Investors can’t resist the Sunshine State’s financial firms—and here’s why.

The entry of big-time private-equity players, meanwhile, may be something of a watershed for the banking industry. Federal regulators have historically been reluctant to let nonbank investors invest in the banking system. But with the system (in places like Florida, in particular) in need of serious injections of new capital to help shore up failing institutions, regulators have adopted a new approach. That could turn out to have huge implications for the banking industry. Something like $450 billion of private-equity money is lately sitting on the sidelines. If the Ross group's planned rollup of Florida banks turns out to be lucrative, a lot of that money will find its way into the banking business, as well. Before long, these new private-equity-controlled entities could likely become very big players. (How well freewheeling private-equity investors will take to being regulated by the feds is an open question. For that matter, how comfortable they'll be competing against the same institutions they rely on for funding their other deals is also an open question.)  In any event, the private-equity industry is apt to create some major institutions out of the banking husk the housing implosion has created.

Photo of BankUnited closed by Federal Gov’t by Joe Raedle/Staff/Getty Images.