Toronto-Dominion Bank would end up with a smaller stake in a larger brokerage if Schwab and TD Ameritrade combined. But it could parlay that stake into funds for a U.S. bank acquisition.
Ana Botin, the Spanish banking giant's chairman, is counting on Santander's new digital platform to help drive expansion in the U.S. and Latin America.
The regulators approved the deal after nine months of consideration, but the Fed hit SunTrust with a consent order tied to "unfair and deceptive" business practices from 2013 to 2017.
United Bankshares in West Virginia was willing to pay a healthy premium for Carolina Financial, one of a dwindling number of available banks with more than $4 billion in assets.
The Louisiana company's willingness to combine with First Horizon without a big initial payday is fueling talk that other banks could be keen on selling at relatively inexpensive prices.
Dealmaking through early November is slightly ahead of last year's clip thanks to a recent flurry of merger announcements. However, excluding BB&T-SunTrust, values and multiples are shrinking.
