FDIC’s Bank Merger Overhaul Leaves Midsize Lender Deals in Limbo

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is eyeing quicker reviews for mergers involving troubled banks, but healthier midsize lenders looking to make deals in tough times are likely to get more scrutiny.

Mergers intended to stave off a bank failure that could prove contagious would get expedited treatment under the FDIC’s proposal released March 21. But any less-critical deal that would result in a bank with more than $100 billion in total assets would face more questions.

Regulators across the Biden administration have been beefing up their antitrust enforcement, and the effort to more heavily scrutinize bank mergers gained extra impetus ...