Consolidations and Name Changes

New Jersey-based ISO announced it acquired eLiens, which provides lien holder and mortgagee notification services for insurance carriers.

“eLIENS service automates the tedious, expensive and time-consuming task of processing notifications more accurately and efficiently,” said Richard Boehning, senior vice president of ISO, in the announcement. “This acquisition bolsters ISO’s arsenal of underwriting solutions and improves carriers’ processing and document administration workflow capability.”

ISO said it will integrate College Station, Texas-based eLiens into its Insurance Information Exchange unit — also headquartered in College Station.

Capital One Financial Corp. has received Federal Reserve Board approval to acquire New Orleans, La.-based Hibernia Corp. and subsidiary Hibernia National Bank.

On consummation of the transaction, Capital One, a credit card lending behemoth, will reportedly become the 23rd largest depository institution in the country, climbing from its current rank of 26th.

Although a commentator opposed the transaction because 2003 HMDA data allegedly showed that Hibernia National disproportionately denied mortgage loans to minorities in certain areas of Louisiana and Texas, the Fed said examiners “noted no fair lending issues or concerns in the performance evaluations” of the lender.

The merger must be consummated no later than Nov. 16, according to the Fed.

In Bethesda, Md., SBM Financial Group announced SBM Mortgage Corp. as the new name of its mortgage division, previously known as Atlantic Capital Funding Corp.

“Our goal has been to enhance the SBM-branded product and service lines, and we’re excited to now include our mortgage operation under the SBM corporate identity,” stated SBM President and CEO Eric Westbury in the announcement. “This was the final step in our corporate rebranding process.”

SBM Mortgage is a full-service mortgage broker of both residential and commercial mortgages in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia that has originated over $500 million in loans since its inception in 1997.

In Reston, Va., Sallie Mae, or SLM Corp., announced that it will purchase GRP Financial Services, a specialty finance company that purchases and resolves mortgage loans.

“GRP brings an important and high-growth asset class to our debt management organization,” said Sallie Vice Chairman and CEO Tim Fitzpatrick said in a written statement. “With the addition of GRP to our existing debt management operations, we will be able to service virtually every type of major consumer debt.”

Under the terms of the deal, GRP, which has 60 employees in White Plains, N.Y., would become a wholly owned subsidiary of SLM Corp. but retain its GRP brand as well as its strategy and senior management team.