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In the US, the term regional bank is used to describe a midsized depository institution that is larger than a community bank, but smaller than one of the large money center banks. The term regional bank does not have an exact definition, but a regional bank has certain characteristics. First, in a list ranked by assets a regional bank would not make the top 5, but the largest of these would be in the top 25. Second, a regional bank has a presence in a single geographic region, perhaps spanning more than one state. Third, the regional bank probably does not have any international presence. Fourth, the regional bank probably has more than a handful of retail branches. Ongoing consolidation in the banking industry periodically results in the merger or acquisition of a well-known regional bank. Examples of major regional bank in 2005 include Fifth Third Bancorp, PNC Financial, and North Fork Bank. An alternative classification scheme used by the FDIC that does not include the term regional bank groups banks as either top 25, mid-sized, or community. |
