In Trump meeting, Wall Street leaders promise to help consumers as economy weakens

"All of us are providing relief to any customer that has an issue of being out of work for the virus," said Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America. "We're here to help small businesses, medium-sized businesses, the core American economy run, and to help our consumer clients really weather the storm in case they're directly affected by this."

Wells Fargo is developing a program to help companies and their employees impacted by the spread of the virus, including issues with "their fees, payments," said the bank's chief executive, Charles Scharf.

JPMorgan Chase, the country's largest bank, has lent $26 billion to consumers and small businesses over the last 40 days, said Gordon Smith, the bank's chief operating officer. The bank will "waive fees for consumers and small businesses who are under stress," he said.

The meeting occurred as the Dow Jones industrial average fell 20 percent from its record highs, ending a record 11-year stock rally.

"We're having to fix a problem that, four weeks ago, nobody ever thought would be a problem," said Trump, who was surrounded by the bank executives and members of his administration, including Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. (The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began screening passengers from Wuhan, China at three U.S. airport seven weeks ago and declared a public health emergency nearly six weeks ago.) 

Several of the bankers sought to assure the public that the industry was fully capitalized, unlike a decade ago during the 2008 global financial crisis when Wall Street received billions in taxpayer bailouts.

"This is not a financial crisis. ... The banks and the financial system are in sound shape," said Michael Corbat, the chief of executive of Citigroup. 

David Solomon of Goldman Sachs added: "The banking system is in good shape."

The Trump administration is struggling to respond to the growing economic fallout from coronavirus. Thirty-five Americans have died from the virus and about 1,000 people have tested positive. Many companies and government agencies have ordered employees to work from home and some cities are banning large gatherings to help stem its spread.

Hospital industry leaders are urging the Trump administration to declare the coronavirus outbreak a national emergency or a national disaster. Credit unions are asking Congress to give a $300 million emergency infusion to two funds that help small financial institutions focused on making loans in their community.

Some of the country's biggest banks have also asked regulators to grant the industry long-sought regulatory relief as part of the government's efforts to contain the economic fallout from the coronavirus, but it wasn't immediately clear whether the issue was discussed during the White House meeting Wednesday.