Federal regulators approved a New York lender’s controversial $3.4-billion takeover of Pasadena's OneWest Bank, a deal that would create a hybrid company with a national commercial lending business and about 70 retail branches in Southern California.
The decision, announced Tuesday, overcame objections that the deal with large commercial lender CIT Group would create another too-big-to-fail bank and that the combined operation wouldn’t serve the needs of its poorer and minority neighbors.
It also marks a triumph for an investor group that includes billionaire computer maker Michael Dell and hedge fund operators George Soros and John Paulson, overcoming objections that the deal would create another too-big-to-fail bank.