North Fork Bank was an American bank that operated from 1950 until 2008 when it was acquired by Capital One Bank and was merged into that bank. In November 2007, it had 365 branches in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

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 be ...

. 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 contains a hamlet ...

(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 (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the North Fork (Long Island), North Fork of Long Island's East End (Long Isl ...

. 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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

market with the acquisition of At the time of its acquisition, the bank served the

New York City metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

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 made by then-New York Governor

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008 after a prostitution scandal. A member of the Democratic Party, he was also ...

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 loan, mortgage that, for various reasons, is considered riskier than A-paper, or "prime", and less risky than "subprime lending, subprime," the riskiest category. For thes ...

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 American subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010, contributing to the 2008 financial crisis. It led to a severe economic recession, with millions becoming unemployed and many business ...

, 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 GreenPoint and its

Melville, New York Melville is an affluent Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The pop ...

, headquarters for $14.6 billion

U.S. dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

. 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). It is located in the Westbury postal-zone section of Jericho, New York.

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