NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald

Trump's return to the White House could usher in a wave of bank

mergers and acquisitions as the administration appoints

regulators who are more open to approving larger deals,

financial executives and analysts said on Tuesday.

The banking industry is expected to win big if Republican

regulators ease capital rules and merger approvals when they

replace the aggressive financial regulators of the Biden era.

"I have to believe we are entering a moment where bigger

deals can be done," Mitchell Eitel, managing partner at law firm

Sullivan & Cromwell, told a banking conference in New York.

The regulators could become more receptive to larger

acquisitions, overturning recent perceptions that smaller deals

were more likely to be endorsed by officials. One key test case

will be Capital One Financial Group's $35.3 billion

agreement to take over Discover Financial.

Larger regional banks should also be allowed to buy rivals

and get significantly bigger, creating more competition for

banking giants whose deposits have swelled in recent years.

"I think we're going to see more activity, there's a lot of

pent-up demand" for bank deals, said Tom Michaud, CEO of

investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Mid-sized banks typically improve their returns on capital

after deals increase their scale, he said.

"If we do nothing, we're going to have four really big banks

that are going to be even bigger," Michaud said.