From BLT:
The federal judge overseeing the $750 million settlement in a Native American class action expressed concern Tuesday over the selection of four banks in which the plaintiffs’ lawyers want to invest money before checks are cut to potentially thousands of beneficiaries.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers in Keepseagle v. Vilsack, a suit over discrimination in the government’s loan processing for Native American farmers and ranchers, proposed splitting and investing about $600 million in Bank of America Corporation, Wells Fargo & Company, Citigroup, Inc. and PNC Financial Services. A fifth bank, owned by a Native American tribe in Oklahoma, would receive about $18 million.
At a hearing in the case yesterday in Washington federal district court, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan criticized the selection of the four major banks, saying the plaintiffs’ team failed to fully examine the use of Native American or minority-owned banks.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers, he said, should have sent proposal requests to more banks outside of the major national institutions. The judge called the selection of the big four banks “suspect” and asked whether their designation marked “business as usual.”
Turtle Talk 