The Latest: CEOs say big banks more stable since crisis

The Latest on the appearance of U.S. bank CEOs before Congress (all times local):

9:45 a.m.

The early, dominant theme from the CEOs of the nation’s biggest banks at Wednesday’s Congressional hearing is simple: We’re grateful, and we are safer now.

All seven heads of the banks have spoken about how they have raised capital, are more diverse, and are more resilient than they were 10 years ago before the financial crisis.

“Since the crisis, (Citigroup) has become a smaller, safer, stronger and far less complex company,” said Michael Corbat, CEO of Citigroup, which required significant financial assistance to avoid collapse.

“There is no doubt that the strength, stability and resiliency of the financial system has been fundamentally improved over the course of the last ten years,” said Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan. “Post-crisis reforms have made banks much safer and sounder in three important areas: capital, liquidity and resolution and recovery.”

9:30 a.m.

Seven CEOs of the largest banks in the U.S. are appearing in front of Congress Wednesday, the largest gathering of heads of the banking industry in Washington since the financial crisis.

Based on prepared testimony, the chief executives of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, along with the CEOs of five other banks, will tell the House Financial Services Committee they’ve taken steps to improve the stability of their institutions in the 10 years since the financial crisis.

For example, Michael Corbat of Citigroup says that the New York-based bank is now a safer and less complex institution than it was back in 2008.

Committee members are likely to ask the CEOs about recent efforts to pare back some of the financial rules that were put in place following the crisis.