Federal Reserve Approves Acquisition Creating 19th-Largest U.S. Bank

The Federal Reserve Board approved a Spanish banking organization’s acquisition of a Connecticut financial holding company and its national bank subsidiary on August 4, 2026, under Sections 3 and 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act. The transaction will merge the target holding company into the acquirer’s U.S. holding company and the target bank into the acquirer’s national bank subsidiary.

The Federal Reserve approved the acquisition 129 days after receiving the application. The approval was the final regulatory clearance needed for the approximately $12.3 billion transaction. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the related bank merger on June 12, 2026, and the European Central Bank authorized the transaction on July 21, 2026. The parties now expect the transaction to close on August 20, 2026.

Following consummation, the acquirer’s U.S. holding company will become the 19th largest insured depository organization in the United States, with consolidated assets of approximately $253.6 billion. The combined bank will become the largest insured depository institution in Connecticut by deposits, controlling approximately $42.3 billion. It also will rank fourth in each of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and 11th in New York. Most of the acquired institution’s businesses will be integrated into the acquirer’s national bank subsidiary, and the acquired institution’s chief executive officer will become chief executive officer of the surviving national bank.

The Federal Reserve evaluated the transaction’s competitive effects in six banking markets and determined that the resulting concentration was consistent with Board precedent and the competitive standards the Board applies in banking markets. The Board also concluded that the transaction’s financial, managerial, anti-money-laundering, community-needs, and financial-stability considerations were consistent with approval.

Putting It Into Practice: A newly scaled competitor backed by a global parent with approximately $2.1 trillion in assets changes the calculus on deposit pricing, customer retention, and talent across the Northeast, and banks competing in those markets should reassess their pricing and retention strategies accordingly. The 129-day Federal Reserve review also adds to a broader pattern of shorter approval periods for large bank transactions, and deal teams should treat that window as a planning benchmark. Applications that front-load competitive, fair-lending, community-impact, and integration analyses and that clearly address risk management and post-closing execution may be better positioned to move efficiently through the review process.