wpostServer: http://css.washingtonpost.com/wpost
Know your investment banks Here are the top nine banks and how they have been performing since the 2008 U.S. financial crisis.
JPMorgan Chase
Although JPMorgan Chase has fared better than many of its competitors since the 2008 financial downturn, the European debt crisis is a major threat to the bank, chief executive Jamie Dimon said in June. The bank acquired Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns with federal support in 2008 and was one of the few banks to grow during that time. In November, JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse paid $417 million to settle civil charges of misleading investors about mortgages.
Peter Foley
/
Bloomberg News
Related Content
Goldman Sachs
The crisis in Europe caused Goldman Sachs to look for investment opportunities in emerging markets such as Brazil, India, China and Russia. Goldman Sachs was arguably the most prestigious investment banking firm before the financial collapse in 2008. It was then that Warren Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, and the U.S. Treasury each invested $10 billion to keep the company afloat. Goldman Sachs came under fire shortly thereafter when the company issued $1 million bonuses to its executives. The company’s reputation suffered again in March when a former executive published an op-ed in the New York Times calling the environment at the firm “toxic and destructive.” Meanwhile, former executive Rajat Gupta received a two-year sentence for insider trading, which he planned to appeal.
Brendan McDermid
/
Reuters
Morgan Stanley
After botching Facebook’s initial public stock offering in May and suffering the brunt of the European debt crisis, Morgan Stanley saw its stock fall in June to its lowest levels since the 2008 financial meltdown. During the initial stages of the 2008 recession, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs announced they would transition into traditional bank holding companies regulated by the Federal Reserve, a move that effectively ended investment banking on Wall Street. Morgan Stanley went on to borrow $107.3 billion from the federal government, the most of any bank during the crisis, according to Bloomberg News.
Scott Eells
/
Bloomberg News
Citigroup
Citigroup was the largest bank in the world before the financial meltdown, during which the government intervened to save the company from bankruptcy. Less than a year after being criticized for issuing executives millions of dollars in year-end bonuses in 2008, Citigroup paid back all of its government loans. In 2011, a federal judge in New York rejected a $285 million settlement deal Citigroup paid to the Securities and Exchange Commission for selling bad mortgage bonds, citing that the deal allowed Citigroup off the hook without admitting wrongdoing. On Dec. 5, Citigroup announced it would cut 11,000 jobs worldwide to reduce expenses and improve efficiency.
Justin Sullivan
/
Getty Images
Bank of America
In 2008, Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch with the help of federal bailout money. The purchase gave the bank a solid foothold in investment banking and made it the largest financial services company in the world. Since then, the bank has been laying off thousands of workers and has faced accusations by the government of defrauding hospitals, schools and local governments. In October, federal prosecutors accused Bank of America of selling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac thousands of shoddy mortgages that caused more than $1 billion in losses.
Chris Keane
/
Reuters
Barclays
In 2010, London-based Barclays paid a $298 million settlement to the U.S. government for violating sanctions on dealing with Iran, Cuba and other countries. Barclays was listed as the most complained-about bank in the last six months of 2011, according to the Financial Services Authority. In February, it was caught in a tax-avoidance scheme and forced to pay back $785 million to the British government. Barclays also remains at the center of a firestorm about the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor.
Paul Thomas
/
Bloomberg News
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse’s stock hit a 20-year low June 14 amid the debt crisis in Europe. The stock slide makes the bank the only one of top global bank competitors with a stock trading below where it was during the 2008 financial crisis, Bloomberg News reports. The Zurich-based bank was caught in 2009, along with Barclays, for violating U.S. sanctions that regulate trading with Iran. The bank was part of the $417 million mortgage settlement, along with JPMorgan Chase.
Christian Hartmann
/
Reuters
UBS
UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, reported a 76 percent drop in profits in the fourth quarter of 2011. The European debt crisis is expected to make profitability tough, the bank said in February. UBS has written down $50 billion from subprime mortgage investments since the early stages of the financial crisis in 2007. In 2011, UBS blamed a $2 billion loss from unauthorized trading at its investment bank on a rogue trader. In December, UBS was said to be close to a deal settling Libor-rigging charges.
Simon Dawson
/
Bloomberg News
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank’s earnings are down one-third from the first three months of 2012 because of the European debt crisis. In May, Josef Ackermann, who was chief executive at the bank for 10 years, retired. Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo recently outlined stricter capital and liquidity rules for foreign banks operating in the United States, including Deutsche Bank.
Michael Probst
/
AP
Featured Photo Galleries
Prince George’s godparents
Britain’s Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, selected seven people to be godparents to their son, Prince George. They included old school chums, family friends...
Animal views
A newborn giraffe, an Alpine ibex, swimming pigs, a canine wedding and more.
The Bunker-Museum
Visitors spend a night in a former East German 1970s-era bunker in the town of Rennsteighoehe, Germany.
???initialComments:true! pubdate:06/22/2012 10:13 EDT! commentPeriod:14! commentEndDate:7/6/12 10:13 EDT! currentDate:10/26/13 8:0 EDT! allowComments:false! displayComments:true!
Section:/business
Loading...
Comments