3 Moreover, of course, any firm that acquires a commercial bank must be a bank holding company, thereby subject to a range of activity restrictions and other regulatory requirements. There are very good prudential reasons for these constraints upon acquisitions of, and by, banking organizations.
But, by screening out transactions that would result in unacceptable increases in risk, either to an institution or to the financial system as a whole, these provisions may in some cases unintentionally limit the salutary disciplining effect on boards and management of the market for corporate control.