NatalieLopez
24 Jun 25
Legendary investor Steve Eisman has expressed concerns about a potential "cartel" forming among major U.S. banks, influencing financial service costs. He notes a lack of significant bank mergers since the 1990s due to post-Dodd-Frank regulations. Eisman highlights JPMorgan's U.S. deposit share doubl...
Legendary investor Steve Eisman has raised concerns about the potential formation of a “cartel” among major U.S. banks, which could influence the cost of financial services. In a recent interview with The Compound, Eisman highlighted the lack of significant mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the banking sector since the 1990s, attributing this to post-Dodd-Frank regulatory discouragement.
Eisman points out that JPMorgan’s share of U.S. deposits has doubled from 7% in 2007 to nearly 14% today. He credits this growth to the high costs of regulation, which larger banks can absorb more easily, and the exploding costs of technology, which require substantial scale to manage effectively. Without a wave of M&A, he warns, major banks like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo will continue expanding their market share while regional banks struggle to survive, leaving behind a landscape dominated by a few giants and some community banks.
Drawing on his extensive experience, including his well-known short position on the housing market as profiled in Michael Lewis’ “The Big Short,” Eisman suggests that institutions such as U.S. Bank and Comerica consider merging to remain competitive against the financial behemoths. This strategic consolidation, he argues, could be vital for preserving diversity and competition within the banking sector.