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The specter of "too big to fail," coupled with the usual fuming by community groups over Capital One's CRA record, made for a dramatic nine hours — and counting.
September 20 -
Denying the application would ice large banks, spook foreign owners and deprive the central bank of a key consolidation tool.
September 19
Amid criticism over its planned acquisition of the U.S. online banking unit of ING Group NV, Capital One Financial Corp. has agreed to add 500 jobs in Delaware by December 2013.
As part of the expansion agreement, the McLean, Va., bank will receive $5.6 million from a Delaware Strategic Fund Job Creation Incentive and a Capital Improvements and Equipment Cash Incentive equal to 3% of the total capital expenditures the bank makes for its new Wilmington facility.
In June, Capital One announced plans to acquire the Delaware-based ING Direct USA for $9 billion. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year or in the first quarter of 2012. Capital One also announced in August that it would buy HSBC's domestic credit card business in a deal valued at $2.6 billon. That deal is expected to close in the second quarter of next year.
The ING deal in particular has come under fire from lawmakers and community banks, who say the merger would threaten the financial system by creating another too-big-to-fail bank. Community groups, meanwhile, have voiced concern about both banks' lending records in low- and moderate-income communities and were instrumental in persuading the Federal Reserve to hold three public hearings on the proposed deal.
Capital One, which has vehemently denied both claims, tried to quell some of the criticism last week when it announced at hearing in Washington that it would pledge $180 billion over 10 years for community reinvestment.
Capital One said that the 500 jobs it intends to create in Delaware are on top of the positions it will retain in the deal for ING.
Capital One chief executive Richard Fairbank said the bank expects "to bring hundreds of new, high quality jobs to the state and to become an active and engaged part of the Delaware business community."
The state funding for the expansion is dependent upon approval by the Council on Development Finance and subject to the closing of the ING and HSBC acquisitions.
