Harry Terris

The effective tax rate for banks has dropped to a range of roughly 30% to 32%, down from a range of roughly 32% to 33% in the years leading up to the recession. Recoveries of deferred tax assets might be the reason.

Upheaval in funding markets has radically reshaped the liability profile of foreign bank operations in the United States, but they have continued to increase lending despite an exodus of deposits that began in the middle of last year.

Unlike last summer, deposit levels have been relatively stable recently as the euro crisis has reached a new crescendo. Either the most nervous money has already fled to the shelter of the bank safety net, or tensions are only just building.

Fees paid to outside auditors appear to have been relatively stable in recent years. So have legal expenses for smaller institutions since mid-2010, when the 2,000-odd pages of the Dodd-Frank Act became law.

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As with housing, different bank markets across the country have crashed and recovered at different speeds. Measured by institutions with high Texas ratios, stress has tapered quickly in states like Washington and California, but remains elevated in Georgia, Illinois and Florida.

A year and a half after reserve releases emerged as a saving grace for bank earnings, allowance reductions accelerated early this year and accounted for perhaps 14% of the industry’s net income.

Heavy turnover after the near-death experiences of B of A and Citi have left their boards packed with veterans of finance and government. Captains of old-line industries make up the third largest contingent among the nation’s largest banks.

Even after adjusting for tax differences, S Corp banks generally outperform their C Corp peers.

Analysts anticipate stable earnings in the year ahead for large-cap banks, despite fears over Europe that have cut into share prices. Analysts have also penciled in strong earnings growth for 2013 and 2014, though they've trimmed expectations for companies like JPMorgan, B of A and Citi.

Delinquencies have continued to decline, pointing to chargeoff rates that could be 40 to 90 basis points lower in the third quarter than they were in the first quarter at the Big Six.

If JPMorgan Chase's trading blowup raised worries about booby traps at other financial giants, it might be comforting to know that its securities portfolio is more complex — and perhaps trickier to hedge — than those of rival megabanks.

On the whole, large banks appear to have primed their books for a rebound in rates: levels of short-term assets relative to short-term liabilities are now higher than they have been during roughly the past decade. The postures of individual institutions vary widely, however.

Despite richer returns available further out on the yield curve, large banks have generally not shifted toward long-dated securities, according to regulatory data.

Pay for bank CEOs increased a median 16% in 2011 among a group of 160 banks. Growth was particularly brisk at institutions with less than $20 billion of assets, where CEO compensation measured 2% of total payroll expenses, a far higher level than at larger banks.

Annual meetings held by Citi and Bank of New York Mellon have been shaken by investor dissent over executive pay, and observers anticipate more rebukes in the coming month.

Large buildups of options granted over the years to the bosses at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase could serve as an incentive to make riskier plays than at B of A and Citi.

The spread between consumer rates and secondary market rates – a proxy for the profitability of originations – spiked to new highs in the first quarter.

Preliminary data shows that growth in commercial and industrial lending decelerated for the first time in a year and a half. Banks that have reported continued momentum said that gains have come from signing up new customers and taking market share, but that overall credit demand remains tepid.

Efficiency ratios have been worsening for two years, with a slump in noninterest income driving much of the deterioration.