U.S. Banks Are Spared Stresses of 2008 Amid Market Rout

The largest U.S. banks, down 19 percent this month, aren’t seeing the same retreat by counterparties and clients that helped drive some firms to the brink of collapse in 2008.

The nation’s banks are maintaining trading with major counterparties and haven’t seen widespread, large withdrawals by clients, according to people with direct knowledge of dealings at four firms, who asked to remain anonymous because customer interactions are private. The five largest Wall Street firms had $1.49 trillion of liquidity resources -- cash or assets that can be sold quickly -- which is enough to weather the “market dislocations,” CreditSights Inc. wrote in a report yesterday.