However, the new court filings tell a completely different story.
They go back to late 2010 and early 2011 when, according to a deposition from Chicago Regional FDIC Director Anthony Lowe, the FDIC's leadership in D.C. informed regional chiefs that "if a bank was found to be involved in payday lending, someone was going to be fired." This directive made clear to Lowe and his colleagues that they should exercise their power to make sure that payday lenders could not get access to banks.
This effort was clearly in line with the priority of the highest levels of authority at the FDIC. Gruenberg told colleague and Director of the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection Mark Pearce that "we should discuss" a New York Times article about payday lending and banking in an email. Another email shows that Gruenberg also met personally with a senior bank official to push the bank to withdraw from its involvement with payday lending.
The targeting of payday lenders flowed out of Washington and to the various regional directors. Atlanta Regional Director Thomas Dujenski, who was deposed for the lawsuit, wrote in an email released by Advance America that he "literally can not stand pay day lending. They are abusive, fundamentally wrong, hurt people, and do not deserve to be in any way associated with banking." He would later tell employees that "any banks even remotely involved in payday [lending] should be promptly brought to my attention."
Court Docs: Obama Admin Targeting of Businesses Ran to Top of FDIC
They go back to late 2010 and early 2011 when, according to a deposition from Chicago Regional FDIC Director Anthony Lowe, the FDIC's leadership in D.C. informed regional chiefs that "if a bank was found to be involved in payday lending, someone was going to be fired." This directive made clear to Lowe and his colleagues that they should exercise their power to make sure that payday lenders could not get access to banks.
This effort was clearly in line with the priority of the highest levels of authority at the FDIC. Gruenberg told colleague and Director of the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection Mark Pearce that "we should discuss" a New York Times article about payday lending and banking in an email. Another email shows that Gruenberg also met personally with a senior bank official to push the bank to withdraw from its involvement with payday lending.
The targeting of payday lenders flowed out of Washington and to the various regional directors. Atlanta Regional Director Thomas Dujenski, who was deposed for the lawsuit, wrote in an email released by Advance America that he "literally can not stand pay day lending. They are abusive, fundamentally wrong, hurt people, and do not deserve to be in any way associated with banking." He would later tell employees that "any banks even remotely involved in payday [lending] should be promptly brought to my attention."
Court Docs: Obama Admin Targeting of Businesses Ran to Top of FDIC
