NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Bermuda-based Assured Guaranty Ltd.'s plan to buy competitor Financial Security Assurance Inc. from Dexia SA was approved by the Oklahoma Insurance Department, marking the final regulatory step for the transaction.

The "principal remaining closing conditions" for the acquisition are completion of an agreement in which Dexia will retain FSA's financial-products business, and confirmation from ratings firms that the deal won't hurt the companies' insurer financial-strength grades, Assured said in a statement.

"We are pleased to have received all the necessary regulatory approvals required for our acquisition of FSA," stated Dominic Frederico, President and chief executive officer of Assured Guaranty Ltd. "We are excited by the opportunities that this acquisition will provide to Assured and its shareholders and look forward to its expected close in second quarter 2009."

Assured, the bond insurer backed by billionaire Wilbur Ross, said in a separate regulatory filing yesterday that Chief Executive Officer Dominic Frederico's total compensation last year was $7.4 million under calculations required by the Securities and Exchange Commission. That was down from $11.9 million in 2007.