The European Commission approved Usinor's proposed three-way merger today after a four-month antitrust inquiry.

Regulators are said to favor the idea of a three-way merger to form a strong French banking group.

The three-way $17.6 billion merger was announced last week and would create a huge global competitor for Alcoa, with projected revenues of $21.6 billion.

Following a three-way merger in 1987, the company introduced other industrial lines to its business, and assumed new ownership.

And earlier in the year, the government's support for a three-way merger of big banks was thwarted when investors balked.

Due to the three-way merger, Santander has the unusual position of having more than one branch in many British high streets.

If a three-way merger does push through, this could ultimately create the largest Philippine bank, dislodging Metrobank.

Regulators were believed to be giving the nod to the three-way merger, despite initial antitrust concerns, according to executives involved in the talks.

The sheer magnitude of the three-way merger raises many questions.

Despite the size of the three-way merger, industry officials and analysts said today that they doubted Japanese regulators would challenge it as anticompetitive.