Here is a quick look at some graphics related to Citibank's rescue of Wachovia, first a graphic comparing the two banks in terms of branches, total deposits, etc.

 

Graphic courtesy of the WSJ

 

While the numbers for % of total deposits is over a year old, it stands to reason that my earlier suspicion that Citibank violated the rule of no one bank having more than 10% of the nation's deposits via a merger or buyout is correct. Because even with a significant amount of money being pulled out of Wachovia it looks like Citigroup now has more than 10% of the nation's deposits. However it's not just Citibank, because  it appears (based on the graphic below) that J.P. Morgan violated the rule when it took over WAMU.

Graphic courtesy of the WSJ

 

The reason I'm pointing this out is that we've already seen what can happen when too much financial influence/power/impact is concentrated in too few companies, we saw it with AIG and we saw it with the Mortgage GSEs. While the rescues of WAMU and Wachovia were absolutely necessary and I 'm not disputing the need to suspend certain rules in times like this, I do think the nation's banking regulators need to think about the future and how to handle these newly created banking giants.

 

While placing caps on how large a company can grow does make me very uncomfortable , it's hard to argue with the idea that breaking these companies up, forcing them to sell branches, deposits, etc, is probably in the best interests of the economy.