Profits at JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo banks have slumped due to the global credit crisis - but not by as much as Wall Street had feared.
JP Morgan, which bought bankrupt rival Washington Mutual, saw third quarter profits fall 84% to $US527 million.
Wells Fargo saw its third quarter profits fall 23% to $US1.64 billion.
Meanwhile, US regulators cleared Bank of America's purchase of Merrill Lynch for $US34.9 billion, part of the restructuring of US banks due to the credit crisis.
Merrill Lynch agreed to be taken over just days after another investment bank, Lehman Brothers, went bankrupt.
Other banks are also due to report their third quarter results this week.
Results better than expected
Despite the falls in profits, the results from both banks were better than many analysts had feared.
JP Morgan Chase reported quarterly earnings of $US527 million, down from $US3.4 billion in the same period last year.
The bank also wrote off $US3.6 billion in bad US mortgage-related loans and investments.
Since the US mortgage crisis emerged last year, the bank has written off $US18.8 billion in investments and assets.
Since its acquisition of Washington Mutual's assets on 25 September, JP Morgan Chase is now the biggest US bank in terms of bank deposits.
Wells Fargo also beat Wall Street's expectations, although its earnings were markedly down compared to its $US2.17 billion during the same period last year.
Mortgage write-offs
Wells Fargo's profits were hit by write-offs of investments in the troubled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage agencies and Lehman Brothers.
The bank is currently buying Wachovia, after a hostile battle with Citigroup, and said it expected to complete this by the end of 2008.
