Banking Mergers and Acquisitions Update

I have been writing about the increase in M&A activity expected this year. Here is more evidence to support that forecast in the banking field.

North American banks, brace yourselves: The Europeans are coming. Eurobanks last went on a big U.S. commercial-bank buying binge back in the 1980s. Now they're back, driven by the cheap dollar and the fact that mergers in Europe remain difficult. France's BNP Paribas, the Netherlands' ABN Amro (ABN ), and Spain's BBVA are three of the Continental banks said to be seeking purchases stateside.

Mergers-and-acquisitions advisers confirm the growing European appetite for U.S. banks. "Neither British nor Continental bankers have shown this much interest in North America for five years," says the corporate finance chief in the London office of a Wall Street investment bank. "We're at the beginning of a powerful new transatlantic takeover trend."

Here to read more.