The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally approved Capital One’s acquisition of Discover Financial Services, the agency announced Friday.
The approval leaves the Federal Reserve as ostensibly the last regulatory green light needed to close the largest merger in the banking space in at least six years.
The OCC cited, as a condition of its go-ahead, the need to approve “plans detailing effective and sustainable corrective actions and timelines to address the root causes of any outstanding enforcement actions against Discover Bank and remediation of harm.”
The OCC “conducted a fulsome review … to ensure all statutory and regulatory requirements have been met,” the agency said in a press release Friday, adding that its announcement “reflects the OCC’s careful analysis of the effect of the merger on communities, the banking industry and the U.S. financial system.”
The regulatory nod comes roughly two weeks after reports surfaced that the Justice Department’s new antitrust leader, Gail Slater, determined there isn’t sufficient evidence to challenge Capital One’s acquisition of Discover in court.
The bank, which is slated to count $660 billion in assets after the transaction closes, proposed its $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover in February 2024 – a deal that would make the combined company the largest U.S. credit card issuer.
In a statement, the OCC’s acting comptroller, Rodney Hood, said his agency “is committed to a regulatory framework that expands access to financial services for consumers, businesses and communities.”
