Citigroup Plays Up Investor Payouts Once Tax Cuts Trigger Profits

Banks face competing demands for a slice of the gains -- potentially raising pay for staff, cutting prices for clients or plowing more into charity. Wells Fargo & Co. executives said last week they'll boost donations to a philanthropic foundation, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. leaders said they're working on a plan to share the tax savings. Citigroup's statement announcing quarterly results only called out the cash coming investors' way.

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The bank took a bigger up-front hit from the changes because it had been sitting on a massive pile of deferred-tax assets -- a form of IOU that cuts tax bills. The company had accrued them by suffering losses during the financial crisis, then long touted them as a way to burnish future payouts to investors. But the tax overhaul wiped out almost half of their value.