Fed approves Bank of America buying Merrill Lynch

WASHINGTON Nov 26 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved Bank of America Corp's (BAC.N) purchase of investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. MER.N.

Bank of America announced it would buy Merrill for $44 billion in mid-September as investors fled from financial services firms and Lehman Brothers' faced bankruptcy.

The deal needed regulatory approval, though, and a blessing from the Fed, which weighed the merger's impact on the banking sector.

Bank of America, the largest U.S. depository bank, has total consolidated assets of $1.8 trillion or roughly 11 percent of the nation's total, the Fed said.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

((patrick.rucker@thomsonreuters.com; +1-202-310-5474; Reuters Messaging: patrick.rucker.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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