Submission

We invite researchers from both academic and policy institutions to submit a paper (preferable) or an extended abstract of two or more pages by May 15, 2025, by uploading here. We highly encourage submissions that showcase collaborations between researchers and policymakers.

The conference will feature a session in which policy makers present their research.

We aim to notify the authors of selected papers by June.

Academic Committee

Laura Abramovsky, Pierre Bachas, Anne Brockmeyer, Rishabh Choudhary, Lucie Gadenne, Pablo Garriga, François Gerard, Hazel Granger, Jonas Hjort, Christopher Hoy, Justine Knebelmann, Kyle McNabb, Joana Naritomi, Marina Ngoma, Oyebola Okunogbe, David Phillips, Thiago Scot, Mahvish Shaukat, Dario Tortarolo, Yani Tyskerud, Ben Waltmann, Mazhar Waseem.

MCLEAN, Va, & RIVERWOODS, Ill., April 18, 2025–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) today announced that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have approved Capital One’s proposed acquisition of Discover.

This approval follows approval of the transaction by the Delaware State Bank Commissioner in December 2024, and by shareholders of more than 99 percent of each company’s shares voting in February of this year.

“This is an exciting moment for Capital One and Discover. We understand the critical importance of a strong and competitive banking system to our customers and our economy, and we appreciate the thoughtful and diligent engagement of our regulators as they thoroughly reviewed this deal over the past 14 months,” said Richard Fairbank, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Capital One. “I am grateful to the thousands of associates across Capital One and Discover who have worked tirelessly to help us achieve this significant milestone. We look forward to bringing these two great companies together with a profound sense of possibility and responsibility to deliver for our customers, associates, shareholders, and communities.”

All required regulatory approvals to complete the transaction have now been received, and the transaction is expected to close on May 18, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

“The combination of our two great companies will increase competition in payment networks, offer a wider range of products to our customers, increase our resources devoted to innovation and security, and bring meaningful community benefits,” said Michael Shepherd, Interim CEO and President of Discover.

There will be no immediate changes to Capital One and Discover customer accounts and relationships now or in the period immediately following the closing of the transaction. Capital One will provide customers with comprehensive information regarding relevant conversion activities well in advance of any future change. Until then, customers will continue to be served through their respective Capital One and Discover customer communications channels.

Upon closing, Capital One will begin implementation of its historic, five-year Community Benefits Plan (CBP), developed in connection with the acquisition and in partnership with leading community organizations, mobilizing more than $265 billion in lending, investment, and services to advance economic opportunity and financial well-being across America.

Further information on Capital One’s agreement to acquire Discover Financial Services can be found at www.capitalonediscover.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Information in this communication, other than statements of historical facts, may constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the proposed transaction between Capital One Financial Corporation (“Capital One”) and Discover Financial Services (“Discover”), statements related to the expected timing of the completion of the transaction, statements about the combined company’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “targets,” “scheduled,” “plans,” “intends,” “goal,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “believes,” “forecasts,” “outlook,” “estimates,” “potential,” or “continue” or negatives of such terms or other comparable terminology.

All forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Capital One or Discover to differ materially from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, (1) the risk that the cost savings and any revenue synergies and other anticipated benefits from the transaction may not be fully realized or may take longer than anticipated to be realized, the risk that revenues following the transaction may be lower than expected and/or the risk that certain expenses, such as the provision for credit losses, of Discover, or Capital One following the transaction, may be greater than expected, (2) disruption to the parties’ businesses as a result of the announcement and pendency of the transaction, (3) the risk that the integration of Discover’s business and operations into Capital One, including the integration into Capital One’s compliance management program, will be materially delayed or will be more costly or difficult than expected, or that Capital One is otherwise unable to successfully integrate Discover’s businesses into its own, including as a result of unexpected factors or events, (4) reputational risk and the reaction of each company’s customers, suppliers, employees or other business partners to the transaction, (5) the failure of the remaining closing conditions in the merger agreement to be satisfied, or any unexpected delay in completing the transaction or the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement, (6) the dilution caused by the issuance of additional shares of Capital One’s common stock in connection with the transaction, (7) the possibility that the transaction may be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events, (8) risks related to management and oversight of the expanded business and operations of Capital One following the transaction due to the increased size and complexity of its business, (9) the possibility of increased scrutiny by, and/or additional regulatory requirements of, governmental authorities as a result of the transaction or the size, scope and complexity of Capital One’s business operations following the transaction, (10) the outcome of any legal or regulatory proceedings that may be currently pending or later instituted against Capital One before or after the transaction, or against Discover, (11) the risk that expectations regarding the timing, completion and accounting and tax treatments of the transaction are not met, (12) the risk that any announcements relating to the transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of Capital One’s common stock, (13) certain restrictions during the pendency of the transaction, (14) the diversion of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities, (15) Capital One’s and Discover’s success in executing their respective business plans and strategies and managing the risks involved in the foregoing, (16) effects of the announcement, pendency or completion of the transaction on Capital One’s or Discover’s ability to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with Capital One’s and Discover’s suppliers and other business partners, and on Capital One’s and Discover’s operating results and businesses generally, (17) general competitive, economic, political and market conditions and other factors that may affect future results of Capital One and Discover, including changes in asset quality and credit risk; the inability to sustain revenue and earnings growth; changes in interest rates and capital markets; inflation; customer borrowing, repayment, investment and deposit practices; the impact, extent and timing of technological changes; capital management activities and (18) any other factors that may affect Capital One’s future results or the future results of Discover; and other actions of the Federal Reserve Board and legislative and regulatory actions and reforms. Additional factors which could affect future results of Capital One and Discover can be found in Capital One’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and Discover’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K (and any amendments to those documents), in each case filed with the SEC and available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Capital One and Discover disclaim any obligation and do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this communication, which speak only as of the date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by federal securities laws.

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company which, along with its subsidiaries, had $362.7 billion in deposits and $490.1 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2024. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has branches and Cafés located primarily in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF” and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Additional information about Capital One can be found at Capital One About at www.capitalone.com/about.

About Discover

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a digital banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. Discover issues the Discover® card, America’s cash rewards pioneer, and offers personal loans, home loans, checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit through its banking business. It operates the Discover Global Network® comprised of Discover Network, with millions of merchants and cash access locations; PULSE®, one of the nation’s leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International®, a global payments network with acceptance around the world. For more information, visit www.discover.com/company.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250418414077/en/

Contacts

Media Relations

Sie Soheili
sie.soheili@capitalone.com

Matthew Towson
matthewtowson@discover.com

Investor Relations

Danielle Dietz
danielle.dietz@capitalone.com

Erin Stieber
investorrelations@discover.com

Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – April 17, 2025) – IC Group Holdings Inc. (TSXV: ICGH) (“IC Group” or the “Company“), a technology-enabled consumer engagement company that helps Fortune 500 brands simplify and amplify connections with consumers both nationally and internationally, is pleased to announce the promotion of Matan Gamliel, CPA, CA, to Vice President, Finance. Mr. Gamliel has been with IC Group for over six years, recently serving as Director of Finance. A Chartered Professional Accountant with extensive experience in financial accounting, managerial finance, and M&A transactions, Mr. Gamliel has held senior roles across the marketing, insurance, and construction sectors. Before joining IC Group, he worked with Deloitte in their M&A Transaction Services group and held finance roles at Insured Creativity and Rajotte Capital Group.

“Matan has played a critical role in building the financial strength and discipline of IC Group over the past several years,” said Duncan McCready, CEO of IC Group. “His promotion to Vice President, Finance reflects the leadership he brings to our team and our confidence in his continued contributions as we scale the business.”

In conjunction with his promotion, the Company has granted 75,000 stock options to Mr. Gamliel under the Company’s Stock Option Plan. The options have an exercise price of $0.65 per share, expire April 9, 2035, and vest in two equal tranches: 50% on the first anniversary and 50% on the second anniversary of their grant date.

Additionally, the Company has negotiated a debt settlement pursuant to which it has agreed, subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV“), to issue 66,666 common shares at a deemed price of $0.75 per share to Mike Svetkoff to settle an aggregate of $50,000 owing to Mr. Svetkoff.

All securities issued under the debt settlement (or upon exercise of the options granted to Mr. Gamliel) are subject to a four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws. The debt settlement with Mr. Svetkoff is subject to the approval of the TSXV.

About IC Group Holdings Inc.

IC Group (TSXV: ICGH) is transforming how brands engage with audiences across live events. It uses digital and social platforms to drive sales, capture valuable first-party data to fuel ongoing marketing initiatives, and build customer loyalty. The Company does this by simplifying and managing the technology, regulatory, data security, and financial risks of engaging with consumer audiences on a global basis. Its solutions span digital engagement, mobile messaging, and specialty insurance for Fortune 500 brands and their agency partners in international jurisdictions.

For more information regarding IC Group, please contact, please contact:

Duncan McCready
duncan.mccready@icgroupinc.com
(204) 487-5000

Glen Nelson
Investor Relations and Communications
403-763-9797
glen.nelson@icgroupinc.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/248990