The European Commission approved Visa Inc.'s acquisition of Visa Europe, and the €21.2 billion (US$23.3 billion) deal is on track to close by the end of the month. The approval was the last of three regulatory authorizations Visa Inc. needed, following Britain's Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority and the Turkish Competition Authority. Visa Europe is an association owned and operated by about 3,000 member banks and payment services providers. When Visa Inc. and Visa Europe announced the transaction in November, Visa Europe CEO Nicolas Huss said the new global entity would "accelerate the next generation of payments through Europe."