| Capital One Should Discover
Merger Dead amid Stealth
Application Inner City Press FOIAs
Fed
by
Matthew R. Lee
SOUTH
BRONX, March
22 – Capital One has applied
to buy Discover, in an
anticompetitive deal that
should be rejected by
regulators if they mean what
they have been saying. While
they applied late March 20, as
of 1 pm on March 22 there was
no notice of the Federal
Reserve's or OCC's websites.
Inner City Press submitted
second FOIA requests to each
agency. Public hearings should
be held, not only on antitrust
but also lending disparities
at both companies.
On
February 20 Capital One CEO
Rich Fairbanks bragged about
communications he's had with
the regulators, then referred
to "customary regulatory
approvals." Inner City Press
immediately submitted Freedom
of Information Act requests to
the Federal Reserve and OCC
for all such communications.
Both agencies confirmed
receipt.
But still
no records as of March 22, so
this:
This is a FOIA
request for the entirety of
Capital One's applications for
regulatory approval of its
Discover proposal, including
all portions for which Capital
One has requested confidential
treatment, and all
communications by your agency
with the banks since February
19. As of March 22 at 1 am,
the Fed's most recent H2A is
from March 15
As
documented by Fair Finance
Watch, Discover Bank in 2022
denied mortgage loans
application from African
Americans more than twice as
frequently as those of
whites.
Previously, Inner City Press
and NCRC challenged Capital
One's acquisition of ING
Direct, see here.This
time, given the antitrust
enforcement claims being made
in DC, this proposal should be
dead in the water. Watch this
site.
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2024 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
