, and I had to call down to Rhode Island
8 and find someone who would assist me, and that's
9 where the 40 pages of faxed documents came from.
10 They had nothing on me, we were past the closing
11 date, and they left me in a very, very difficult
12 position.
13 I'm not a banker, I'm not a lawyer, and I
14 trusted Fleet to do the right thing, to do what they
15 said they would. And it left my family and myself
16 in a very, very difficult position. I know that in
17 the age of deregulation there are less and less
18 people out there to regulate what the banks are
19 doing.
20 It's my concern that, from my experience,
21 Fleet is too big right now. I couldn't imagine it
22 getting any bigger and trying to negotiate the
23 things that I had to, to try to secure housing for
24 my family.
25 I would like to thank you for the time, and
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1 I think I am the last one. Thanks very much.
2 MR. ALVAREZ: Mr. Flynn, I have a question
3 for you. Do you know which of the Fleet entities
4 you filed your original application with? Was it
5 the Fleet Bank in Massachusetts?
6 MR. FLYNN: Yes, it was the Fleet Bank in
7 Worcester. I went through the Worcester office, and
8 then again none of the paperwork was ever filed with
9 the people in Rhode Island that needed to process
10 the loan. And, again, all my financial statements,
11 everything had to be faxed to the people that
12 processed the loan.
13 And the thing that troubled me and troubled
14 my family was, not once did the mortgage loan
15 officer call to say he was sorry that there was a
16 problem, that he ever called to apologize.
17 Thank you very much.
18 HEARING OFFICER SMITH: Anyone else?
19 (No response)
20 HEARING OFFICER SMITH: Well, I want to
21 express appreciation on behalf of the Federal
22 Reserve for all of those who remain and those who
23 were here before to offer their views as well as to
24 listen to the views of others.
25 This has been an important meeting. We
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1 have had discussion and have been able to ask
2 questions on a lot of significant issues, and you
3 can be assured that that this is information that
4 the Board will take into account as it makes its
5 analysis and reaches a determination on this
6 application.
7 I'll ask my fellow members if there is
8 anything you would like to add.
9 (No response)
10 HEARING OFFICER SMITH: Thank you all very
11 much, and we are adjourned.
12 (Whereupon the meeting was
13 adjourned at 9:30 p.m.)
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1 C E R T I F I C A T E
2 We, Anne H. Bohan and Carol H. Kusinitz,
3 Registered Professional Reporters, do hereby certify
4 that the foregoing transcript, Volume I, is a true
5 and accurate transcription of our stenographic notes
6 taken on July 7, 1999.
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10 ________________________
11 Anne H. Bohan, RMR
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17 ________________________
18 Carol H. Kusinitz, RPR
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