Bank of New England

The Bank of New England Corporation was a regional banking institution based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 1991 as a result of heavy losses in its loan portfolio and was placed into Chapter 7 liquidation. At the time, it was the 33rd largest bank in the United States, and its federal seizure bailout was the second largest on record. At its peak, it had been the 18th largest bank and had over 470 branch offices. The liquidation company was named Recoll Management Corporation and its bankruptcy estate has continued to exist to pay out claims against the company. As of 2016, most of what was once Bank of New England is now part of Bank of America.

The Bank of New England Corporation was formed as the first interstate regional bank in the United States in 1985 as a result of a merger between the (old) Bank of New England Corporation and CBT Corporation. CBT was the parent of Connecticut Bank and Trust Company, which traced its roots to the Union Bank of New London (founded in 1792), as well as the Connecticut Trust and Safe Deposit Company, the Hartford Trust Company, and the Phoenix State Bank and Trust Company (founded in 1814). The old Bank of New England traced its roots to the Merchants Bank (founded in 1831) and was for a time known as the New England Merchants National Bank and the New England National Bank of Boston.

The Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 prohibited interstate bank holding companies (although some existing companies were "grandfathered"). The 1966 Douglas Amendment to the Act permitted interstate bank holding companies as long as the individual states also permitted it. Connecticut and Massachusetts were among the first states to implement reciprocal legislation and in 1984 New England Merchants National Bank and CBT Corporation attempted to test this legislation by applying for permission to merge.Citicorp challenged the merger under the constitutional concept known as an "illegal compact between states". Despite a new federal law creating a New England regional interstate banking zone, the case continued and was appealed to the Supreme Court in , 472 U.S. 159 (1985), which found the interstate compact was not illegal. This paved the way for the merger of the entities in 1985 and several subsequent mergers of other banks.