Consolidation slowest among small banks

A five-year study by SNL Securities reveals that small banks are the slowest in the industry to consolidate. The survey shows that banks with assets between $100 million and $1 billion have a consolidation rate of 11.81%, compared to banks with assets of $1 billion or more, which have a consolidation rate of 21.6% during 1989 through 1993.
Conventional wisdom says that consolidation is thinning the ranks of small banks faster than those of big ones. Yet close scrutiny shows the exact opposite is true. The evidence comes [...]