Federal Regulators To Hold Public Meeting On CIT Group Merger Plan

Federal regulators announced Friday that they will hold a public hearing on CIT Group Inc.'s plan to buy the parent company of OneWest Bank NA for $3.4 billion in cash and stock. OneWest waged an unusual public campaign to argue that a hearing was unnecessary. The two banks in the merger were both hit hard by the financial crisis. OneWest is the former failed California lender IndyMac that was brought back to life by an investor group including George Soros and John Paulson. CIT is a business lender led by Wall Street veteran John Thain that went into Chapter 11 protection during the crisis. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will hold the hearing on Feb. 26. They have extended the public comment period regarding the transaction.