1,000 Banks Could Fail In Next Two Years: John Kanas (VIDEO)

Up to 1,000 banks could fail in the next two years, private equity chief John Kanas told CNBC in a recent appearance. Kanas' high-powered private equity conglomerate -- which included the buyout titans like the Carlye Group, the Blackstone Group and W.L. Ross -- bought Florida's failed BankUnited in May.

According to Kanas, the second wave of failed institutions will include hundreds of smaller banks. "Many of these [failed] institutions no body has ever heard of," Kanas said. "It augurs poorly for smaller business mangers," he added. "Very small banks tend to lend money to small businesses -- this exacerbates the problem for small companies."

More from Kanas:

"Government money has propped up the very large institutions as a result of the stimulus package," he said. "There's really very little lifeline available for the small institutions that are suffering."

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