New York State banking regulator inquiring about Kushner Company loans
— -- The New York State Department of Financial Services has asked Deutsche Bank and two community lenders for information about their relationships with President Trump’s son-in-law and embattled senior adviser Jared Kushner and the Kushner Companies, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The requests for information on loans, lines of credit and other financial arrangements were sent to Deutsche Bank, Signature Bank and New York Community Bank. Responses are due March 5.
While the inquiry was described as routine due diligence under the DFS “safety and soundness” mandate, the source said regulators are seeking to understand why certain loans were made amid recent reports of potential conflicts of interest between Kushner’s roles in the Trump administration and his family’s real estate business.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Apollo, a private equity firm, and Citigroup, a leading global bank, made large loans to the Kushner Company in 2017 following meetings with Kushner at the White House.
DFS sought copies of emails between the Kushners and the banks related to any pending or denied loan requests, the source said, and asked whether the banks conducted internal reviews of the Kushners and, if so, what they revealed.
Signature Bank, where Kushner’s wife Ivanka Trump once sat on the board, released a statement that didn’t directly address the inquiry.
“With permission of our client we can state that the Kushner Family and Kushner Co. have been clients since 2010,” the statement reads. “By law we cannot disclose regulatory or legal inquires. Do not infer from our legal inability to answer questions that we do not fully fulfill our regulatory responsibilities and obligations at all times.”
Deutsche Bank declined to comment. New York Community Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Financial Services (DFS) declined to comment about an ongoing matter.
