FDIC Taps Bankers for MDI Oversight Amidst Community Bank Concerns

WASHINGTON – While the streets bleed and fentanyl flows, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is playing banker roulette, hoping a new committee can patch holes in the nation’s dwindling network of minority-owned financial institutions. Today, the FDIC announced the addition of four new members to the Advisory Committee on Community Banking’s Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) Subcommittee. It’s a move that raises questions about whether this is genuine oversight or just a PR stunt while real communities crumble.

The freshly appointed include John Tom Anderson, President and CEO of F&M Bank in Edmond, Oklahoma; John Lewis, heading The Harbor Bank of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland; Alfonso Macedo, President & CEO of Ocean Bank in Miami, Florida; and Arturo (Art) Ortega, Chairman and CEO of Freedom Bank in Alamo, Texas. These individuals will now shoulder the responsibility – and the optics – of addressing the unique hurdles faced by MDIs and the communities they are supposed to serve. The FDIC insists this is about fulfilling “statutory goals,” but the timing feels awfully convenient as larger banks consolidate power and smaller institutions struggle to stay afloat.

The MDI Subcommittee isn’t just a talking shop, according to the FDIC. They claim it’s a vital resource, feeding information back to the agency to shape policies and strategies. It’s also pitched as a platform for collaboration and partnership – a nice idea, but will it translate into tangible results for communities starved of capital? On May 1, 2024, the subcommittee will convene, promising to “share insights” and highlight a “innovative partnership” improving healthcare access in a Native American community. Sounds good on paper, but Grimy Times will be watching to see if it’s more sizzle than steak.

These new faces join existing members Claude (Jeff) J. Bowman (Bay Bank, Green Bay, Wisconsin), Warren Huang (Amerasia Bank, Flushing, New York), Russell Lau (Finance Factors, Ltd., Honolulu, Hawaii), B. Doyle Mitchell (Industrial Bank, Washington, District of Columbia), and Farid Tan (Metro City Bank, Doraville, Georgia). A whole lot of CEOs, a whole lot of meetings, and a whole lot of hoping that these discussions will actually impact the ground-level realities of financial inequality.

The public can tune into the May 1st meeting at 1:00 p.m. EDT via webcast. The FDIC says an on-demand version will be available “approximately two weeks after the event.” Archived meetings are also available for those who want to wade through the bureaucratic swamp. But let’s be real: while the FDIC holds meetings, real people are still struggling to access basic financial services.

For those with questions, FDIC contact Brian Sullivan can be reached at 202-412-1436. Grimy Times will be digging deeper, tracking whether this subcommittee is a genuine effort to level the playing field or just another layer of bureaucracy shielding the financial elite from accountability. Last Updated: April 24, 2024.