The Federal Reserve has approved M&T Bank’s pending purchase of People’s United Financial in Bridgeport, Conn. – nearly 380 days after the $7.6 billion deal was announced.
The Fed said in a press release late Friday that it will use next year’s stress test to recalculate M&T’s stress test buffer to include the impact of the acquisition. M&T typically runs on a two-year stress test cycle that includes this year.
The merger, announced in February 2021, was originally expected to close in the fourth quarter.
M&T also reached an agreement with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition to provide $43 billion of financial support, including loans and investments, over a five-year period.
The $143 billion-asset M&T faced some criticism last year when it was revealed that job cuts were heavily weighted toward People’s United. The company said it would keep roughly 80% of the seller’s employees and keep at least 1,000 workers in Bridgeport for at least a year after it converting its systems.