JPMorgan, Wells Fargo earnings lift US bank stocks; Intesa Sanpaolo apologises for security breach tied to PM Meloni


US bank stocks surged to their highest level since before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, driven by better-than-expected earnings from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. 

Despite reporting declines in year-on-year profits — JPMorgan’s net income dropped 2 per cent to $12.9bn and Wells Fargo’s fell 11 per cent to $5.1bn — both banks exceeded analysts’ forecasts, which predicted $12.1bn and $4.5bn, respectively. 

JPMorgan’s investment banking division outperformed expectations, with fees rising nearly 33 per cent to $2.3bn. Equity trading revenues climbed over 25 per cent to $2.6bn, while fixed-income trading revenues remained flat at $4.5bn.

Net interest income, a key driver of bank profitability, showed mixed results. JPMorgan reported a 3 per cent increase in NII, reaching $23.5bn, and raised its 2024 forecast to $92.5bn from $91bn. 

However, Wells Fargo’s NII dropped 11 per cent to $11.69bn in the quarter. Analysts at Wells Fargo forecast that its NII would be worse than previously expected for the final quarter of 2024, though it upgraded its outlook for 2025.

JPMorgan shares rose 4.4 per cent, while Wells Fargo’s gained 5.6 per cent on Friday. The KBW bank index, which tracks 24 of the largest US lenders, jumped more than 3 per cent, reaching its highest close since April 2022 and exceeding levels last seen in February 2023, prior to the US regional banking crisis. 

Other major US banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, are set to report their earnings on October 15, with Morgan Stanley following a day later.


Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo issued an apology on Sunday after uncovering a major security breach at the bank that reportedly targeted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other high-profile figures. 

The security breach was first reported by Italian newspaper Domani, which said on Thursday that an Intesa employee had been dismissed for spying on the bank accounts of thousands of clients, including Meloni.

In a statement, Intesa Sanpaolo said: “A disloyal employee of our bank […] unjustifiably accessed data and information concerning some clients. We are deeply sorry for what has occurred and we apologise. This must never happen again.”

Intesa has since announced the appointment of retired police official Antonio De Vita to oversee the bank’s cybersecurity and security services.

Meloni referred to the incident during an interview with Italian news programme TG5 on Sunday, stating that she expects the country’s judiciary to investigate the possibility of a conspiracy. 

“I think that there are public and private sector employees who illegally take information and sell it on […] who are they selling it to? This is the answer we are waiting for; presumably there are interests behind this,” she said.


The European Central Bank is opposing the proposed takeover of Austria’s Addiko Bank by Serbian lender AltaPay, citing concerns over potential money laundering, the Financial Times reported on Monday. 

AltaPay, owned by prominent Serbian entrepreneur Davor Macura, became Addiko’s largest shareholder earlier this year. However, the ECB suspended some of AltaPay’s voting rights in August and according to four anonymous sources cited by the FT, has launched an investigation into the group’s internal controls and Macura’s financial resources. 

ECB officials are particularly concerned about AltaPay’s anti-money-laundering policies and the origin of its funds, and have prepared a letter to AltaPay outlining the issues the lender must address to operate a eurozone bank. 

Despite having their voting rights blocked, AltaPay executives believe they have a “viable route” to complete the takeover. In a written statement to the FT, Macura said that he was not aware of an ECB investigation beyond the August decision to block voting rights in Addiko, and said the bank had strong measures in place to prevent money laundering.

He also noted that details about the bank’s financial status, the origin of its assets and its internal controls have been provided to both the Austrian Financial Market Authority and the ECB.

The board of Addiko has been openly hostile to the takeover and rival bidders such as Slovenia’s NLB Group and Serbia’s AIK Banka are reportedly interested in making competing offers. A spokesperson for Addiko declined to comment on the matter to the FT.


The world’s 26 poorest countries are facing their highest debt levels since 2006 and are increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters and other shocks, according to a new World Bank report released on Sunday. 

These economies, with annual per-capita incomes under $1,145, are poorer today than before the Covid-19 pandemic, even as global growth has resumed, the report found.

With debt-to-GDP ratios averaging 72 per cent, many of these countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa but also including Afghanistan and Yemen, are now heavily reliant on World Bank International Development Association grants and near-zero interest loans. 

“At a time when much of the world simply backed away from the poorest countries, IDA has been their lifeline,” World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill said in a statement.

The World Bank’s IDA fund, replenished every three years through contributions from its member countries, raised a record $93bn in 2021. World Bank president Ajay Banga now aims to exceed that amount, with a target of over $100bn in pledges by December 6.

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