Savings for the top six U.S. banks from President Donald Trump's signature tax overhaul accelerated last year, now topping $32 billion as the lenders curbed new borrowing, pared jobs and ramped up payouts to shareholders.
Banks would be better able to comply with anti-money-laundering laws if all 50 states collected information on the owners of new corporations and published it in a national database, Comptroller Joseph Otting said Monday.
Banks earned $59.1 billion in the fourth quarter, a 133% year-over-year increase, due to a one-time charge in the year-earlier quarter and a lower effective tax rate throughout 2018.
Readers respond to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its payday loans rule, debate reforms to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, consider regulatory exemptions for regional banks and more.
Depending on the asset class, about 11% to 18% of earnings per share came from tax savings. The looming question is how do they top themselves in 2019 when tax rates don’t change like they did this year.
Banks were helped by better loan spreads thanks to higher net interest margins, but the recently enacted tax cut helped boost profits by 27% from a year earlier.
As U.S. banks were tallying up the billions of dollars in extra profits they'll reap from the sweeping tax cuts signed into law by President Donald Trump, they were quietly delivering unwelcome news to local governments: The interest rates on their loans were about to go up.
The Chicago custody bank won new fund-administration business and benefited from the acquisition of a UBS asset-management unit. A one-time adjustment tied to the new tax law also provided a boost.
