New York

The long-delayed approval of the merger of M&T and Hudson City should have been a bright spot in postcrisis M&A, but a small footnote from the Fed quickly reminded bankers that dealmaking will remain a demanding process.

First Data, the payments processor taken private by KKR & Co. eight years ago, is seeking to raise as much as $3.2 billion in what’s poised to be the biggest U.S. initial public offering this year.

The six largest U.S. banks have jointly issued support for a "strong global climate agreement," ahead of a global summit on climate change in Paris in December.

Citigroup has agreed to issue private-label credit cards for Wawa, a Mid-Atlantic convenience store chain.

MUFG Americas Holdings in New York, the holding company for California's Union Bank, has named Kanetsugu Mike chairman of the holding company and bank.

Santander Bank has hired Siobhan Schroth as market director for corporate and commercial banking in New York and New Jersey.

Catskill Hudson Bank in Kingston, N.Y., has hired Orville Aarons as its president. Aarons, a former director at Naugatuck Valley Financial, had been working as a consultant to Catskill Hudson since April.

The $3.4 billion-asset company plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, possible acquisitions and capital investments in Bridgehampton National Bank.

A Federal Reserve decision is expected soon on M&T's long-delayed application to buy Hudson City Bancorp. M&T would still get strategic benefits it sought, but Hudson City has shrunk and become less profitable since it agreed to sell three years ago, and the cost of the deal has risen.

Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., has named Christine Cumming, a former Federal Reserve Bank of New York executive, to its board.