I find myself disagreeing reluctantly with one of my favorite investors Michael Price in his assessment of breaking up the big banks. While I don’t disagree that the value of the banks would increase over the short term, I do believe that increased size allows for certain efficiencies which would be compromised if they were to operate on a smaller level. These aren’t just regional banks that can replicate that business model, and the investment banking business model is more attractive when diversified with a stable deposit base. This doesn’t mean that some core businesses such as Wealth Management, shouldn’t be divested to boost shareholder value to reflect the lower risk and higher quality business model, but I’m just saying I don’t believe you tear apart the banks for the sake of tearing them apart.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-27/breaking-up-big-banks-hard-to-do-as-market-forces-fail.html