31.   Mr. Bereuter said the legislation was aimed particularly at helping small banks that have few employees to deal with many of the same regulatory burdens as large banks.

32.   Officials claim that a scheme to help private banks clean up their balance sheets is at last starting to work.

33.   Orrick switched to distressed debt work, helping banks and governments deal with the crisis.

34.   Rising bond prices have also helped banks, which typically hold large bond portfolios.

35.   Several economic and regulatory developments are helping the banks.

36.   Since last year, the central bank has guided interest rates to record lows in an effort to invigorate the economy and help banks.

37.   That could relieve pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates, which help banks by cutting the cost of borrowing money.

38.   That helped banks which profit when lower interest rates cut funding costs.

39.   That helped banks, which see their profit margins squeezed as interest rates rise.

40.   That helped German banks and insurers advance.