Have the large bank holding companies increased their market share at the expense of smaller institutions?

A: No. A study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reveals that the rise in the concentration of assets is primarily due to external growth through mergers and acquisitions, implying that the increased concentration "reflects a transfer of banks assets as ownership changed through consolidation, rather than internal growth of existing subsidiaries." Thus, the key motivation behind the rise in merger activity in the 1990s was the removal of excess capacity rather than an effort to use competitive advantage to expand existing operations.