Including Thrifts in Bank Merger Analysis
Under the Bank Merger Act of 1966 and the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, federal banking authorities are required to assess the competitive effects of bank mergers and acquisitions. In the traditional analysis the process usually begins with a determination of the geographic market(s) in which the combining institutions compete. The relevant product market, or "line of commerce" in antitrust parlance, is generally taken to be commercial banking inasmuch as the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held that, for the purposes of antitrust analysis, commercial banks compete only with other commercial banks.
