First Citizens BancShares, Inc., the parent company of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, and CIT Group Inc. the parent company of CIT Bank, N.A., jointly announced that their previous proposal to merge the two companies has received approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The merger has previously received approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks.

Completion of the proposed merger remains subject to a 15-day waiting period and the satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions and is expected to occur as soon as practicable in early January 2022. The combined company will operate under the First Citizens name and establish a top 20 bank in the United States based on assets. The merger will bring together complementary strengths of both organizations with First Citizens Bank's robust retail franchise and full suite of banking products and CIT's strong market positions, nationwide commercial lending franchise and direct online bank.

Frank B. Holding Jr., First Citizens Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We're very pleased to have received regulatory approvals as we continue our preparations for completing this transformational merger. We look forward to combining the capabilities of both banks to serve a broader spectrum of businesses and individuals, while offering even more convenience, scale and value."

Ellen R. Alemany, CIT Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "This marks another key milestone in our journey to build on the extensive expertise of CIT and First Citizens and leverage the best of both companies to deliver greater opportunities for our clients and support the needs of our communities."

Upon completion of the merger, there will be no immediate change to customers' current accounts, and they will be able to continue to access their accounts as they do today — through their current websites, mobile apps and branch locations. Customers will be notified of any future account changes in advance.

As reported in Equipment Finance Advisor, the banks announced the plan to merge in October 2020.