House prices in the area, already home to Bank of America and Wells Fargo’s East Coast hub, have jumped almost 50% since 2012 and rents downtown have soared.

New M&A and lending services bolster the company’s offering but steep challenges remain.

“The board's record of summarily approving mergers raises doubts about whether it will serve as a meaningful check on this consolidation that creates a new too big to fail bank,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a letter to the Fed.

Nine banks agreed to be sold to credit unions last year. Some industry observers believe that number could double this year.

The biggest bank merger in 10 years makes a lot of sense at the top levels, but some advisors may find their new home restrictive, an observer says.

House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters said the merger is a direct result of a regulatory relief bill that was signed into law in May.

The stars aligned for the two longtime rivals to join forces, and some observers speculate that other regional banks will need to strike similar partnerships if they hope to remain competitive. But others say such deals are rare because they're hard to pull off.

The industry's largest acquisition in more than a decade will create the sixth-biggest bank in the country, with assets of more than $442 billion.

Two advisors who joined Alex. Brown after the Deutsche Bank acquisition in 2016 seek to void the FINRA panel's arbitration decision in a court challenge.

The past year brought major changes to the IBD network, including the sale of its majority stake and a structural reorganization.