Capital One 2010 Annual Report Download - page 11

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neighborhood schools and opened Capital One
savings accounts for them, matching their savings
dollar for dollar up to $1,000.
• In Harlem, where we’re working with the Fortune
Society and the Jonathan Rose Companies, we
provided financing of $39 million for Castle Gardens.
A mixed-use, “green” development with 113
apartments, Castle Gardens houses formerly
homeless individuals as well as low-income
individuals and families. The start-up of the cyber
cafe on the premises was funded by Capital One.
Investing for Good is transforming communities
and changing lives across our banking footprint.
We’ve emerged from the Great Recession stronger than ever
We have always managed the company to be strong and resilient in both good times and bad. We transformed
ourselves into a deposit-funded bank before the capital markets collapsed. We purposely chose the most
resilient businesses (e.g., credit cards and deposits) and managed them tightly for resiliency. We hardwired
recession assumptions into every consumer loan we booked. These bold strategic moves and our choice to
build conservatism into our credit risk decisions enabled us to remain resilient and profitable throughout
the financial crisis.
For years, we built significant excess liquidity and maintained it even though we now have ample deposit
funding. We conservatively managed capital, which positioned us to minimize dilution and to make key
investments and acquisitions during the recession, such as the acquisition of Chevy Chase Bank – the
leading bank in our hometown of greater Washington, D.C.
We established customer practices with a focus on building a long-term customer franchise well before regulatory
and legislative intervention, which decreased our reliance on revenue from unsustainable industry practices
and enabled us to adapt to the CARD Act with our business model intact. And we invested in building a
well-recognized national brand which has become a critical differentiator for us in national lending and banking.
From our inception, we have been rigorously focused on defining our strategic destination and then working
backwards from that destination to build a great franchise with structural competitive advantages. The recession
and financial reforms put our strategy, and those of all other financial institutions, to the test. Our strategy paid
off. We have emerged well-positioned to drive profitable growth and continue to create lasting shareholder value.
Capital One sees education as one of its most important long-term investments,
and our associates are helping students of all ages learn the skills they need to
succeed in school, through programs like READesign and Texas Girls Inc.