April 3 (Reuters) - Capital One Financial Corp ( COF )

got the greenlight from the Justice Department for its proposed

$35 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services ( DFS ),

the New York Times reported on Thursday.

The approval came after the DOJ told other regulators

looking into the acquisition that it does not see sufficient

competition concerns to block the deal, the report said. The

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal

Reserve will review the merger with input from the DOJ.

The DOJ sent a letter to the Federal Reserve and the OCC

saying it had concluded its investigation and did not believe

there were concerns that warranted blocking the deal, the report

said, citing people familiar with the matter.

"Our deal with Discover Financial complies with the Bank

Merger Act's legal requirements and we remain well-positioned to

gain approval," a Capital One spokesperson told Reuters, but the

company declined to comment further on the approval.

Unveiled in February 2024, the deal would create the biggest

U.S. credit card issuer by balances, the sixth-largest bank by

assets, and would also give Capital One control of Discover's

card payment network - the fourth major payment network

operator.

A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to comment, while

Discover Financial did not immediately respond to a Reuters

request for comment.

The deal still faces additional antitrust scrutiny from

state attorneys general in New York and California.

"We are concerned that the Capital One/Discover merger could

most affect those consumers who can afford it the least. No one

is above the law and we're taking a close look at this proposed

merger," said a spokesperson for the office of California

Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat.

(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by

Alan Barona; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)