Atlanta ? Two mega acquisitions in the banking sector have been completed following the biggest financial crisis to hit the United States since the 1930s.

Bank of America Corp. said Thursday it has completed its $19.4 billion all-stock purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co., while Wells Fargo & Co. said it has completed its $12.7 billion all-stock purchase of Wachovia Corp.

Merrill Lynch’s sale to Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, announced Sept. 15, creates the nation’s largest financial services company. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo’s purchase of Wachovia creates a coast-to-coast powerhouse with community banks in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

Shareholders of Merrill Lynch received 0.8595 shares of Bank of America common stock for each common share of Merrill Lynch they owned. That valued Merrill Lynch at $19.4 billion based on 1.6 billion Merrill common shares outstanding as of the last filing date.

Wachovia shareholders received 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo common stock in exchange for each share of Wachovia common stock they owned. That valued Wachovia at $12.7 billion based on 2.16 billion Wachovia common shares outstanding as of the last filing date and Wednesday’s Wells Fargo closing stock price of $29.48.

Besides acquisitions, the turmoil in the banking sector has brought announcements of big job cuts and loans to several banks from the government’s $700 billion rescue fund.

The Bank of America-Merrill Lynch deal kept Merrill from a complete meltdown like the one suffered by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which was forced to file for bankruptcy.

Wells Fargo ultimately won the right to purchase all of Wachovia and its businesses and obligations, including all of its banking deposits.

On Dec. 11, Bank of America said it expected to cut 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next three years.

The final number could be even higher, analysts say. Bank of America said at the time it hadn’t yet completed its analysis for eliminating positions, and wouldn’t until early this year. Including Merrill Lynch, Bank of America has about 308,000 employees.

Bank of America reiterated Thursday it expects to achieve $7 billion in pretax expense savings by 2012. It said the cost reductions would come from a range of sources, including the previously announced job cuts and the reduction of overlapping technology, vendor and marketing expenses.

There did not appear to be any plans to immediately change the Wachovia name to Wells Fargo. A Nov. 24 regulatory filing said that the plan to integrate Wells Fargo and Wachovia operations was still being developed.

The chief of Bank of America has said previously the bank intends to keep the Merrill Lynch name intact.