2005 Summary Annual Report: Form 10-K: Recent Events

Recent Events

On June 30, 2005, we announced a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of MBNA Corporation (MBNA Merger), a leading provider of credit card and payment products, for approximately $35.0 billion in stock (85 percent) and cash (15 percent). This transaction closed on January 1, 2006. Under the terms of the agreement, MBNA stockholders received 0.5009 of a share of our common stock plus $4.125 for each MBNA share of common stock.

On June 17, 2005, we announced a definitive agreement to purchase approximately nine percent of the stock of China Construction Bank (CCB) for $3.0 billion. Under this agreement, we made an initial purchase of CCB shares for $2.5 billion in August 2005 and an additional purchase of $500 million in October 2005, during CCB’s initial public offering. These shares are non-transferable until the third anniversary of the initial public offering. We also hold an option that allows us to increase our interest in CCB to 19.9 percent over the next five years. CCB is the third largest commercial bank in China based on total assets.

Effective for the third quarter dividend, our Board of Directors (the Board) increased the quarterly cash dividend 11 percent from $0.45 to $0.50 per common share. In October 2005, the Board declared a fourth quarter cash dividend which was paid on December 23, 2005 to common shareholders of record on December 2, 2005. In January 2006, the Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per common share payable on March 24, 2006 to shareholders of record on March 3, 2006.

On October 15, 2004, we acquired 100 percent of National Processing, Inc. (NPC), for $1.4 billion in cash, creating the second largest merchant processor in the United States.

On April 1, 2004, we closed our merger with FleetBoston Financial Corporation (FleetBoston Merger). The merger was accounted for under the purchase method of accounting. Accordingly, results for 2004 include the impact of FleetBoston for nine months of combined company results.