FIRST UNION HEADQUARTERS BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN CHARLOTTE, 1998-04-10 (photo)

The largest proposed bank merger in U.S. history cleared a major hurdle on April 10 when federal anti-trust investigators approved the deal between First Union Corp. and CoreStates Financial Corp., officials said. The Justice Department's antitrust division said it had "cleared" the planned $16.6 billion marriage after an agreement was reached for divestiture of 32 CoreStates branch offices in the Philadelphia area, where CoreStates is based. The merger must still be approved by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, but antitrust authorities said they would not challenge it as long as the $1.1 billion divestiture agreement held. One First Union Center (R), the corporate headquarters of First Union Corp., is pictured April 10 with the Charlotte skyline. MERGER-FIRST UNION