In this study, we examine non-government-assisted US commercial bank merger activity prior to, and during the recent financial crisis. Mergers that occur throughout the crisis appear to be more significant events for both targets and acquirers. Acquirers seek out relatively larger targets during...

We look at internal corporate governance mechanisms and the performance of publicly-traded U.S. banks before and during the financial crisis. Obviously, bank performance decreases dramatically during the crisis. This decrease occurs for all bank size groups. However, the largest banks see the...