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The top four US banks have seen their assets grow in the past three months by a whopping $681.71 billion, according to market intelligence firm S&P Global.
S&P Global says that the combined assets of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo ballooned by 5.9%, or $681.71 billion, in the first quarter of the year.
The massive asset growth is in stark contrast to “a 2.9% contraction in the previous quarter.”
“JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest US bank at $4.358 trillion in total assets as of March 31, reported an increase of $355.04 billion in assets in the first quarter. That marked the third-highest sequential increase among the nation’s 50 largest banks at 8.9%.
Citigroup Inc. posted the second-highest sequential growth at 9.3%, or an increase of $218.57 billion in assets.
Bank of America Corp. reported asset growth of 2.7% from the prior quarter, while Wells Fargo & Co.’s assets increased 1.1% in the same period.”
Despite the massive asset growth, Moody’s downgraded the deposit ratings of top US lenders JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo earlier this week, just days after stripping the nation of its triple-A rating.
The lenders’ long-term deposit ratings were lowered to Aa2, a one-step decrease and Moody’s third-highest level.
The reason cited by Moody’s for the downgrade is the government’s weakened ability to support the banks.
Last week, Moody’s downgraded America’s credit rating from AAA to Aa1 while changing the country’s outlook from negative to stable. Moody’s attributes the downgrade to the United States’ soaring national debt and interest payment ratios that exceed those of other countries with the same credit rating.
