21.   And the big Swiss banks, while they have been huge employers, have been rapidly shedding jobs of late.

22.   And that was just on the big bank cards, MasterCard and Visa, and Discover and American Express.

23.   Another big bank had previously pulled out, and the neighborhood was about to be left with just a single bank branch.

24.   Antonio Maccanico, a former Mediobanca president, identified two other big banks likely to go shopping next.

25.   Another reason for the recent feeding frenzy among big banks and thrifts is that their stocks have performed so well this year.

26.   As a result, despite official Japanese assurances that no big bank would be allowed to fail, one did in the fall.

27.   As for the other potential buyers, any number of big banks might well be eager to own the largest bank in Florida.

28.   As in Asia, governments in Europe routinely intervene in the affairs of big banks, Pike said.

29.   As of December, two big banks, Wells Fargo and Bankers Trust, were the two largest shareholders of the trust.

30.   At home, BankAmerica is strengthening its credit-card and mortgage-loan businesses, which offer cheap economies of scale for a big bank.