JPMorgan Chase is Now Largest Bank in the U.S.

The institution overtook Bank of America as the number one bank in the country as measured by asset size.

JPMorgan Chase has overtaken Bank of America as the largest U.S. bank by asset size, according to Charlottesville, Va.-based financial information firm SNL Financial.

According to figures in its third-quarter earnings release, JPMorgan Chase grew to $2.29 trillion in assets, passing BofA, which shrunk its balance sheet to $2.22 trillion in assets in the quarter, said SNL. Bank of America had been the largest U.S. bank by assets since it acquired Merrill Lynch in the first quarter of 2009.

Earlier in the year, BofA announced Project New BAC, a plan aimed at reducing expenses and streamlining businesses. The company has reduced its branch count by 154 branches since June of 2010 according to an FDIC summary of deposits data. In addition, the company will cease retail mortgage lending in six states. It also announced plans to cut up to 30,000 jobs over the next several years.

According to SNL, JPMorgan has taken a more aggressive growth strategy as the company enlarged its total assets by almost 7 percent from the same quarter last year. Its total deposits also grew 21 percent from the year-ago quarter, as it has added 167 branches since June of 2010. JPMorgan Chase also took the No. 1 spot from Bank of America as largest U.S. bank as measured by total deposits in the second quarter of 2011.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio