The boards of Lake Success, N.Y.-based Astoria Financial Corp. and Westbury, N.Y.-based New York Community Bancorp Inc. mutually agreed to terminate their merger deal, effective Jan. 1, 2017.

New York Community Bancorp announced its plan to acquire Astoria Financial on Oct. 29, 2015. At the time, the deal was valued around $2 billion. The purchase would have vaulted New York Community Bancorp over the $50 billion-asset threshold, subjecting it to heightened regulatory scrutiny and stress testing. According to SNL data, Astoria Financial reported total assets of $14.81 billion and New York Community Bancorp had total assets of $49.46 billion as of Sept. 30.

The companies noted in November that New York Community Bancorp did not expect to receive regulatory approval for the deal in 2016 and that they could opt to terminate the transaction, without risk of penalty, if it does not close by Dec. 31.

As of 10:23 a.m. ET, New York Community Bancorp's stock price was down 1.65% at $17.02, and Astoria had dropped 1.55% to $17.80.