Opinion
Biden’s Big Bank Contradiction
Regional banks took another market drubbing on Thursday, as the financial panic rolls on despite regulatory assurances that all is well. The turmoil wasn’t helped Thursday when midsize TD Bank and First Horizon Bank called off their merger, blaming regulatory impediments.
The merger cancellation followed the Biden Administration’s decision on Monday to give JPMorgan a sweetheart deal to acquire failed First Republic Bank. It’s good to be a really, really big bank these days.
Memphis-based First Horizon and TD announced their $13.4 billion tie-up in February 2022, long before turmoil rocked midsize banks. The goal was to diversify their deposits and better compete with the giants. Combined they’d have $466 billion in assets, which would make the new bank the ninth largest in the U.S. TD is currently the tenth.
Continue reading at the Wall Street Journal.