100PercentBronx

Sunday, January 26, 2020

DE BLASIO ADMINISTRATION OUTLINES PREPAREDNESS FOR NOVEL CORONAVIRUS

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, FDNY, NYCEM, NYC Health + Hospitals poised to respond novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

The City laid out its preparedness plans for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. The virus, initially identified in China, has now spread to 16 countries with 25 deaths, all in China. There are now two confirmed cases in the United States.

“With the best emergency response teams in the nation, New York City stands ready to respond to any potential cases of the coronavirus,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We will remain vigilant and ensure New Yorkers have the facts they need to stay safe.”

All City hospitals and health providers are now trained to identify symptoms and evaluate patients who may present symptoms for 2019-nCoV, which include cough, shortness of breath, and fever. Additionally, the City has established transport protocols for individuals who may present symptoms of 2019-nCoV and in need of a medical evaluation; infection prevention and control measures at all New York City hospitals; instructions on specimen collection and other preparations.

While there are zero diagnoses in New York City at this time, coronavirus has been detected in hundreds of people worldwide. While initially thought to only spread through prolonged exposure, more recent epidemiology indicates that person-to-person transmission is possible. While some infections have resulted in severe illness, and even death, others have presented mild, flu-like symptoms and been discharged from care.

Authorities have instituted travel restrictions in at least 12 cities in China (including Wuhan), affecting tens of millions of people. The CDC remains poised to screen passengers based on need. To date, no passengers arriving from Wuhan or connecting flights at JFK have needed medical evaluation. However, New York City is fully prepared to transport individuals showing symptoms or who receive positive diagnoses as needed.

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHM) has conducted outreach and are providing guidance to local community-based organizations and health care providers serving our communities to inform them of the necessary precautions they need to take if someone with symptoms of coronavirus visits them.

Additionally, NYC Health + Hospitals is working closely with the Health Department, and the public health system is well prepared in the event that a patient with nCoV-like symptoms presents at or is transported to one of its emergency departments. Frontline staff have up-to-date public health clinical information on the 2019-nCoV virus, including infection prevention and control, personal protective equipment usage and practices, instructions on specimen collection, and in-service trainings on ‘donning and doffing’ personal protective gear. NYC Health Hospitals has also embedded travel screening into the electronic health record system to ensure that any patient walking into one of its facility is promptly identified and isolated.

The CDC recommends people avoid non-essential travel to Wuhan. For travel deemed essential, the Health Department has shared the following CDC recommendations with healthcare providers regarding travelers to Wuhan:

Avoid contact with sick people
Avoid animals (alive or dead), animal markets, and products that come from animals (such as uncooked meat);
Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
Older travelers and those with underlying health issues may be at risk for more severe disease and should discuss travel to Wuhan with their healthcare provider.

For those who recently traveled to Wuhan and feel sick with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, CDC recommends:

Seek medical care right away. Before going to a doctor’s office or emergency room, call ahead and tell them about recent travel and symptoms.
Avoid contact with others.
Not travel while sick.
Cover mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not hands) when coughing or sneezing.
Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

“The de Blasio administration is prepared for the likelihood of the novel coronavirus in New York City,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Raul Perea-Henze. “Our world-class public health system anchored by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and NYC Health + Hospitals, working together with our partners across government and in the communities, will manage whatever comes our way. We urge all New Yorkers to continue to pursue their everyday activities and routines, but to remain aware of the facts about coronavirus. Those with a travel history should see a doctor at the first sign of any flu-like symptoms. Everyone is welcome at all NYC Health + Hospitals facilities and will be treated with dignity and respect.”

"We take this rapidly changing situation seriously and are monitoring world events closely,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. “New Yorkers should know the risk to residents of the city is low and that public health and emergency teams are ready to act swiftly if circumstances change. We urge New Yorkers who have recently travelled to the Wuhan area to contact their health care providers if they have fever, cough or shortness of breath.”

“Preparation and coordination are vital to any response. Today’s exercise brings together key individuals to discuss the important steps we can take to ensure we are ready to respond to anyone who may be affected by this virus,” said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell. “Contact their health care providers if they have fever, cough or shortness of breath.”

“FDNY’s highly-trained Paramedics and EMTs are prepared to respond to any potential calls related to the coronavirus,” said Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro. “The Department will continue to monitor this situation and work closely with the Health Department and every city agency to ensure the safety of New Yorkers.”

“NYC Health + Hospitals takes an ‘all-infectious disease approach’ when preparing for public health threats such as coronavirus,” said Mitchell Katz, MD, President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals. “Our hospitals are vigilant and well prepared in the event that a patient with coronavirus-like symptoms arrives at or is transported to one of our emergency departments. Further, our Special Pathogens Program ensures the ongoing readiness of our facilities through drills and exercises of varying scope and scale by testing system and facility processes and protocols.”

“New York City is committed to protecting the health and safety of all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status,” said Bitta Mostofi, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “No one should be afraid to get the care they need, when they need it. If you or your loved ones have recently travelled to the Wuhan area and are showing symptoms, contact your health care providers or seek care, in your language and community, today.”

Friday, January 24, 2020

Founder Of Meridian Capital Asset Management Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Stealing Over $1 Million Of Investor Funds

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOHN GERACI was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 24 months in prison for conspiring to commit securities and wire fraud. GERACI participated in a scheme to defraud investors in his company, Meridian Capital Asset Management. GERACI caused two clients (“Victim-1” and “Victim-2”) to invest in a hedge fund through his company called the Meridian Matrix Long Short Fund (the “Meridian Matrix Fund”). Between in or about December 2015 and November 2016, GERACI provided fictitious account statements and updates to Victim-1 and Victim-2, telling them that their investment was worth millions when, in reality, GERACI knew that large portions of it had been stolen by the Meridian Matrix Fund’s co-founder, Nicholas Mitsakos. GERACI eventually liquidated the Meridian Matrix Fund and misappropriated significant portions of the remaining funds. Although GERACI had stolen over $1 million of Victim-1 and Victim-2’s investment for himself, GERACI falsely told them that their entire investment had been taken by Mitsakos. GERACI used the stolen money to pay his own personal and business expenses.

GERACI pled guilty on October 3, 2019, and was sentenced by United States District Judge Alison J. Nathan.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “John Geraci lied to his clients about their investment with Nicholas Mitsakos, and later concealed that he had recovered a significant portion of their investment from Mitsakos. Now Geraci, like Mitsakos before him, is headed to prison.”

According to the Complaint, the Indictment, and other statements made in open court:

GERACI was the principal and founder of Meridian Capital Asset Management. In or about February 2015, GERACI was introduced to Nicholas Mitsakos, who purported to operate a hedge fund called Matrix Capital (“Matrix”). Mitsakos told GERACI that Matrix had tens of millions of dollars under management and had achieved annual returns between 19.4% and 66.3% from 2012 to 2014. GERACI and Mitsakos subsequently entered into an arrangement whereby GERACI would raise money for Mitsakos, Mitsakos would manage that money through a new vehicle, the Meridian Matrix Fund, and GERACI and Mitsakos would then split any fees that the Meridian Matrix Fund generated. As part of this arrangement, GERACI solicited Victim-1 and Victim-2 to invest approximately $2 million in the Meridian Matrix Fund, in large part by relying on Mitsakos’s claims about his supposed fund’s assets under management and performance returns.

By in or about December 2015, however, GERACI learned that Mitsakos had only invested approximately $1.2 million of Victim-1 and Victim-2’s investment, and had misappropriated significant portions of the remaining money. GERACI also learned that Mitsakos never had any actual assets under management, and that his performance returns were accordingly fictitious and misleading. Nonetheless, GERACI never told Victim-1 or Victim-2 that their investment was in jeopardy or had been solicited with misleading information. To the contrary, GERACI sent Victim-1 and Victim-2 updates that hid Mitsakos’s misappropriation and falsely claimed that their investment had appreciated. GERACI sent these fictitious updates even after GERACI had liquidated the Meridian Matrix Fund’s trading positions in or about June 2016. Beginning in or about November 2015, GERACI also misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars of Victim-1 and Victim-2’s money for himself.

In or about August 2016, Mitsakos was charged in this District with securities fraud and other offenses. In or about September 2016, GERACI changed course: Instead of providing fictitious account updates to Victim-1 and Victim-2, GERACI told them, in substance and in part, that their entire investment had been wiped out through Mitsakos’s fraud. GERACI did this even though he had ultimately received approximately $1.1 million of Victim-1 and Victim-2’s investment back from Mitsakos, including after liquidating the Meridian Matrix Fund’s trading positions. Rather than returning this amount to Victim-1 and Victim-2, GERACI used it to pay for his own personal and business expenses, including, for example, payments on a BMW automobile, a gym membership, gas, groceries, travel expenses, and his cellphone bill.

In addition to sending false account updates to Victim-1 and Victim-2 even after learning that Mitsakos had lied about his fund’s assets and performance and that Mitsakos had stolen significant portions of Victim-1 and Victim-2’s investment, GERACI continued to try to raise money from others for an investment related to the Meridian Matrix Fund. In attempting to do so, moreover, GERACI relied on the same representations about Matrix’s assets and performance that he knew to be false.

Mitsakos pled guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud on May 25, 2017, and was sentenced on November 7, 2017, to 30 months in prison by the Honorable Denny Chin, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit who was sitting by designation in the Southern District of New York.

In addition to the prison sentence, GERACI, 62, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. The Court further ordered GERACI to forfeit a sum of $1,098,971.38 and to pay restitution to the victims of the offense.

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the United States Postal Inspection Service and thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Van Cortlandt Park Alliance - Join us at the Bronx Parks Speak Up

Join us at the Bronx Coalition for Parks and Greenspaces' 26th Annual Bronx Parks Speak Up on Saturday February 29th from 11am to 5pm at Lehman College where our Environmental Education Manager will be leading a presentation, our Urban Eco-Teens will be participating in the panel discussion and the organization will be tabling.

Bronx Progressives Annual Meeting - Wednesday, Jan 29th, 2019 at 6:30pm!

Hello Bronx Progressives members!

Bronx Progressives is proud to invite you to our upcoming meeting on Wenesday, January 29th at 6:30pm at 1231 Lafayette Ave, 2nd Fl, Bronx, NY 10474 (6 Train to Hunts Point Ave, also BX 5, 6 and 19 buses).

We will be giving an update of our prior year, having a vote to endorse Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, decide other priority races, and take nominations for the executive committee!

We look forward to seeing you all on January 29^th at 6:30pm! We welcome all to bring a dish to share!

***This meeting is ADA accessible and is a safe space for all races, religions, sexes, gender identities, ages and beliefs***

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams - Come Join Our Vegan & Veg-Curious Meetup!

Friends,

As part of my ongoing initiative to improve and protect the health of all Brooklynites, I will be hosting a Vegan & Veg-Curious Meetup in the Community Room of Brooklyn Borough Hall on Monday, February 3rd from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Everyone is welcome to come and learn about the power of a plant-based lifestyle and see the great benefits it can have on your mind, body, and soul, just like it did for me and my own health.

Additionally, please check out our remaining January dates to visit our Fresh Vibes Market, our state-of-the-art RV that has been retrofitted to bring below-market price produce, cooking demonstrations, and nutrition workshops, as well as a range of other social services to food deserts across Brooklyn. Thanks to The Campaign Against Hunger and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund for their continued partnership.

To RSVP to the meetup, please call (718) 802-3729 or visit brooklyn-usa.org/plant-based for more information. Don't miss this chance to learn more about healthy eating and meet other Brooklynites interested in cooking tips!

-Eric

Manhattan Man Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Provide Material Support To Terrorist Organization

Jesus Wilfredo Encarnacion Attempted to Travel Overseas to Join Lashkar e-Tayyiba

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John C. Demers, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, announced today that JESUS WILFREDO ENCARNACION, a/k/a “Jihadistsoldgier,” “Jihadinhear,” “Jihadinheart,” “Lionofthegood,” pled guilty to attempting to provide material support to Lashkar e-Tayyiba (“LeT”), a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for multiple high-profile attacks, including the infamous Mumbai attacks in November 2008. ENCARNACION pled guilty today before United States District Judge Ronnie Abrams.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As he admitted today, Jesus Encarnacion plotted to travel abroad to join and train with the terrorist organization Lashkar e-Tayyiba, infamous worldwide for their brutal jihadist murder of innocent civilians, and to carry out shootings, bombings, and beheadings on their behalf. Thanks to the excellent work of the FBI and the NYPD, Encarnacion was intercepted before his deadly plot could take flight, and he now awaits sentencing for his crime.”

According to the criminal Complaint, Indictment, and other documents filed in the case, as well as statements made during the plea proceeding:

In November 2018, ENCARNACION expressed his desire to join a terrorist group in an online group chat, where he met another individual (“CC-1”). CC-1 introduced ENCARNACION to an individual who, unbeknownst to CC-1 or ENCARNACION, was in fact an undercover FBI employee (“UC-1”). ENCARNACION repeatedly expressed, in the course of recorded communications through a social media service with CC-1 and through an encrypted messaging service with UC-1, his allegiance to and support for LeT, which, since approximately 2001, has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by both the United States Secretary of State and the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Over several months, ENCARNACION discussed his desire and plans to join LeT overseas so that he could receive training and participate in violent acts of terrorism. For example, ENCARNACION told UC-1 that he was “ready to kill and die in the name of Allah” and sought UC-1’s assistance to help ENCARNACION travel abroad to serve as an “executioner” for LeT, stating, “I want to execute. I want to behead. Shoot.” ENCARNACION further stated that he aspired to commit terrorist attacks (“a bombing and shooting”) in the United States, but lacked “guidance” and “guns” to do so.

By early 2019, ENCARNACION and UC-1 agreed on a plan that ENCARNACION believed would allow him to join LeT in Pakistan. ENCARNACION told UC-1 that he had made arrangements to travel to a particular city in Europe (the “European City”), as the first step in traveling to Pakistan to join LeT. ENCARNACION purchased an airline ticket for a flight scheduled to depart on February 7, 2019, from John F. Kennedy International Airport (“JFK Airport”) to the European City. On February 7, 2019, ENCARNACION traveled to JFK Airport, where he was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) after he attempted to board that flight.

ENCARNACION, 30, of New York, New York, pled guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.

ENCARNACION is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Abrams on April 24, 2020, at 11:30 a.m.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department. Mr. Berman also thanked the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, as well as the New York Office of U. S. Customs and Border Protection.

Former Congressman Christopher Collins Sentenced For Insider Trading Scheme And Lying To Federal Law Enforcement Agents

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that CHRISTOPHER COLLINS, who represented the 27th District of New York as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was sentenced to 26 months in prison today by U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick for participating in a scheme to commit insider trading and for making false statements to federal law enforcement agents when interviewed about his conduct.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Former New York Congressman and Innate board member Christopher Collins received confidential, nonpublic information that one of Innate’s drugs in development had just failed a clinical trial. Moments later, from the White House lawn, Collins notified his son Cameron, so that he could trade the stock ahead of the public announcement and avoid taking a substantial loss on the stock. He then lied to the FBI when asked about his conduct. Collins’s greed and disregard for the law have now led to a criminal conviction for insider trading and lying to the FBI, his resignation from Congress, and over two years in federal prison. Lawmakers bear the profound privilege and responsibility of writing and passing laws, but equally as important, the absolute obligation of following them. Collins’s hubris is a stark reminder that the people of New York can and should demand more from their elected officials, and that no matter how powerful, no lawmaker is above the law.”

The following facts are based on the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment and statements made in related court filings and proceedings:

The Insider Trading Scheme

The Scheme

In or about June 2017, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS, who, in addition to serving on the board of directors of Innate Immunotherapeutics (“Innate”), an Australian biotechnology company, was also one of Innate’s largest shareholders, participated in a scheme to commit insider trading. Specifically, on or about June 22, 2017, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS learned that MIS416 – a multiple sclerosis drug that Innate was developing – had failed a critical drug trial that was meant to determine the drug’s clinical efficacy (the “Drug Trial”). The negative Drug Trial results were highly confidential, and, as an insider who owed duties of trust and confidence to Innate, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS was obligated to keep the Drug Trial results secret until Innate publicly released them. Instead, in breach of those duties, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS tipped his son, Cameron Collins, who was also a substantial Innate shareholder, so that Cameron Collins could make timely trades and tip others before Innate publicly released the Drug Trial results. Cameron Collins traded on the inside information and passed it to Stephen Zarsky, the father of his fiancée, as well as to three individuals not named in the Superseding Indictment (“Individual-1,” “Individual-2,” and “Individual-6”), so that they could utilize the information for the same purpose. Zarsky, in turn, traded on the information and used it to tip three more individuals not named in the Superseding Indictment (“Individual-3,” “Individual-4,” and “Individual-5,”) so that they too could engage in timely trades in Innate stock. All of the trades preceded the public release of the negative Drug Trial results.

In total, these trades allowed Cameron Collins and Zarsky, and Individual-1 through Individual-6, to avoid over $768,000 in losses that they would have otherwise incurred if they had sold their stock in Innate after the Drug Trial results became public.

The Drug Trial Results

In or about October 2014, Innate initiated a Phase 2B clinical trial of its primary drug, MIS416. Successful completion of the Drug Trial was a necessary prerequisite to the commercialization of MIS416. Because Innate had no other significant products in development, its stock price was tied to the success of MIS416.

The Drug Trial was widely expected to be completed around the summer of 2017. For example, on or about June 9, 2017, Innate’s chief executive officer (“CEO”) sent various individuals, including CHRISTOPHER COLLINS, an email stating that “the delivery date for [the] review and ‘verdict’” of the Drug Trial “will [] occur at COB on US Thursday June 22nd.” As the summer progressed, individuals within Innate remained optimistic that MIS416’s Drug Trial results would be positive. The initial Drug Trial results were made available by trial administrators to Innate’s CEO on June 22, 2017. These results established that MIS416 lacked therapeutic value in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The results were not publicly released at that time. Instead, they were released publicly on June 26, 2017, after the U.S. markets had closed (the “Public Announcement”). Innate’s stock price subsequently crashed, dropping 92% on the first trading day following the Public Announcement.

Dissemination of the Drug Trial Results

On or about June 22, 2017, at approximately 6:55 p.m., Innate’s CEO sent an email describing the Drug Trial results to the company’s board of directors, including CHRISTOPHER COLLINS. The email explained to Innate’s board of directors for the first time that the Drug Trial had been a failure. The email began, in part, “I have bad news to report,” and continued to explain that “the top line analysis of the ‘intent to treat’ patient population (ie every subject who was successfully enrolled in the study) would pretty clearly indicate[s] ‘clinical failure.’” The email continued, “Top-line 12-month data . . . show no clinically meaningful or statistically significant differences in [outcomes] between MIS416 and placebo,” and concluded by stating, “No doubt we will want to consider this extremely bad news . . . .”

At the time CHRISTOPHER COLLINS received this email, he was attending the Congressional Picnic at the White House. At 7:10 p.m., CHRISTOPHER COLLINS replied to the email, stating, in part, “Wow. Makes no sense. How are these results even possible???” After responding to the Innate CEO’s email, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS called his son, Cameron Collins. They traded six missed calls between 7:11 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. At 7:16 p.m., CHRISTOPHER COLLINS and Cameron Collins spoke for more than six minutes. During that six-minute phone call, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS told Cameron Collins, in sum and substance, that MIS416 had failed the Drug Trial.

Trading and Tipping by CAMERON COLLINS and ZARSKY

Cameron Collins began placing orders to sell his Innate shares the morning after he received inside information from CHRISTOPHER COLLINS. Between the morning of Friday, June 23, 2017, and the close of the market on Monday, June 26, 2017, Cameron Collins sold approximately 1,391,500 shares of Innate stock. These sales allowed Cameron Collins to avoid approximately $570,900 in losses.

Furthermore, after learning the Drug Trial results from CHRISTOPHER COLLINS, on or about the night of June 22, 2017, Cameron Collins provided the Drug Trial results to at least the following three sets of individuals so that they could trade in advance of the Public Announcement: (1) his fiancée, Individual-1; (2) Zarsky and Zarsky’s wife, Individual-2; and (3) Cameron Collins’s friend, Individual-6. Collectively, these individuals avoided approximately $186,620 in losses as a result of their trading on inside information.

On or about the morning of June 23, 2017, Zarsky provided the negative Drug Trial results that he had learned from Cameron Collins and Individual-1 to at least the following individuals, among others, or otherwise caused them to trade or attempt to trade in advance of the Public Announcement: (1) his brother, Individual-3; (2) his sister, Individual-4; and (3) his longstanding friend, Individual-5. Collectively, these individuals avoided approximately $10,900 in losses as a result of their trading on inside information.

False Statements to the FBI

On or about April 25, 2018, special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) separately interviewed CHRISTOPHER COLLINS, Cameron Collins and Zarsky. During these interviews, and as detailed in the Superseding Indictment, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS, Cameron Collins and Zarsky made false statements to the FBI to cover up their participation in the insider trading scheme.

In addition to the prison term, CHRISTOPHER COLLINS was sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $200,000.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding work of the FBI and thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance.

AG James Pushes Back On Proposal Allowing Predatory Lenders To Take Advantage Of New York's Most Vulnerable Communities

AG James Leads Bipartisan Coalition in Sending Letter Asking Federal Banking Regulator to Withdraw Rule Facilitating ‘Rent-A-Bank’ Schemes

New York Attorney General Letitia James led a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general that included the attorneys general of California, Illinois, and 19 other states to object to a proposed rule that would undermine New York’s efforts to prevent predatory lenders from taking advantage of consumers by charging high interest rates on loans and bypassing state caps — or usury laws — already in place. In a comment letter submitted to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the coalition of attorneys general urge the OCC to reject the proposed rule that would enable predatory lenders to circumvent these caps through “rent-a-bank” schemes — arrangements in which heavily regulated national banks act as lenders in name only and enter into sham partnerships with unregulated entities so that they can receive exemptions that allow them to issue loans at interest rates that exceed state caps.

“At a time when credit card companies are making record profits and millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet, it is disappointing that the federal government has chosen to protect big banks’ profits rather than vulnerable consumers,” said Attorney General James. “Rather than stem the tide of exploitative and predatory loans that trap consumers in a cycle of debt, the OCC wants to open the floodgates by sanctioning schemes that allow the financial services industry to target New Yorkers. Rent-a-bank schemes make a mockery of federal law, and the OCC’s sanctioning of these schemes is an insult to the majority of states whose citizens have rejected the absurd notion that freedom means the ‘right’ to take out a loan at a triple-digit interest rate.”

Under the federal National Bank Act, national banks that are licensed and regulated by the OCC are permitted to charge interest on loans at the maximum rate permitted by their home state, even in states where that interest rate would violate state usury laws. The ability to preempt state usury laws in this way is a privilege granted to national banks — and only to national banks — because they are subject to extensive federal oversight and supervision. This privilege is extremely valuable to national banks because it permits them to lend money at rates in great excess of the rates they pay to borrow money. While federal law provides a carve out from state usury laws for federally-regulated banks, state law continues to protect residents from predatory lending by non-banks, such as payday, auto title, and installment lenders. Congress affirmed that role with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, preserving more protective state laws and rejecting attempts by the OCC to limit the authority of states over the financial services industry.

Despite the protections in Dodd-Frank, the new regulations proposed by the OCC — originally proposed in November 2019 — would extend the National Bank Act exemption for federally-regulated banks to non-bank debt buyers, such as payday lenders or any entity that purchases debt from a national bank. The proposed rule seeks to achieve this result by recasting National Bank Act preemption as an ordinary property interest that can be assigned, and codifying an obscure doctrine that purportedly concerns the assignability of contractual rights — a sharp reversal in law and policy.

In the comment letter, Attorney General James and the coalition of attorneys general object to the proposed rule, stating that it stands in direct conflict with the National Bank Act and the Dodd-Frank Act, exceeds the OCC’s statutory authority, and violates the Administrative Procedure Act. Further, Congress has clearly rejected legislation to expand the National Bank Act preemption to non-banks, further undermining the OCC’s attempt to rewrite federal law to suit its extreme policy preferences.

Joining Attorney General James in sending today’s letter to OCC are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, in addition to the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protections.