Mayor Eric Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander are facing calls from progressive advocates to cut off Wells Fargo’s ability to hold municipal deposits following allegations of racial discrimination.
Wells Fargo is one of 30 banks approved by the city to compete for contracts to host revenue, payroll and other bank accounts for city agencies. On Monday, Public Bank NYC, a coalition pushing for a government-run municipal bank, formally asked city officials to revoke that designation.
In a letter signed by 21 community groups and sent to the mayor and comptroller Monday, the coalition argued that Wells Fargo had violated city anti-discrimination rules by disproportionately denying Black homeowners’ applications to refinance their home mortgage loans, as shown in federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.
