North Fork Bank was an American bank that operated from 1950 until 2008 when it became Capital One Bank (after the name of its new parent). In November 2007, it had 365 branches in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...

History

North Fork early history was dominated by mergers of banks on the

North Fork, Suffolk County, New York The North Fork is a 30-mile- (48 km) long peninsula in the northeast part of Suffolk County, New York, U.S., roughly parallel with a longer peninsula known as the South Fork, both on the East End of Long Island. Although the peninsula ...

. Its earliest component was Southold Savings Bank in

Southold, New York The Town of Southold is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located in the northeastern tip of the county, on the North Fork of Long Island. The population was 23,732 at the 2020 census. The town also contains a ha ...

(although the company dates its history from 1905 with the founding of Mattituck Bank in Mattituck, New York, which would become the most active early partner). It first assumed the name of North Fork Bank & Trust Company in 1950 through the consolidation of Mattituck and First National Bank of Cutchogue in

Cutchogue, New York Cutchogue ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Fork of Long Island's East End. The population was 3,349 at the 2010 census. The Cutchogue CDP roughly represents the area of t ...

. North Fork Bancorporation was formed in 1980 and Southold Savings was acquired in 1988. In the 1990s, it began an aggressive move into

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

market with the acquisition of At the time of its acquisition, the bank served the New York City metropolitan area with over 350 branches and around $60 billion in assets. The bank specialized in commercial banking. North Fork Bank CEO John Kanas incorporated the bank in 1980, joined Capital One with the 2006 acquisition, and in 2007, stepped down from his position as Capital One's head of banking. The bank's reporting of unusual transactions of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer led to the criminal investigation that led to the Governor stepping down in March 2008.

GreenPoint Mortgage

In 2005, North Fork Bank acquired Greenpoint Finance Corp, one of the first innovators of

Alt-A An Alt-A mortgage, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage that, for various reasons, is considered riskier than A-paper, or "prime", and less risky than " subprime," the riskiest category. For these reasons, as well as in some c ...

mortgages. Capital One later acquired North Fork and thus Greenpoint along with it. In August 2007, as a result of the

2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline ...

, Capital One announced that it was eliminating its GreenPoint Mortgage unit, citing an inability to sell its mortgages on the secondary market. As of November 8, 2017, Capital One no longer offers mortgages. Capital One acquired Greenopoint and its

Melville, New York Melville is an affluent hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. The population was 19,284 at the 2020 census. History The area was known to the Native Americans as ''Sun ...

, headquarters for $14.6 billion

U.S. dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

. It was only the second bank bought by Capital One, and was the larger of two acquisitions comprising Capital One's 2005-06 expansion into retail banking. On March 10, 2008, all North Fork Banks began using the Capital One branding. The bank has naming rights to the North Fork Theatre at Westbury (formerly the

Westbury Music Fair The NYCB Theatre at Westbury (originally known as the Westbury Music Fair) is an entertainment venue located in the hamlet of Jericho, outside of Westbury, New York. Constructed as a theatre in the round style with seating for 2,870 that was ori ...

). It is located in the Westbury postal-zone section of

Jericho, New York Jericho is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island, approximately 29 miles (47 km) east of Midtown Manhattan. Its population was 13,567 as of the U.S. 2010 Cen ...

References

External links

* {{official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20060705060335/http://www.northforkbank.com:80/home.asp, Archived official website
Funding Universe History of bank
Banks established in 1950 Banks based in New York (state) Companies based in Suffolk County, New York Capital One Defunct banks of the United States 2006 mergers and acquisitions