DOJ's Antitrust Chief Signals More Rigorous (and Murky) Approach to Bank Mergers

Also, SEC reopens comment period for swaps reporting rule; banking group issues new attack on SEC custody proposal; lawmakers press Gensler for more MiFID relief; Lauer responds to 'scorecard' article

The Justice Department’s antitrust chief had the bully pulpit today, but the message he delivered on competition in the banking industry was a bit murky – or at least buried in legalese. Still, many saw Jonathan Kanter’s speech as a sign that the Biden administration will take a much more skeptical approach to reviewing bank mergers.

Liberals in particul…