NEW YORK–The CEOs of some of the world’s largest banks held a call to discuss the fallout from President Trump’s significant new tariffs. The call was held ahead of the president’s announcement he is delaying the tariffs for 90 days.

The call was convened by the Bank Policy Institute, a trade association of large U.S. lenders, according to Reuters. The CEOs of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays and HSBC were among those participating, according to the report.

“The rare, behind-the-scenes talk underscores the growing alarm within the financial industry over the economic fallout of the sweeping tariffs,” Reuters reported. 

Few details over what was discussed have been shared.

As Reuters noted, shares of banks, whose fortunes are closely tied to the state of the economy, have been “ravaged” as investors fear that the tariffs could weaken consumer spending, raise recession risks and slow down capital markets activity.

The KBW Bank index  has dropped about 15.2% since the new levies were announced on April 2, which Trump touted as “Liberation Day,” the report added. .

Employment Cuts

Should the downward trend continue, analysts expect the banks to shed jobs.

“Banks will cut more,” Lee Thacker, owner of search firm Silvermine Partners, told EFinancial Careers. “There will be less deal-flow, M&A isn’t coming back, private sponsors won’t step in until they see the bottom. Banks will think cut costs, cut costs, cut costs.”