Historically, big banks are a mirror from a growth perspective of the economies in which they are operating. |
It is also getting an arms-length relationship with its own mutual funds. |
Merrill ends up with just as much exposure, if not more, to the asset management business as they did before, but they're able to remove the asset management business from under the Merrill umbrella, thereby reducing the potential conflicts of interest of running both an asset management business as well a brokerage business. |
The banking industry got pinched with short-term rates in 2005. But now that it appears the (Federal Reserve's) rate tightening is coming to an end, net interest margins should stay stable as banks get more visibility on how to price loans. |
There's just dozens and dozens of banks competing in the market. |
We don't even know if there is a deal, let alone any financial terms. So, it's premature to make an assessment of whether this is a good deal or not. There aren't a whole lot of synergies to be found. |