This balancing requirement contrasts with an antitrust pre-merger review, in which the focus is solely on whether the transaction would substantially lessen competition. 32 The statutory formulation appears to reflect a Congressional supposition that, like many social desiderata, the pursuit of financial stability may at times require trade-offs with other desirable aims.
This conclusion is reinforced by other parts of Dodd-Frank, such as the earlier-mentioned provision permitting extraordinary measures to be imposed on a firm, but only if it is found to pose a grave threat to financial stability.