BancorpSouth to pay $10.6M over loan discrimination charges

Mississippi-based BancorpSouth agreed to pay $10.6 million to settle allegations of discriminatory mortgage lending practices.

In a federal court complaint, the Department of Justice and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged bank officials told loan officers to "turn down" minority mortgage applicants more quickly than whites. The court complaint included an audio recording of an internal BancorpSouth meeting in September 2012 that allegedly pointed to the discriminatory practice.

BancorpSouth disagreed with the allegations and did not admit liability, but did agree to the settlement.

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