WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve has approved Wells Fargo's $11.7 billion acquisition of Wachovia today.
The Fed's move comes after federal antitrust regulators backed the deal Friday, allowing San Francisco-based Wells Fargo to buy the Charlotte North Carolina-based bank.
Citigroup Thursday walked away from its own efforts to buy Wachovia, which was hit by a $5 billion run on deposits in late September after the failure of West Coast rival Washington Mutual, according to court documents filed Friday by Citigroup.