Mergers and acquisitions account for most bank consolidation since 1991. While the number of banks operating in any given state may change, no conclusive evidence is available to suggest that consolidation negatively impacts financial institutions or their customers. For the future, the consolidation trend does not show any signs of slowing. In fact, most observers predict that the consolidation trend in the District will expand under the provisions of the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act, which went into effect in June 1997 to allow banks to expand across state borders without forming a separate bank. Thrifts owned by commercial banks are given full weighting, while independent thrifts are given half weighting.
Differential weighting reflects the expertise and legal limits under qualified thrift lender.