Bank Merger Approval Rates Hit 35-Year High

American regulators are greenlighting bank mergers at the quickest pace in more than 30 years.

That’s according to a report Sunday (Nov. 2) by the Financial Times (FT), which noted that this change, which began under the new Trump administration, addresses a lengthy logjam.

The average time to finalize a deal following its announcement has dropped to four months this year, the shortest since at least 1990, the report added, citing data from S&P Global. Under the Biden administration the average approval time peaked at nearly seven months.

These faster approvals are lowering what dealmakers had viewed as a significant roadblock to consolidating America’s 4,000-plus regional banks. The last few months have seen deals worth more than a combined $24 billion.

“There is now far less uncertainty on regulatory approvals and the timeline to get them, which can now be as fast as three to six months, even for larger transactions,” said Seth Lloyd, a partner specializing in financial services at Centerview Partners. “That’s proving to be a powerful accelerant for bank M&A.”

Close to 150 bank mergers worth around $45 billion have closed thus far in 2025, which is on pace to be the industry’s busiest year for deals since 2021, the report added.

“The deals that have been announced all would have been approved by the prior administration,” John Esposito, global co-head of Morgan Stanley’s financial institutions division, told the FT. “What is different is the time of approval.”

Bigger deals, the report added, receive greater scrutiny. Capital One’s $35.5 billion acquisition of Discover took 12 months. Other recent deals include PNC’s $4.1 billion purchase of Colorado’s FirstBank and Fifth Third’s $10.9 billion all-stock acquisition of Comerica.

This last deal, PYMNTS wrote last month, elevates the banks into the “super regional,” category which generally have assets exceeding $100 billion, multiregional footprints, and can rival national banks in product lines, such as payments, wealth management and commercial lending.

The merger, the report added, narrows the space between regional players and the “Big Four” national banks: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.

“There are several trends shaping merger and acquisition (M&A) momentum,” PYMNTS added. “Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman’s comments have hinted at lighter oversight for smaller banks, which could open the door to faster consolidation.”