The Federal Reserve Board says it has approved the application by Wells Fargo to acquire Wachovia and its subsidiaries. The Wells Fargo bid supplants an earlier one offered by Citigroup.
The approval came in near record time. In light of the unusual and exigent circumstances affecting the financial markets, the weakened financial condition of Wachovia, and all other facts and circumstances, the Board said it shortened to 10 days the notice period to the primary regulators of the banks and savings associations involved in, and waived public notice of the request.
The Fed said it has contacted the primary federal supervisors of the insured depository institutions and the Department of Justice and those agencies have indicated that they have no objection to the approval of the proposal.
"The Board has carefully considered the statutory factors in light of all the facts of record," the Fed said in a statement. "Based on all the facts of record, the Board has concluded that all the factors the Board must consider in acting on the application and notices are consistent with approval."
The Fed said its approval is specifically conditioned on compliance by Wells Fargo with all the commitments made in connection with the proposal.
The combined company will have $1.42 trillion in assets, $787 billion in deposits, 48 million customers, $258 billion assets under management in mutual funds, 10, 761 stores, 12,227 ATMs and 280,000 employees, according to Wells Fargo.
The merger will create a coast-to-coast community banking presence with community banks in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
