As
Fed
Again
Postpones
Capital One -
ING, Revolving
Door Spun
By
Matthew
R. Lee
SOUTH
BRONX,
February 13 --
Why did the
Federal
Reserve again
postpone
deciding on
Capital One -
ING on Monday,
after first
postponing its
meeting on
February 8?
On
the night of
February 7,
the Fed issued
a document
dump of some
1040 pages
responding to
a Freedom of
Information
Act request
Inner City
Press
filed in
October.
Among
the
1040 pages
provided (more
than 200 have
been withheld
in full,
from ICP and
other
commenters,
NCRC and
others), some
show an
irregular
process
tainted by ex
parte
communications
and a
disturbingly
pervasive
resolving
door. Some
examples, from
a single
one of the
files dumped
on ICP on
February 7,
and which ICP
commented
on to the Fed
in the run-up
to its
February 13
meeting:
Former
Federal
Reserve legal
staffer Andy
Navarrete, now
Senior Vice
President of
Capital One,
improperly
reached out to
Scott Alvarez
on
August 25,
2011;
On
November
7, 2011,
Patricia A.
Robinson at
Capital One's
law firm –
presumably the
same Pat
Robinson who
was in the
Federal
Reserve
Board’s Legal
Division
working on
applications
-- wrote to
Michael
Sexton and
Stanlyn Clark
at the Federal
Reserve:
"It
was
great talking
to you last
week, Mike.
Stanlyn, I am
sorry that I
missed you but
hope to catch
up very soon
(now that my
one-year
'cooling off'
period has
expired).
As
ICP
commented, it
is troubling
that Capital
One could hire
and use an
attorney who
personally
knows and
worked with
all of the Fed
attorneys
reviewing the
application.
This led to a
November 21,
2011,
call about,
among other
things, the
HSBC credit
card
portfolio,
with
3 OCC
officials on
the call --
tainting that
process as
well. On
November 18,
2011, Ms.
Robinson was
at the OCC,
8:45 to 10:45
AM.
There was
another call
on December 9,
2011.
The
Fed
is
increasingly
abusing and
evading FOIA
and this must
be not
only reversed,
but explained
and
accountability
imposed in
response
to this
appeal.
This
information
must be
reviewed, and
released and
comment
allowed
thereon, by
ICP, NCRC and
others, before
the Fed
considers
approving
the Capital
One - ING
proposals.
For
the
reasons of
record, and as
argued by
NCRC, the
Federal
Reserve
should re-open
the comment
period to
fully consider
Capital One's
related
proposal to
buy the
ex-Household
predatory
lending
platform
from HSBC, and
the related
stealth ING
proposals.
Of
the February 8
postponement,
Capital One's
spokeswoman
said “The
board has
informed us
that the
planned
meeting for
this afternoon
has been
rescheduled
for Monday,
February 13th.
We understand
that the delay
is due to a
scheduling
conflict, and
we look
forward to
their
decision early
next week."
But
there was a
problem with
this spin,
that
scheduling
made it
impossible. At
3:05
pm on
Wednesday,
Inner City
Press got a
voice mail
from the
Federal
Reserve's
Legal
Division,
Michael
Waldron, about
an application
that
ICP Fair
Finance Watch
had commented
on some time
ago: Hawa -
Korea
Exchange Bank.
The Board had
just approved
the
application,
Waldron
said (without
also stating
any right to
request
reconsideration.)
In
that Order
Inner City
Press / Fair
Finance Watch
is, yes, "the
commenter."
So
if the Fed
could approve
applications
on Wednesday
afternoon but
chose not to
do
so for Capital
One. And the
Fed again
declined to
approve on
Februar
13. Why?
One
can hope that
the outrageous
"document
dump" of
hundreds of
pages on the
eve of the
Fed's
scheduled
February 8
meeting, which
Inner City
Press
immediately
raised to the
highest levels
of the Fed,
combined with
calls
Wednesday and
letters Monday
from NCRC
members to
open the
meeting,
caught the
Fed's
attention.
Watch this
site.
, 
