11.   Buying a bank as far away as Florida poses an operating challenge for Gold Banc, said Erick Reim, an analyst with U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis.

12.   Buying a bank in another country with another language and another legal system is a risk that few want to take.

13.   Citizens, which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, has no publicly traded stock of its own and pays cash when it buys a bank.

14.   Commercial banks have bought mortgage banks at a rapid clip this year as a way to generate steady income and tap new customers.

15.   Commercial banks like BankAmerica have been buying investment banks to handle stock sales and other services for growing companies.

16.   Despite obstacles thrown in his path by state and federal regulators, Bank of Italy began buying banks throughout the state.

17.   Early this year, the government approved laws that made it possible for foreign institutions to buy Mexican banks.

18.   Except for Credit Suisse Group, which owns Credit Suisse First Boston, European commercial banks have had little success when they have bought Wall Street investment banks.

19.   Few of the large out-of-state banking companies that have bought banks around the country have been interested in venturing into New York.

20.   For the first time in years, Terry Murray is running Fleet Financial Group with the goal of growing its business instead of buying more banks.