Wednesday's Headlines: Bankers Foresee Sweet Future for M&As, More Cash Deals

The M&A market is headed for even better times, according to a new study examined by the New York Times [NYT]

Of the 40 top M&A bankers and lawyers surveyed by the PR firm Brunswick Group, 92 percent said they expect the rest of this year to bring continued strong growth in mergers and acquisitions. Much of that confidence can be attributed to the proposed mega merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. About half of those surveyed said the upswing of M&A is tied to greater confidence by management teams and company boards.

Another forecast: all-cash deals, thanks in part to the cash-rich corporate balance sheets.

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New regulations mean changing banking jobs is even tougher than it was even just after the crisis. [FT]

A study finds that many fee-based advisers are under-charging for their services - which does not drive new business. [Investment News ].

Obama's consumer protection agency found that banks saved $25B by underserving delinquent mortgages. [Forbes ].

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the world's largest lender, posted a 28 percent 2010 gain as China recovered from the global financial crisis. [WSJ ].

A former Merrill Lynch president was denied most of his demand for $70 million in compensatory damages from a regulatory authority. [Investment News].

BofA will hire three executives for its online retail and mobile banking services. [BusinessWeek ].

NP Paribas, the largest French bank, is in talks to buy IKB Deutsche Industriebank from Lone Star Funds. [Bloomberg ].

The Man Group, a public hedge fund managing $69 billion, will buy the rest of the credit-focused hedge fund Ore Hill that it did not already own. [DealBook ].