If I wanted to bank at Regions I'd bank at Regions

Regions, AmSouth to merge

Big news -- not as worthy of screaming headlines as Taylor winning the talent show, but big news nonetheless -- as Alabama's two largest remaining banks are merging. It was expected that AmSouth or Regions would be a tempting takeover target for one of the outside big boys, especially since SouthTrust was bought by the ridiculously named Wachovia, but apparently they decided to join together instead.

Though it's labeled a merger of equals, it appears that Regions will be up top, with its name for the larger company and its CEO in the senior position. Do I need new checks?

It's going to lead to massive job cuts, especially in Birmingham. Their offices are in buildings downtown across the street from each other; a lot of the people in those buildings are going to get laid off. And a lot of their branches are in similar proximity and will close.