CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
August 12, 2004
Jennifer J. Johnson
Secretary
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
20th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20551
Attention: Docket No. R-1203
Regulation Comments
Chief Counsel's Office
Office of Thrift Supervision
1700 G St, NW
Washington, DC 20552
Robert E. Feldman
Executive Secretary
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20429
Attention: RIN 3064-AC73
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
250 E. Street, SW
Mail Stop 1-5
Washington, DC 20219
Attention: Docket No. 04-16
RE:
Fair Credit Reporting Affiliate Marketing Regulations – Comments
of Capital One Financial Corporation
Dear Sir or Madam:
Capital One Financial
Corporation (“Capital One”) appreciates
the opportunity to comment on the proposed rules governing affiliate
marketing (the “Proposed Rule”) issued by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of Thrift Supervision,
the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (collectively, the “Agencies”)
. These affiliate marketing rules are required by section 214(b)
of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (the “FACT
Act”).
Capital One had 46.6 million customers and $73.4 billion in managed
loans outstanding, as of June 30, 2004. A Fortune 200 company, Capital
One is one of the largest providers of MasterCard and Visa credit
cards in the world. Capital One also issues automobile loans through
its Capital One Auto Finance business. Our businesses can make more
responsible lending decisions and extend credit to a wider group
of consumers because of their ability to share certain types of information
with each other for marketing purposes.
We would like to offer the following comment on the Proposed Rule:
The Agencies Should Delay the Mandatory Compliance Date for the
Final Rule Until at Least June 2005, Because Many Organizations Will
Send their Opt-Out Notices to Consumers in Annual Privacy Notices
Mailed on a Rolling Basis.
We request that
the Agencies delay the mandatory compliance date for this regulation
until at
least June 2005, because many larger
organizations will require a significant amount of time to comply
with the opt-out requirements contained in the Proposed Rule. While
we appreciate the flexibility that we have under the Proposed Rule
to include these notices in our annual Gramm-Leach-Bliley privacy
notices (“GLB Notices”), larger organizations such as
Capital One will send out these notices on a rolling basis. For instance,
we send our GLB Notices to our customers once each year, over a three-month
period from March through May. As a result, such companies will not
be able to comply with this rule using their GLB Notices until well
into 2005.
We recognize
that the underlying statute places some limitations on the Agencies
in this
regard. The FACT Act requires the Agencies
to issue final rules in this regard by September 4, 2004, with an
effective date no later than six (6) months thereafter. The rule
could therefore become effective around March 2005. However, we urge
the Agencies to consider ways to delay mandatory compliance until
at least June 2005 due to the limitations that an earlier compliance
date would place on lenders’ ability to incorporate this opt-out
notice into their GLB Notices.
We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the Proposed Rule. If
you have any questions about this letter, please contact me at (703)
720-2266.
Sincerely,
Andres L. Navarrete
Director and Associate General Counsel
Capital One Financial Corporation
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