Ed: The more banks merge and unify, the easier it will be for the 666 economic system to progress.

European bank mergers without protections
"The new rules would make it more difficult for governments to meddle with mergers in the banking, security and insurance sectors by requiring that foreign bids are assessed according to a set list of criteria.
"[The proposals] leave no room for political interference or protectionism," said internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy
The new proposals also reduce the time during which national watchdogs can examine mergers from three months to 30 days and allow national authorities to stop the merger process just once.

Under current EU rules, national authorities are able to block proposed mergers if they consider that the "'sound and prudent management" of the target company could be put at risk – the loose wording was open to abuse from protectionist member states."
http://euobserver.com/9/22392/?rk=1