1991: Fleet/Norstar acquires major portions of Bank of New England Corporation

In January 1991, when Bank of New England Corporation’s three subsidiary banks were declared insolvent, Fleet/Norstar Financial Group acquired major portions of these banks. Prior to the Bank of New England Corporation’s failure, the company was the third largest banking institution in New England, while Fleet was the fourth largest.

1993: Shawmut National acquires New Dartmouth Bank and portions of Northeast Federal Corporation

Shawmut Nation Corporation acquired New Dartmouth Bank (ranked 22nd) and parts of Northeast Federal Corporation (23rd) giving Shawmut nearly another 2 percent of the region’s deposits, and further concentrating deposits among New England’s largest banks. Fleet has remained the largest institution every year except 1994, when Bank of Boston briefly took top spot.

1995: Fleet acquires Shawmut National Corporation. Royal Bank of Scotland Group acquires First New Hampshire Bank

The second half of 1995 saw two major acquisitions among New England’s largest banks. Fleet Financial Group acquired Shawmut National Corporation gaining control of 19 percent of the region's deposits. Also in 1995, Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBSG), the holding company for Citizens, acquired First New Hampshire Bank from Bank of Ireland. This acquisition made RBSG the third largest bank, just ahead of BayBanks.

1996: Bank of Boston Corporation acquires BayBanks, forming BankBoston Corporation.

In another large merger, Bank of Boston Corporation (ranked 2nd) acquired BayBanks (4th) in July 1997. With a new name, BankBoston Corporation, the bank strengthened its position as the second largest institution in New England, holding over 15 percent of total deposits. After the merger, the top two institutions, Fleet and BankBoston, controlled over 32 percent of the region’s deposits.

1999: Fleet Merges with BankBoston Corporation. People’s Heritage Group merges with Banknorth Group.

In October 1999, Fleet acquired BankBoston Corporation in the largest banking merger in the history of New England. The merger resulted in a large spike in the market share of the region’s largest institution, but only a tiny increase in the concentration of deposits among the top four institutions. The primary explanation is that the regulatory authorities required the divestiture of many Fleet and BankBoston branches in approving the merger. Sovereign Bankcorp took advantage of the opportunity to acquire many of the branches and became one of the region’s top ten deposit holders. Most of the other branches were acquired by smaller institutions.

Two additional mergers in 1999 affected the market shares of the top four institutions. Royal Bank of Scotland Group acquired UST Corporation, adding over $4 million of deposits to its total. People’s Heritage Group merged with Banknorth Group retaining Banknorth’s name, and becoming New England’s fourth largest holder of deposits.

2003: Few major mergers since 2000.

The banking landscape of New England has seen little change recently with few major mergers and acquisitions since 2000. The M&A activity that has occurred has taken place among small- to medium-size banks that were looking to gain market share in specific geographic areas in order to be more competitive with larger institutions. For more information on current structure and deposit data for institutions in New England, please see the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's Structure and Deposit Information Page.