Diana Yeats, a banking analyst at A.G Edwards, told CNNfn's "In Play" this deal puts tremendous pressure on Washington.

Yeats also discussed the what she sees as Citigroup's future strategy. Here are excerpts from that interview:

JOHN METAXAS, CNNfn ANCHOR, IN PLAY: First off, the size of this transaction and pulling it off, that's one area we haven't explored too closely. Do you think, in fact, this could this go rather smoothly?

DIANA YEATS, BANKING ANALYST, A.G. EDWARDS: Yes, the size of the transaction is really large when you look at the banks that that have consolidated over the last several years. And what we thought was large on the consolidation side previously as far as acquirers go … this really changes the landscape.

DEFTERIOS: Sandy Weill, of course the chairman of Travelers, was saying he hopes this isn't the last deal he pulls off. Do you think it will be confined to the United States? Or is this group really going to look overseas with this sort of size and asset power?

YEATS: I would look to where Citicorp has been pushing some of their growth efforts and it's definitely overseas and more of the global marketplace. I think there's a big opportunity left in the United States for Citicorp. If they had a larger distribution network from a retail standpoint, they could really push this big set of products through.

But on a global basis, they definitely have a lot of opportunities and to tell you the truth this is where we thought maybe that Citicorp would be spending more of their time, especially with the Asia problems going on -- that they would actually be buying more problem banks in Asia, as problems arose or surfaced and be looking at buying opportunities. So this transaction is a little different than we thought Citicorp was headed, but definitely in terms of strategy is right in there.

DEFTERIOS: All right. The two leaders, Sandy Weill and John Reed, in their statement to the press and to the analysts this morning on Wall Street when they announced the deal, mentioned that the regulatory hurdles have to be crossed, but it was important for Washington to look at this as a monumental point to get past those hurdles, so the U.S. can be a leader in financial services. Do you think, in fact, this will drive legislation in Washington now that they have the two on the table together?

YEATS: I think this definitely will drive and really put pressure on the regulatory agencies. You know, in the conference call this morning, John Reed talked about speaking to even President Clinton all the way down to some of the congressmen and also Greenspan. So I think they have some comfort level or have some push now in the regulatory side. And that before it was just, you know, we would like to do a transaction, but we're not going to be able to get it done because of the regulatory hurdles. Now, they've gone ahead and made the push and have actually signed up consolidation that the regulatory agency I think has to follow through and come behind the banks at this time. And with that said, if it doesn't happen, I think that the group, CitiGroup, does have plan B to go back to.