Bank of Montreal (BMO) and community advocates squared off at a public hearing held by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency regarding its proposed acquisition of San Francisco-based Bank of the West.
Many of the concerns advocates expressed centered on BMO’s home-lending record toward non-white borrowers.
“We cannot support a merger which would expand their reach and result in additional negative impact upon so many unserved Black households and neighborhoods,” Amy Nelson, executive director of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI), told the OCC and Fed in a letter, according to The Indianapolis Star. “Mergers rarely benefit communities already suffering from a history of redlining, racial covenants and other discriminatory practices.”
BMO Harris, one of BMO’s subsidiaries which operates in the Midwest, currently maintains 15 branches in the Indianapolis area, none of which are in majority-minority neighborhoods, the FHCCI noted.
“We are committed to bringing opportunities for affordable homeownership to families in Indiana and all across our footprint,” BMO Harris spokesperson Scott Doll told the Star in an emailed statement. “We have strong lending numbers in Indianapolis in low- and moderate-income communities and to low- and moderate-income borrowers, but we continuously look for ways to increase outreach and support to minority borrowers.”
BMO focused its selling points on what its Bank of the West acquisition would do in California. David Casper, BMO’s U.S. CEO, said the deal would promote competition in a state where half of the market is dominated by three banks.
BMO said it expects to gain 1.8 million new customers when the deal closes, a move set for completion by the end of this year. But, when combined, BMO and Bank of the West would have less than 3 percent of the deposit share in California.
“I am confident that the impact for our customers will be to provide greater convenience, more product options, lower costs, and greater competition for the markets we’re entering,” Casper said, according to the American Banker.
Casper emphasized that BMO has pledged to keep all of Bank of the West’s branches open and to continue to employ all of its front-line workers.