BOARD DF GOVERNORS

OF THE
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
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WASHINGTON, 0. C. 20551

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.......... TO THE BOARD

July 7, 2017

Mr. Matthew Lee

Inner City Press
P.O. Box 20047
Dag Hammarskjold Station
New York, NY 10017
via e-mail: innercitypress@gmail.com

Re: Freedom oflnformation Act Request Reference No. F-2017-0183

Dear Mr. Lee:

This is in response to your electronic message dated May 13, 2017, and received
by the Board's Freedom oflnformation Office on May 15. Pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. 552, you request any and all records relating to
Sterling Bancorp's ("Sterling's") application to acquire Astoria Bank that concern
Sterling's Community Reinvestment Act ("CRA") data, in light of a question posed by
the Board to Sterling on May 11, 2017, which you quoted in the body of your FOIA
request. 1

Staff searched Board records and located documents that are responsive to your
FOIA request. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York previously provided you with the
public portion of the application on May 1, 2017. The remaining responsive records
consist of the confidential exhibits to the application, and pre- and post-filing
correspondence regarding the application that discuss or concern Sterling's CRA
activities/data. Several of these documents will be provided to you in their entirety. I
have determined, however, that certain documents contain or consist of confidential
commercial and financial information~' Sterling's business plans and internal risk-
management strategies, nonpublic pro forrna balance sheet data, financial projections,
unpublished financial assumptions and capital ratios, and due diligence details), the
disclosure of which is reasonably likely to result in substantial competitive harm; staffs
internal and interagency deliberative communications, pre-decisional analyses,
recommendations, and supervisory assessments; personal details regarding individuals
(~, cellular telephone numbers and conference call passcodes); and information related

1
Your FOIA request did not specify an applicable date range. Accordingly, staff searched for records
created during the six months prior to May 13, 2017.
 2

to the supervision and examination of regulated financial institutions. Such information

is subject to withholding and will be withheld under the authority of exemptions 4, 5, 6,
and 8 of the FOIA, respectively, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), (5), (6), and (8). The documents
containing the exempt information have been reviewed under the requirements of
subsection (b) of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b), and all reasonably segregable
nonexempt information will be provided to you. The documents being released to you
will indicate the amount of information that has been withheld and the applicable
exemptions.

Please note that Sterling provided the-Federal Reserve with a courtesy copy of the
Bank Merger Act application that Sterling Bank and Astoria Bank submitted to the Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") dated April 17, 2017. This application
(totaling 391 pages) will be referred to the OCC for disposition and a direct response to
you. A copy of my referral letter to the OCC is being provided to you with this response.

Your request for information, therefore, is granted in part and denied in part for
the reasons stated above. The Board's Freedom oflnformation Office will provide you
with a copy of the documents being made available to you pursuant to this authorization
under separate cover. If you believe you have a legal right to any information that is
being withheld, you may file ~n appeal by writing to Freedom oflnformation Office,
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street & Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, D.C. 20551; by facsimile to 202-872-7565; or electronically to FOIA-
Appeals@frb.gov. Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within
90 days of the date of this letter. 2

Very truly yours,

{v\~IY)~
Margaret McCloskey Shanks
Deputy Secretary of the Board

2
Please note that you may also contact the Board's FOIA Public Liaison, Jeanne McLaughlin, at 202-
452-3684 for further assistance. Additionally, you may contact the Office of Goverilment Information
Services ("OGIS") at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA
mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government
Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College
Park, MD 20740-6001; e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770 or toll free at 1-877-684-
6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.
 From: Akal. John
To: Julia Sparks; Charles Fleet; Felix Bustelo fFRSl
Subject: FW: Sterling CRA -FRSONLY-
Date: Monday, May 08, 2017 1:27:58 PM
Attachments: (b)(S),& (8) r0rf
',. ;;if;l~~;:,

RESTRICTED FR
Fyi,

You may have a copy of this document already(~)(5)

From: Asis, Marilyn P

Sent: Monday, May 08, 2017 12:08 PM
To: Akal, John
Subject: RE: Sterling CRA -FRSONLY-

RESTRICTED FR

{b)(5) & \OJ.ueJ\, .'7

From: Akal, John

Sent: Monday, May 08, 2017 12:06 PM
To: Asis, Marilyn P
Subject: RE: Sterling CRA -FRSONLY-

RESTRICTED FR

(b )(5,)!&::tS)irJif; . .

From: Asis, Marilyn P

Sent: Monday, May 08, 2017 12:05 PM
To: Akal, John
Subject: Sterling CRA -FRSONLY-

RESTRICTED FR
Hi John,

(b.)(5'l'J& l8V:tfi, ,;
,, ,,,Jw,, ,\:,,,]:,';zf}/'

Best Regards,
Marilyn Asis I Supervisory Manager

Regional, Community and Foreign Institutions ("RCFI")

Supervision Group

T 212.720.1559
M (b)(6)
E marilyo asis@ny frb org
33 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10045 I newyorkfed org

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From: Charles Fleet
To: Akal John
Cc: Bustelo Felix
Subject: please request fair lending/consumer compliance exams, including fair lending risk assessment, for each of
Sterling National Bank and Astoria Bank -FRSONLY-
Date: Tuesday, May 09, 2017 11:48:07 AM

RESTRICTED FR

Hi John,

In connection with the Sterling/Astoria proposal, could you please request from the Federal Reserve
supervision staff responsible for Sterling and Astoria (b}(y) .,
), both banks most recent fair lending and consumer compliance exams, as well as the most
recent fair lending risk assessment~b)(5)
Thank
you very much for your assistance.

Regards,
Charles

Charles Fleet
Senior Supervisory Consumer Financial Services Analyst
Division of Consumer and Community Affairs
Federal Reserve Board
202-452-2776