Germany's Allianz SE (AZ) will be able to retain its interest in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (HIG) when The Hartford becomes a savings and loan company, the U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

Allianz owns 23.7% of Hartford's voting shares.

Hartford applied to become a savings and loan in November, on the date of the original deadline for banks to apply for government capital through the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. In applying to become a savings and loan, The Hartford announced plans to acquire the Florida-based Federal Trust Corp. (FDTR) for $10 million.

Federal Trust Corp. is the parent of one depository institution, Federal Trust, which controls deposits of $415 million. Federal Trust Corp. has total consolidated assets of approximately $602 million. Allianz said it has no plans to exercise a controlling influence over The Hartford and that its investment in the Federal Trust would be a passive one.

Allianz has total consolidated assets of approximately $1.4 trillion. It provides insurance, banking and asset management services in more than 70 countries.

The Hartford has total consolidated assets of $312 billion.

-By Meena Thiruvengadam, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6629; meena.thiruvengadam@dowjones.com

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