WSJ: Yellen Expects More Bank Mergers This Year

The Wall Street Journal has reported comments from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stating that she expects to see additional bank mergers this year.

• Yellen said, in an interview in Paris where she is attending a summit on global finance: “I don’t think it’s a huge threat to the sector, but there will probably be banks that end up wanting to merge."
• WSJ: "Yellen didn’t name any banks she was watching. She has previously said it was possible some banks could look to buy each other, but her new comments are the clearest sign that regulators are bracing for industry turbulence when banks report their second-quarter earnings."
• Yellen: “We certainly don’t want overconcentration and we’re pro-competition, but that doesn’t mean no [mergers]. We have more banks, relatively speaking, in the United States than almost any country of which I’m aware.”