With Donald Trump heading back to the White House, bank chief executives will already be planning their next big strategic moves – and asking whether the former president’s return could herald a new era of bank consolidation in the US.
Their next move will depend on Trump’s choice of agency officials, unrealized treasury losses, and the desire to remain independent. All factors that could block acquisitions.
Yet questions about the future of small and medium-sized banks have come further to the fore since the US regional banking turmoil in early 2023. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) triggered a flight to quality towards the largest banks – accelerating a longer-term tendency for their growth, through deals such as JPMorgan Chase’s emergency swoop on First Republic Bank last year.
Despite doubts about the future of mid-tier banks amid a period of asset-quality pressures and intense competition for deposits, senior bankers speaking to Euromoney say mergers have come up against a tougher and more hostile regulatory environment for financial services M&A. That has included new criteria for bank mergers this year around competition, financial stability, customers and communities.
Michael J Hsu has been acting as Comptroller of the Currency since shortly after Biden’s inauguration in early 2021.
