The Federal Reserve gave its stamp of approval Thursday for Countrywide Financial Corp. to be acquired by Bank of America Corp.

The approval now puts Countrywide’s shareholders meeting, scheduled for June 25, as one of the final steps for approval of the $4 billion deal. Bank of America said earlier this year it expects the deal to be finalized by July 1.

When BofA, the nation’s largest bank company, takes over Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, the Charlotte-based bank will own about a quarter of the total U.S. mortgage market, with combined assets of about $1.9 trillion.