First Niagara Bank’s planned acquisition of 195 HSBC Bank branches has been approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
“We are very pleased to have received the OCC’s approval, which was the final requirement to completing the transaction on May 18,” First Niagara President and CEO John Koelmel said in a news release. “We have begun communicating with our customers as to what they can expect in the weeks ahead and I am fully confident that our team will again deliver a smooth transition.”
Adding the HSBC branches, located in upstate New York, Westchester County, and Connecticut will make Buffalo–based First Niagara a major force in the Syracuse, Utica, and Binghamton markets.
When the HSBC acquisition is completed, First Niagara will have nearly 430 branches, $30 billion in deposits, $38 billion in assets, and more than 6,000 employees in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
The deal will virtually double First Niagara’s New York branch network to more than 200 locations and add more than 1,200 employees to its work force.
Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com