Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank to Pay Penalty for Violating Antitrust Laws

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Under the law, the DOJ and the FTC have 30 days to perform an initial investigation and file a second request for more information after receiving a notification regarding a transaction. It is illegal to finalize the acquisition of securities during the agencies’ investigatory process.

In the complaint, the FTC alleged that Fairbank violated the HSR Act twice in connection with his multi-million dollar compensation package in 1999 and 2004.

During the relevant period, the Capital One CEO allegedly failed to file notifications with the FTC and the DOJ before acquiring the company’s voting securities. The FTC did not impose a civil penalty for his wrongdoing.

In 2008, Fairbank submitted a corrective filing and argued that his filing failure was unintentional. He also promised to implement a measure to ensure that he will not repeat his mistakes in the future.

Despite warnings, Fairbank again violated the HSR Act from March 8, 2018, until he made a corrective filing and observed the 30-day waiting period, which ended on Jan. 17, 2020, according to the FTC.