A consortium of Arab, American and European banks seeking a charter for a new bank in New York State has assured the American Jewish Congress that it will “adhere to principles of equality and non-discrimination” in its lending and hiring policies, it was reported yesterday. The assurances were given after the AJCongress had called on the State Banking Department to require a pledge of non-discrimination from the organizers of the United Bank, Arab and French, New York (U.B.A.F.-N.Y.) as a condition for issuing it a charter.
In a letter to the AJ Congress, the First National Bank of Chicago–one of the organizers of the new bank–said that the new bank’s certificate of organization would contain the following provision: “The Bank intends to conduct its operations in full compliance with all applicable requirements of the United States and New York State law; accordingly, the Bank will, in all aspects of its operations, adhere to principles of equality and non-discrimination.”
Donald J. Yellon, senior vice-president and general counsel of the Chicago bank, wrote that his institution had “also insisted that each of the proposed participants formally execute the non-discrimination clause so that there could be no question on this point….We intend to live by that principle in fact and in spirit.”
The AJCongress also released the text of a letter from Ernest Kohn, acting superintendent of the State Banking Department, expressing “the firm conviction of this Department that discriminatory practices or policies not only would be inconsistent with the anti-discrimination laws currently in effect but…are incompatible with the public service function of banking institutions in this state.”
Kohn wrote to the AJ Congress in response to a letter from Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, its national president, following reports that the Bankers Trust Company of New York, First National Bank of Chicago, Security Pacific Bank of California and Texas Commerce Bancshares of Houston, Texas were putting together the new financial institutions. More than 20 Arab banks and several from Europe would reportedly be associated with the American banks in the founding of U.B.A.F.-N.Y., and an estimated 40 percent of the bank’s initial $25 million capital will come from Arab sources, news reports said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
