RALEIGH, N.C. and NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA) (“First Citizens”), the parent company of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, and CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) (“CIT”), the parent company of CIT Bank, N.A., jointly announced that their previous proposal to merge the two companies has received approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System today.