Capital One 2013 Annual Report Download - page 21

PART I
Item 1. Business
OVERVIEW
General
Capital One Financial Corporation, a Delaware Corporation established in 1995 and headquartered in McLean,
Virginia, is a diversified financial services holding company with banking and non-banking subsidiaries. Capital
One Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) offer a broad array of financial products and
services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through branches, the internet and other
distribution channels. As of December 31, 2013, our principal subsidiaries included:
• Capital One Bank (USA), National Association (“COBNA”), which offers credit and debit card products,
other lending products and deposit products; and
• Capital One, National Association (“CONA”), which offers a broad spectrum of banking products and
financial services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients.
The Company is hereafter collectively referred to as “we”, “us” or “our.” COBNA and CONA are collectively
referred to as the “Banks.” References to “this Report” or our “2013 Form 10-K” or “2013 Annual Report” are to
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013. All references to 2013, 2012,
2011, 2010, and 2009 refer to our fiscal years ended, or the dates, as the context requires, December 31,
2013, December 31, 2012, December 31, 2011, December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively.
Certain business terms used in this document are defined in the Glossary and Acronyms and should be read in
conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report.
As one of the nation’s 10 largest banks based on deposits as of December 31, 2013, we service banking customer
accounts through the internet and branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana,
Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. In addition to bank lending, treasury management and
depository services, we offer credit and debit card products, auto loans and mortgage banking in markets across
the United States. We were the fourth largest issuer of Visa®(“Visa”) and MasterCard®(“MasterCard”) credit
cards in the United States based on the outstanding balance of credit card loans as of December 31, 2013.
We also offer products outside of the United States principally through Capital One (Europe) plc (“COEP”), an
indirect subsidiary of COBNA organized and located in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”), and through a branch of
COBNA in Canada. COEP has authority, among other things, to provide credit card and installment loans. Our
branch of COBNA in Canada has the authority to provide credit card loans.
Recent Acquisitions and Dispositions
We regularly explore and evaluate opportunities to acquire financial services companies and financial assets,
including credit card and other loan portfolios, and enter into strategic partnerships as part of our growth strategy.
We also regularly consider the potential disposition of certain of our assets, branches, partnership agreements or
lines of businesses. We may issue equity or debt in connection with acquisitions, including public offerings, to fund
such acquisitions. Below we provide information on acquisitions and dispositions completed in 2013 and 2012.
Acquisitions in 2013
On November 1, 2013, we acquired Beech Street Capital, a privately-held, national originator and servicer of
Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
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