The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Sept. 27, edition that National Bank of Canada received approval from the federal competition watchdog for its proposed $5-billion takeover of Canadian Western Bank on Thursday. The Globe's Andrew Willis writes that this is a significant regulatory approval for the Montreal-based bank's domestic expansion strategy. The Competition Bureau of Canada has given the nod for the second planned takeover of one of the country's 10 largest banks in the past year. In March, Royal Bank of Canada purchased HSBC Bank Canada for $13.5-billion. In June, National Bank announced plans to expand its presence across the country by acquiring Canadian Western, an Edmonton-based bank. Canadian Western is currently the eighth-largest lender in the country, with a $37-billion loan portfolio and 39 branches in Western Canada and Ontario. National Bank, the sixth-largest bank in the country with $454-billion in assets, pledged to maintain Canadian Western's branch network and its executives in Alberta when it announced the takeover. The takeover still requires approval from the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) and the Minister of Finance.