WASHINGTON -- Marine Midland Bank will provide $15 million in loans during the next three years to residents of the Bronx and upper Manhattan as part of a settlement announced Oct. 17 of a Community Reinvestment Act complaint.
The $16.7 billion bank also will open a loan-production office in the south Bronx and will market its services in both English and Spanish.
Inner City Press/Community on the Move, a Bronx-based neighborhood group, filed the complaint last month with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in conjunction with Marine Midland's effort to acquire branches owned by its parent company.
Matthew Lee, the neighborhood group's executive director, said he is satisfied with the deal, especially the provision requiring the bank to open an office.
"In the Bronx there is such a lack of presence that without such a presence, we think there will be a limit on the amount of lending they can do," Mr. Lee said.
Marine Midland Executive Vice President Peter Davidson said in a prepared statement that the deal is part of a continuing effort to serve "the real-life needs" of New York residents.
