The news: The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly closer to permitting Capital One and Discover's merger, per The Capital Forum.
- The publication reported in March that the DOJ’s draft report would include concerns that the merger could hurt competition in the subprime sector.
- But now, the DOJ has reportedly concluded that it does not have a strong enough case to block the merger based on these concerns.
- It instead refocused its review on how the merger could affect consumers with no credit history. Despite this, the DOJ is reportedly divided on whether it can pursue a case in court.
The DOJ’s draft report will be sent to the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which still need to approve the deal.