In the past few months, the U.S. government has often found itself at the table with bank executives and their advisors as they talked deals. And it is likely to continue to find itself playing the role of a midwife in deals to come.

Many deals in the sector will need government assistance in some form, ranging from capital injections into banks under TARP to assisted transactions for weak and failed institutions, according to experts at the Reuters Global Finance Summit this week.

TARP is widely seen as picking the winners and losers in the banking world. Those who do not get the money may come under pressure to find buyers. Some who are considered to weak and cannot find buyers themselves, may fail and regulators will have to find buyers.

So after a bit of a lull in the last week or two, the action could pick up again soon. Today is the deadline for public banks to apply for capital under TARP.

Deals of the day:

* Bank of America is likely to raise its stake in China Construction Bank soon, paying about 2.46 yuan ($0.36) a share, or 1.2 times the Chinese lender’s book value, Caijing magazine reported, citing unidentified sources.

* Belgian-French financial services group Dexia said in a statement that it would sell the insurance business of loss-making Financial Security Guarantee to U.S. peer Assured Guaranty.

* Tea and plastic container maker Gillanders Arbuthnot & Co said its board has approved merging Tengpani Tea Co Ltd with itself.

(Photo credit: Darren Whiteside, Reuters)