The Fed’s sign-off follows two earlier approvals: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted its consent on 12 June 2026, and the European Central Bank authorised the deal on 21 July 2026. The sequence of approvals reflects the dual supervisory footprint of a transaction that pairs a globally systemic European bank with a mid-sized US commercial bank chartered at the national level.

Webster Bank, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, had more than $80 billion in total assets at the time the acquisition was announced. It operates across three business lines: Commercial Banking, Healthcare Financial Services, and Consumer Banking, with its core footprint running across the Northeast from the New York metropolitan area through to Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Upon closing, most of Webster’s operations will be folded into Santander Bank, N.A., Santander’s existing US banking franchise.

Santander’s executive chair, Ana Botín, said the combination would create a bank with the scale to compete more effectively in the US market. “This combination will strengthen our position in one of the world’s most attractive banking markets and put us firmly on track to build one of the highest-performing banks among our U.S. peers,” she said.

The group has set out specific financial targets for the enlarged US business. By 2028, Santander expects the combined entity to achieve a return on tangible equity of around 18%, with the transaction generating approximately 7 to 8 per cent earnings per share accretion and an estimated 15 per cent return on invested capital. These are alternative performance measures as defined by ESMA and are not audited figures.

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