SOUTH BRONX, April 4 – 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.
While the OCC has yet to provide some records requested under FOIA, it put its application in its reading room. And it is an outrage, Capital One gaming the CRA system. For example "the Proposed Transaction would result in CONA establishing a new assessment area in Delaware, which will include all census tracts in Sussex County and seven contiguous census tracts in Kent County."
That for a nationwide card and subprime auto lender...
Inner City Press has been receiving complaints, in the nature of victim impact statements. Here is one sample from DC: "Greetings Matthew, Thank you for your reporting on the Capital One merger and their predatory lending practices. I moved to DC in 2019 and see that Capital One has way too much power in this region and nationally. I am a custom of both companies and have had issues with them in the past as a black man. Was denied a home equity loan from Discover. Them two getting together would signal a much worse recession to come. I support stopping this merger... I am originally from Memphis where the First Horizon and TD merger almost ruined the local economy but was thankfully blocked. I am keeping my eyes open for this Cap One situation and now definitely subscribing to Inner City Press."
Still no records from the Fed, 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.
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