Bart Narter, a senior analyst with business consultant Celent LLC, said in part “The only thing that might stand in the way, he said, are regulatory problems such as antitrust issues. But, that might be overlooked by the government in an attempt to help the financial system work through the mortgage crisis.”

For instance, BofA will likely sidestep a rule that prohibits any single bank from holding more than 10 percent of the nation’s total deposits. Regulators could have potentially pressed this issue, but analysts believe they will relent to avoid a bankruptcy at Countrywide that would damage the home-loan market.

Is this right or wrong? Is the government sacrificing regulation and stands? After all, didn’t federal regulators ignore mortgage issues until it was too late?