SOUTH BRONX, July 24 – 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. After they applied late March 20, Inner City Press submitted a second Freedom of Information Act request to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (and to the Federal Reserve).
On May 14 - still without providing FOIA documents - the OCC and Fed set a July 19 virtual public meeting.
On the eve of it, Capital One announced a vague and less than credible plan - they previously violated their ING Direct pledge - including this time $75 billion in largely subprime auto loans. Fair Finance Watch testified for three minutes.
On June 25 the OCC belatedly responded to Inner City Press' FOIA request - by withholding in full 185 pages. OCC FOIA production on DocumentCloud here. Inner City Press appealed.
On July 24, the very day on which the OCC and Fed said they were closing the written comment period, the OCC upheld in full its FOIA denials, determination letter on Inner City Press' Document Cloud here. Inner City Press has requested an extension of the comment periods - the Fed hasn't even responded.
Meanwhile Capitol One lobbying continues, for example with a Pennsylvania state legislator extolling Capital One's subprime, here.
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. It grew worse in the just-out 2023 data.
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 denied. But will it be? Watch this site.
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