Firstly there's a run on the shares of a perfectly sound financial institution devaluing it enormously, then another bank kindly steps in to buy it out at a ludicrously low price to create a 'superbank'.

The resulting institution is so large that, if it wasn't for the current financial panic, the takeover would not be allowed by the Monopolies Commission. Instead it is positively endorsed by Parliament.

I may be an old cynic, but I expect there are some fat cats getting even fatter because of this. And what will happen after the current panic is over and more than a third of the mortage market is controlled by one institution?