Does anyone care about this acquisition?

I'm quoted in this article.

A Relatively Quiet Comment Period For B of A-MBNA
From: American Banker
Thursday, September 1, 2005
By Luke Mullins

Many recent megamergers have attracted plenty of opposition, but fewer than a dozen groups filed objections to Bank of America Corp.'s deal for MBNA Corp. in comment letters with the Federal Reserve Board. The 11-letter total is tiny compared to the more than 250 letters filed on Bank of America's 2003 deal to purchase FleetBoston Financial Corp., or the nearly 100 filed on JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s acquisition of Bank One Corp. last year. The MBNA deal was open for comment for two months after it was announced June 30. The letters came largely from community groups, who raised strong reservations about the deal and urged the Fed to hold public hearings to examine its implications. Matthew Lee, the executive director of Inner City Press, said he was concerned the deal could put Bank of America in violation of a rule that bars any bank from raising its share of the domestic deposit market above 10% through a merger or acquisition. He also argued that in the past the Charlotte company made a disproportionately small number of mortgages to minorities, and that B of A did not deserve approval, because it had invested in organizations such as payday lenders. "Bank of America lends to and enables, apparently without standards, high-cost fringe financial institutions as payday lenders, pawnshops, and rent-to-own stores, for example Advance America Cash Advance," Mr. Lee wrote in a July 15 letter. The Greenlining Institute took a different tack by urging B of A to set an example for credit card companies. Vina Ha, a program manager at the group, wrote in an Aug. 26 letter that the industry's inadequate disclosures and high fees must be curbed. "The acquisition has the potential to be highly beneficial to the consumer if B of A takes the lead in establishing credit card 'best practices,' " Mr. Ha wrote. "On the other hand, should B of A conduct business as usual within the credit card industry, a substantial likelihood exists that it's overall reputation could be tarnished." Local interests also raised objections to the plan. Saundra Ross Johnson, the director of the Delaware State Housing Authority, said the deal threatened to choke off funds for first-time homebuyers that MBNA, of Wilmington, had provided through its Community Reinvestment Act program. If the acquisition reduced funding for this program, it "will create a void of mortgage dollars for low- and moderate-income Delaware residents," she wrote in her Aug 30 letter. Rashmi Rangan, the executive director of the Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council Inc., opposed the acquisition because of reports that 6,000 jobs would be cut as a result of the deal. The nonprofit expressed concern about the potential economic effects of the cuts. "Concern with unemployment and where the 6,000 layoffs will occur appears to be paramount" within the state, Ms. Rangan wrote in an Aug. 19 letter. "MBNA is the largest private employer in Delaware." Joni Halpern, the co-chairwoman of the San Diego Coalition for Fair Banking, said it opposed the deal because B of A has not met the banking needs of certain San Diego communities. "Bank of America deliberately refuses to provide accessible checking accounts and services to low-income communities in San Diego," Ms. Halpern wrote in a letter dated Aug. 15. Mr. Ha of Greenlining said he was surprised by the dearth of comment letters that the Fed and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond received. Over all, the deal has not gotten as much attention as other recent ones, he said. "My sense is that it didn't get the same level of media coverage that the Fleet deal got," Mr. Ha said. He also said that traditional consumer finance organizations are relatively new to the credit card industry. "Not everybody has experience working with credit card issues." In an interview, Mr. Lee said he believed there were so few comments because MBNA has few ties to community groups and other organizations through its CRA compliance efforts. "Because it's a credit card bank and because it has a weak CRA record, there are fewer CRA relationships affected by the proposed acquisition," he said. (c) 2005 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

© 2005 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.