reported second-quarter net income applicable to common stockholders of$5.67 billion, or $1.55per share, compared to $5.78 billion, or $1.54 per share, in the year-agoperiod. The provision for credit losses was $1.40 billion, up from $935 milliondue to reserve increases in the current quarter versus reserve releases in theprior-year quarter, and higher net charge-offs.
Others releasing earningsbefore market today includeBlackRock Inc. andFirst Republic Bank
In moreJPMorgan news, the New York-based bank has made its U.K. layoff expectationsfairly clear, frustrating attempts at Brexitdamage control. U.K. Treasury officials have reportedly met with large bankCEOs, saying financial services will be protected as much as possible and thatlayoff announcements are better postponed. Other city senior bankers have alsocriticized CEO Jamie Dimon's public negativity as "deeply unhelpful for[the] cause," say sources for the FinancialTimes.
The formerpresident of the European Commission joined Goldman Sachs International as nonexecutive chairman,but the appointment has received pushback. Criticism came most recently fromFrench European Affairs Minister Harlem Desir, who called José Manuel Barroso'sdecision "scandalous"and "the worst disservice [he] could do to the European project." EUEconomics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici shared the sentiment and said it wasbad for the commission's image, Reuters reports.
Also in banking:
ThirteenFirstMerit Corp.branches in Northeast Ohio have been identified to be in order to resolve antitrustconcerns surrounding its pending transaction with Huntington Bancshares Inc. under a deal struck by themerging banks with the U.S. Justice Department. Another merger that has raisedantitrust issues is First NiagaraFinancial Group Inc. and KeyCorp's. They agreed to sell ; the deal receivedFed approval July 12.
And ' M&A sceneincludes a deal between NorthMiddlesex Savings Bank and Marlborough Savings Bank.
Fintech:
is not looking to sell, said CEO DanSchulman. He also neither confirmed nor denied the that potential deals with thelikes of MasterCardInc. are on the table.
Regulators and legislators:
A staff interimreportby the House Science, Space and Technology Committee laid out details of databreaches at the FDIC — including alleged incidents of retaliating againstwhistleblowers and misleading Congress. Some breaches were also said to havepossibly been perpetrated by the Chinese government — and reported only by theInspector General. The committee will hold a hearingtoday; the FDIC's Martin Gruenberg and Fred Gibson are listed as witnesses.Gruenberg just yesterday attended another hearing, where he was grilled on thedecline in de novobank applications.
Speaking of hearings, the one on the FSOC's designation of nonbankshas been postponed.
Sen. Orrin Hatch yesterdaywrote to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew tocomplain about their "woefully incomplete and inadequate" response torepeated questions about contingency plans in case of a debtlimit breach. He claimed they conspired with financial institutions to makesure any such breach would have a controlled effect on the industry, accordingto The Wall Street Journal.
The CFPB's Richard Cordray got a partial win in court regarding thevalidity of certain rulemakings. Plaintiff State National Bank of Big Spring claimed rules Cordraymade before he was confirmed by Congress should have no effect, but the judgesaid the Texas-based bank's arguments were not"persuasive," Bloomberg News reports.
New York's Department of Financial Services reportedly pushedCommerzbank AG intofiring four employees as part of a 2015 money laundering settlement. A U.S.judge has ruled the last banker with a pending wrongfuldismissal case, "Lars C.," must be reinstated — and thatCommerzbank was never "under absolute pressure" to terminate them,according to Bloomberg.
In other courtroom news, Michael Coscia has been sentenced to threeyears behind bars, the WSJ reports.He was found guilty of spoofing in November 2015 — in the first criminal case using Dodd-Frank's spoofing rules.
And Canada's central bank kept its overnight rate target at 0.50%.Officials noted that the wildfire in Alberta could contribute to a 1% decreasein GDP in the second quarter, before an oilproduction-driven growth by 3.5% in the third.
In other parts of the world
Asia-Pacific:Citi to boost Asia corporatebanking biz; BTMU to quit as Japanese government bond dealer
Europe:Banks reassured over capitalbuffers; LSE-Deutsche Börse merger protest; Spanish banks get relief
Middle East& Africa: Oman wedded to rialpeg; Uganda keen on takaful
The day ahead
In Asia, theHang Seng rose 1.12% to 21,561.06, and the Nikkei 225 was up 0.95% to 16,385.89.
In Europe asof midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.89% to 6,729.67, and the Euronext 100 hadclimbed 0.94% to 868.64.
On the macro front
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