Fed traded fast merger for 2023 private equity rescue

Key insight: Recent comments by a prominent banking lawyer show that the Federal Reserve sped up the approval of a M&A deal that was unrelated to the 2023 regional banking crisis in an effort to find a private-sector solution as PacWest Bancorp was teetering.What's at stake: The new details about what happened behind the scenes in May 2023 could revive the debate about the Fed's appropriate role during a crisis.Expert quote: "The Fed as dealmaker is not healthy for the economy. That's not a role the Fed is ...