The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s proposed changes for reviewing bank mergers are likely to further dampen banks' deal appetite and prolong regulatory reviews, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported. The agency codified what factors it intends to use to evaluate bank mergers and took steps to increase transparency for their reviews. A number of industry experts believe the changes create uncertainty, extend regulatory reviews, reduce bank M&A appetite and open up confidentiality risks. The proposal will have a particularly "chilling" effect on regional bank M&A as the regulator singled out deals resulting in banks with more than $100 billion in assets as warranting increased scrutiny, according to Raymond James managing director and Washington policy analyst Ed Mills. He said that the proposed changes once again indicate that federal regulators think that anything big is bad. The proposal could have a further-reaching impact and "trickle all the way down" to deals resulting in institutions with just $10 billion in assets. The proposal comes as U.S. bank deal activity is already extremely limited, with announcements in 2023 falling to their lowest yearly total since at least 2000. Activity has remained subdued this year, with just 27 announcements through March 26.