He predicts a "massive" consolidation of banks with assets of less than $1 billion, with much of the momentum coming from private-equity investors who will be looking to cash out their investments in the industry. Hundreds more small banks may simply disappear, a conclusion that becomes all the more plausible with every update of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s list of troubled institutions, which at last count had 416 names on it. Mergers of the largest banks will be limited because of the 10% deposit cap, which appears to be sticking around for the long haul, but Spitler expects membership in the trillion-dollar-plus balance sheet club to rise. "We think there's room for one or two more," he said. "You can imagine a U.S. Bank or PNC or possibly even SunTrust — or some combination of those guys — maybe being amongst those." Citigroup Inc., meanwhile, will try to stick to a strict diet of plain banking and fortified client relationships.