PITTSBURGH, Nov. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consejo de Latinos Unidos (CDLU), a public charity and advocacy group called on William S. Demchak, the CEO of PNC Bank which is acquiring BBVA USA, to terminate the alleged racist law firm Balch & Bingham, which has represented BBVA USA for over half a century.
“The undisputed fact is that BBVA USA was founded in 1964 by a staunch segregationist who was part of racist Alabama Governor George Wallace’s inner circle. BBVA USA’s founder was also a long-time partner at Balch & Bingham, a law firm which continues to engage in deplorable and unsavory conduct. In 2018, a Balch & Bingham partner was convicted and sentenced to five years in federal prison for a bribery scheme that included suppressing African-Americans from testing their toxic and contaminated property in North Birmingham. BBVA USA’s outside counsel has also been involved in other alleged misconduct including targeting poor African-American children and allegedly disenfranchising African-American voters,” Ernesto Pichardo, a long-time Civil Rights activist and Chairman of the Board of the CDLU.
In 1993, Pichardo won a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision for religious freedom and Civil Rights after his Afro-Caribbean faith came under attack due to blatant intolerance and discrimination by racists and religious bigots.
Today, the CDLU launched two websites documenting the racist history of BBVA USA, one in English, the other in Spanish.
“PNC Bank has a voice, a voice to bring systemic racism to an end. Balch & Bingham has refused to apologize to the African-American community for their egregious and unacceptable conduct, and 18 of 18 major D.C. lobbying clients have courageously terminated the embattled firm. PNC Bank must take a stand and not allow the firm to earn a single penny from this transaction,” Pichardo declared.
Pichardo has been a member of the Board of Directors of the CDLU since 2003, a public charity and advocacy group that launched an accountability and education project in 2017 about Balch & Bingham’s transgressions.