And some international banks, such as ABN Amro Holding N.V. of the Netherlands and HSBC Holdings P.L.C. of Britain and Hong Kong, are considered nimble operators in spite of their size. But some analysts and academics are wary of the push for size just for size's sake. David Beim, a professor of finance at Columbia University, said the marriage of Union Bank and Swiss Bank created a goliath that might be too large for its own good. ''It now has no serious competition in Switzerland, and I worry about the European tendency to form national champions in certain industries because it removes the competitive pressure,'' he said. ''It may allow them to become either complacent in their business practices or become so dominant in Switzerland that they have too much pricing power.''