City Comptroller
John C. Liu stated the following in response to questions about his
vote today at the New York City Banking Commission. Comptroller Liu
voted against the proposed designated depository
banks, because the Bloomberg Administration has failed to enforce the
NYC Responsible Banking Act, which requires that the Mayor create a
board to review banks’ reinvestments in local communities:
“The Mayor has refused to follow local law, which requires the City to
examine whether the banks it designates as depositories are reinvesting
in underserved communities,” Comptroller Liu said. “Depository banks
receive billions of taxpayers’ dollars, so we
must ensure that they comply with our stated aim of enhancing their
reinvestment in those communities. Because the Mayor has undermined the
Responsible Banking Act by failing to appoint members to a Community
Investment Advisory Board, we have no method for
determining that compliance, and so we cannot approve any banks to
serve as depositories for City funds today.”
BACKGROUND:
The Banking Commission last approved the City’s depository banks in May
2011. In June 2012, the NYC Council passed the Responsible Banking Act
(RBA), overriding the Mayor’s veto. The law stated that a Community
Investment Advisory Board (CIAB) was to have
been created within 60 days. In order to negate the effect of the law,
the Mayor has refused to comply with the RBA’s requirement that he
appoint members to a CIAB that would review banks’ performance in
opening branches and investing in underserved and underfinanced
neighborhoods. By failing to appoint members to the CIAB, the Mayor
has kept the CIAB from meeting in order to fulfill its intended role,
and effectively vetoed the City’s RBA all over again.
In
addition to Comptroller Liu, the Banking Commission consists of the
Mayor and the Commissioner of Finance. The Department of Finance
provides all administrative support for the Commission’s work.
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Follow Comptroller Liu on Twitter. To receive Twitter updates via text message,
text “follow johncliu” to 40404.
View the latest Comptroller’s office videos on YouTube.
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