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Eastern Bank and Cambridge Trust say their merger, formerly anticipated to close in the first quarter, won’t be completed on schedule.

Both banks received seven demand letters from shareholders accusing the banks of omitting material information related to the merger transaction and seeking more information about the deal, according to an Eastern Bank SEC filing.

“Eastern and Cambridge believe that the allegations in the demand letters are meritless and no additional disclosure is required in the joint proxy statement/prospectus,” the filing stated.

The deal is now expected to close in April.

Eastern’s filing also comes right after bank regulator the Office of the Comptroller of Currency on Jan. 29 proposed stricter new regulation on bank mergers and acquisitions that aims to increase transparency around the M&A process and make sure bank deals are scrutinized to see if it will benefit communities and enhance competition. Under the Biden administration, federal regulators have generally subjected all corporate merger deals to enhanced scrutiny.

If the merger has not been completed by Sept. 19, the filing said, either Eastern or Cambridge may terminate the merger agreement.

Shareholder challenges are a common feature of bank mergers, with lawsuits not infrequently filed. In some cases, serial plaintiffs have been accused by critics of using the practice to seek payoffs and farm attorney’s fees.