Thesis proposes a framework for equity valuation of a regulated bank based on a path-dependent, barrier cap option model. A synergy banking proposal captured by a cap option, a gluing together of deposit-taking and lending, is a characteristic of bank interest margin management between the loan rate and the deposit rate. Path dependency is a characteristic of bank assets because equity can be knocked out whenever a legally binding barrier is breached. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as a regulator and insurer controls the barrier by the power vested in it by the FDIC Improvement Act. Raising the regulatory barrier level, implying better protection of the insurance fund (and thus less protection of the bank), decreases loan risk-taking at an increased margin, but increases the default risk in the bank’s equity returns. Regulatory barrier as such can account for phenomenon of “flight to quality” with significant bankruptcy predication.