Bank CEO's Seem Optimistic After Meeting with Obama

In Washington, bank CEO's have made their way out of the White House following a meeting with President Obama. The execs, including Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) Ken Lewis, Citigroup's (NYSE: C) Vikram Pandit, Morgan Stanley's (NYSE: MS) John Mack, Wells Fargo's (NYSE: WFC) John Stumpf, Goldman's (NYSE: GS) Lloyd Blankfein and US Bancorp's (NYSE: USB) Richard Davis, are making comments to the press related to the meeting, but not saying much of anything new.

CNBC's Erin Burnett caught JPMorgan's (NYSE: JPM) Jaime Dimon on his way out. Dimon told Burnett that the CEO's spent well over an hour with the President and that his tone set the mood, suggesting that everyone needs to help the financial community. Dimon said that Obama went around to each of the 13 execs and asked their opinions on the US's current mess. The JPMorgan CEO said the TARP was brought up many times and that Obama believes that execs shouldn't stop doing "the right thing" due to broad criticism.

Minutes later, Burnett spotted Lloyd Blankfein and John Mack, also asking them for a short interview. The Morgan Stanley exec summed up the meeting with: there was no tension in the meeting and "it's all about cooperation." Blankfein had a similar sentiment, saying "all of us were on the same page" and that they recognized that the interests of CEO's should be aligned with that of their company over the long-run.

When Erin asked the execs if they would need to raise additional capital moving forward, both said that they would need to talk with their boards first.

Finally, BofA's Ken Lewis stepped up to the plate, also reiterating the view that the CEO's were on the same page as the President. Lewis said he was "impressed by the President's knowledge of the facts and circumstances" and that it was a "cooperative and pleasant meeting". At the same time, the CEO pointed out that "we can't agree on everything."

Concluding the interview, Lewis said that he wants to give back the TARP money BofA received as soon as possible. He also admitted that his bank's "trading book was not as good... as the first two months" of the year.

Also appearing at the meeting was American Express' (NYSE: AXP) CEO Ken Chenault, Freddie Mac's (NYSE: FRE) John Koskinen, State Street's (NYSE: STT) Ronald Logue, Bank of New York Mellon's (NYSE: BK) Robert Kelly, Northern Trust's (Nasdaq: NTRS) Rick Waddell and PNC Financial's (NYSE: PNC) James Rohr.

You May Also Be Interested In

• BofA says there is a continued strength in buybacks
• Super Micro Computer (SMCI) now down nearly 20%
• Inflation relief has likely been delayed not destroyed - GS