The banking industry is absolutely critical to our nation's economic well-being, and that is why its financial soundness and competitive structure are of such importance. American consumers and businesses rely on the availability of credit. And experience has shown that where there are competing sources of credit, the price of that credit is lower and its availability is better. Moreover, the rivalry that exists also brings consumers the benefits of greater innovation and better quality financial services.
Antitrust policy plays the role of ensuring that competition flourishes.
And in my view, the bank merger program of the Department of Justice has successfully prevented anticompetitive effects from bank mergers, ensuring that competitive options are preserved while at the same time permitting most of the efficiencies associated with those mergers. Unlike our sister agencies which also address competitive issues, we are not a regulator, but a law enforcement agency. We intervene only when we believe it is necessary to ensure that markets remain competitive. The Division has been extraordinarily active in this area, dealing with the current merger wave involving a large number of very large bank mergers. During Fiscal Year 1995, the Division screened almost 1,900 bank mergers, and issued 1,169 competitive factor reports, and so far in 1996 we have screened 1,187 mergers and issued 876 competitive factor reports.