Antitrust and Banking: Introduction

• Date: 01 June 1996
• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X9604100201
• Published date: 01 June 1996
• Author: Bernard Shull
• Subject Matter: Article

The Antitrust Bulletin/Summer 1996 247

Antitrust and banking: introduction

BY BERNARD SHULL*

Astructural reorganization is now underway in the banking indus-

try in the United States. A wave of mergers and acquisitions that

developed over the last decade is likely to grow over the next as

geographic

constraints on branching are further relaxed

under

recent legislation.IThere is an economic presumption that func-

tion will follow form; i.e., that industry behavior and performance

will be altered in profound ways by the profound kinds of changes

*Professor, Department of Economics, Hunter College of the City

University of New York and Special Consultant, National

Economic

Research Associates.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 1wish to acknowledge the support

of

the OCC and, in

particular, Comptroller

of

the Currency Eugene A. Ludwig, in sponsoring

the Conference on Antitrust and Banking at which the articles below were

presented. Philip Bartholomew, Director

of

the Bank Research Division at

the Office

of

the Comptroller

of

the Currency (OCC) initially recognized

the usefulness

of

such a conference and took the early steps necessary to

move it forward. 1also wish to acknowledge the assistance

of

Stephen

Rhoades

of

the Federal Reserve Board and Lawrence J. White

of

New

York University who assisted in editing the articles that appear in this

issue.

Riegel-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency

Act

of

1994, Pub. L. No. 103-328, 108 Stat. 2338.

© 1996 by Federal Legal Publications. Inc.