RPT-DEALTALK-U.S. accounting rules could prolong pain for banks

Said Blake Howells, director of research at Becker Capital Management in Portland, Oregon: "The main acquirers in the past have their own balance sheet issues now."

For example, NationsBank Corp acquired 9 banks between October 1990 and October 1995, according to Sandler O'Neill. That bank is part of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) now. While BofA may acquire in the future, it is not seen as a likely aggressive acquirer in the near term as it wrestles with the Countrywide Financial Corp CFC.N acquisition and potential write-downs on its own books, analysts said.

A spokesman for BofA declined to comment. (Additional reporting by Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Andre Grenon)