To succeed in expanding abroad, banks need scale and a local deposit and customer base.

ECONOMIST: Cross your fingers

He said president Obama was not talking of a full-scale break-up of the banks but wanted to "separate retail deposit-taking from large-scale proprietary trading, large internal hedge funds and large internal private equity funds and I agree with him".

BBC: Treasury questions

The larger deposit base will give the combined company economies of scale and will enable it to compete with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America with a "nationwide banking presence, " he says.

NPR: Judge Blocks Wells Fargo Purchase Of Wachovia