JPMorgan and BofA Need to Make Room at Top Table: Paul J. Davies (Correct)

Dealmaking among US banks is heating up. Conditions are perfect financially and regulators have eased the way, too.

Some consolidation seems well overdue in a country with more than 4,000 banks — and double that if you include credit unions and other firms. There will be fears about creating more lenders that become too big to fail but these miss the point and are largely overblown.

The reality is quite different. The US has three megabanks that control more than 30% of household deposits between them — JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. Then, there is a long tail of also-rans with low ...