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Han Solomon

The Trump administration is practically tempting the Wall Street behemoths to revisit the golden days of pre-crisis big-bank mergers. Will David Solomon bite?

David Solomon
Now would be as good a time as any for Goldman to make a big move. Not only do regulators seem more quiescent, but Goldman’s stock is trading near all-time highs—up 45 percent in the last year. Photo: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
July 30, 2025

It’s been nearly two decades since Washington regulators have allowed the big Wall Street banks to conduct transformational mergers. That may be about to change for the first time since the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and the New York Fed approved—encouraged, even—the fire sales of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch to Bank of America more than 15 years ago. Remember those?