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Monopoly-Creating Bank Consolidation? The Merger of Fleet and BankBoston

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  • Charles W. Calomiris
  • Thanavut Pornrojnangkool

Abstract

The merger of Fleet and BankBoston in September 1999 resulted in a regional New England lending market in which only one large, universal bank remained. We explore the extent to which that merger resulted in monopoly rents for the combined entity in some niches within the regional loan market. For small- and medium-sized middle-market borrowers, prior to the merger, Fleet and BankBoston charged unusually low loan interest rates, reflecting their ability to realize economies of scope and scale. After the merger, those cost savings were no longer passed on to medium-sized middle-market borrowers, which resulted in an increase in the average interest rate credit spreads to those borrowers of roughly one percent. Small-sized middle-market borrowers (which continued to enjoy the advantage of loan market competition from remaining small banks) maintained their low spreads. Our results suggest that it may be desirable for regulators to consider the concentration in lending markets in addition to deposit markets when evaluating mergers and structuring appropriate divestiture requirements.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles W. Calomiris & Thanavut Pornrojnangkool, 2005. "Monopoly-Creating Bank Consolidation? The Merger of Fleet and BankBoston," NBER Working Papers 11351, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11351
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    Cited by:

    1. Uchino, Taisuke & Uesugi, Iichiro, 2022. "The effects of a megabank merger on firm-Bank relationships and loan availability☆," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    2. Orley Ashenfelter & Daniel Hosken & Matthew Weinberg, 2014. "Did Robert Bork Understate the Competitive Impact of Mergers? Evidence from Consummated Mergers," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(S3), pages 67-100.
    3. Kenneth A. Carow & Edward J. Kane & Rajesh P. Narayanan, 2011. "Safety‐Net Losses from Abandoning Glass–Steagall Restrictions," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(7), pages 1371-1398, October.
    4. Charles Calomiris & Thanavut Pornrojnangkool, 2009. "Relationship Banking and the Pricing of Financial Services," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 35(3), pages 189-224, June.
    5. Burietz, A. & Ureche-Rangau, L., 2020. "Better the devil you know: Home and sectoral biases in bank lending," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 69-85.
    6. Pérez Montes, Carlos, 2014. "The effect on competition of banking sector consolidation following the financial crisis of 2008," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 124-136.
    7. Wilson, John O.S. & Casu, Barbara & Girardone, Claudia & Molyneux, Philip, 2010. "Emerging themes in banking: Recent literature and directions for future research," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 153-169.
    8. Erel, Isil, 2007. "The Effect of Bank Mergers on Loan Prices: Evidence from the U.S," Working Paper Series 2006-19, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    9. Yoshiaki Ogura & Hirofumi Uchida, 2014. "Bank Consolidation and Soft Information Acquisition in Small Business Lending," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 173-200, April.
    10. Robert DeYoung & Douglas Evanoff & Philip Molyneux, 2009. "Mergers and Acquisitions of Financial Institutions: A Review of the Post-2000 Literature," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 36(2), pages 87-110, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection

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