Things were supposed to be getting better for US banks. The economy is improving and interest rates are up, which should lead to more loans and the ability to charge more for them.
A good chunk of bad loans have now been worked through, meaning lower credit losses from mortgages to credit card debt, all boosting the bottom line. Unlike rivals elsewhere in the world, US banks are paying dividends and repurchasing shares.
But all the ghosts of the past have not been exorcised yet. Far from it. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the US housing regulator, is pushing JPMorgan Chase for a settlement of more than $6bn, one of the biggest crisis-related penalties for any bank, for mortgage bonds sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that allegedly included faulty loans. Other banks are also involved; some have already settled for smaller amounts. JPMorgan (which bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual in government-supported deals) was a big seller of these securities.