Net income was $2.7 billion , or $0.21 per diluted share for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to $3.1 billion , or $0.25 for the same period in 2015 . The results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 were primarily driven by declines in net interest income on a fully taxable-equivalent (FTE) basis and noninterest income, and higher provision for credit losses, partially offset by lower noninterest expense. Included in net interest income on an FTE basis were negative market-related adjustments on debt securities of $1.2 billion and $484 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 .

Total assets increased $41.2 billion from December 31, 2015 to $2.2 trillion at March 31, 2016 primarily driven by higher securities borrowed or purchased under agreements to resell due to increased customer financing activity, higher cash and cash equivalents due to strong deposit inflows, and an increase in loans and leases driven by strong demand for commercial loans outpacing consumer loan sales and run-off. Total liabilities increased $34.6 billion from December 31, 2015 to $1.9 trillion at March 31, 2016 primarily driven by an increase in deposits, securities loaned or sold under agreements to repurchase and trading account liabilities, partially offset by a decline in all other liabilities driven by the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) settlement payment. During the three months ended March 31, 2016 , we returned $2.0 billion in capital to shareholders through common and preferred stock dividends and common stock repurchases. For more information on the balance sheet, see Executive Summary – Balance Sheet Overview on page 11 .

From a capital management perspective, during the three months ended March 31, 2016 , we maintained our strong capital position with Common equity tier 1 capital of $162.7 billion , risk-weighted assets of $1,587 billion and a Common equity tier 1 capital ratio of 10.3 percent at March 31, 2016 as measured under the Basel 3 Advanced – Transition. The Corporation's fully phased-in supplementary leverage ratio (SLR) was 6.8 percent and 6.4 percent at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 , both above the 5.0 percent required minimum (including leverage buffer) effective January 1, 2018. Our Global Excess Liquidity Sources were $525 billion with time-to-required funding at 36 months at March 31, 2016 compared to $504 billion and 39 months at December 31, 2015 . For additional information, see Capital Management on page 45 and Liquidity Risk on page 54 .

Net Interest Income

Net interest income on an FTE basis decreased $240 million to $9.4 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 . The net interest yield on an FTE basis decreased 11 basis points (bps) to 2.05 percent for the same period. These declines were primarily driven by a negative change of $707 million in market-related adjustments on debt securities and lower consumer loan balances, partially offset by growth in commercial loans, the impact of higher interest rates and increased debt securities compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015. Negative market-related adjustments on debt securities were $1.2 billion and $484 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 . Negative market-related adjustments on debt securities were primarily due to the acceleration of premium amortization on debt securities as the decline in long-term interest rates shortened the estimated lives of mortgage-related debt securities. Also included in market-related adjustments is hedge ineffectiveness that impacted net interest income. For additional information, see Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Principles to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K .

Noninterest income decreased $1.2 billion to $10.3 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 . The following highlights the significant changes.

The provision for credit losses increased $232 million to $997 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 . The provision for credit losses in the consumer portfolio decreased $217 million compared to the same period in 2015 due to a continued improvement in portfolio trends. The provision for credit losses for the commercial portfolio increased $449 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 driven by an increase in energy sector reserves primarily due to increased allowance coverage for the higher risk sub-sectors. For more information on our energy sector exposure, see Commercial Portfolio Credit Risk Management – Industry Concentrations on page 83 . The decrease in net charge-offs for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was primarily due to credit quality improvement in the consumer portfolio, partially offset by higher energy-related net charge-offs in the commercial portfolio.

Fo r the remainder of 2016, we currently expect that provision expense should approximate net charge-offs. For more information on the provision for credit losses, see Provision for Credit Losses on page 89 .

Noninterest expense decreased $1.0 billion to $14.8 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 . Personnel expense decreased $762 million as we continue to manage headcount and achieve cost savings. Continued expense management in LAS , as well as the expiration of fully-amortized wealth advisor retention awards, more than offset the increases in client-facing professionals. Included in personnel expense were annual retirement-eligible incentive costs of $850 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to $1.0 billion for the same period in 2015 . Other general operating expense decreased $146 million primarily due to lower foreclosed properties expense.

The effective tax rates for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 were driven by the impact of our recurring tax preference benefits. We expect an effective tax rate closer to 30 percent for the remainder of 2016, absent unusual items.

The U.K. Chancellor's Budget 2016 was announced on March 16, 2016 and proposes to further reduce the U.K. corporate income tax rate by one percent to 17 percent effective April 1, 2020. This reduction would favorably affect income tax expense on future U.K. earnings but also would require us to remeasure, in the period of enactment, our U.K. net deferred tax assets using the lower tax rate. Accordingly, upon enactment, we would expect to record a charge to income tax expense of approximately $350 million. In addition, for banking companies, the portion of U.K. taxable income that can be reduced by net operating loss carryforwards would be further restricted from 50 percent to 25 percent retroactive to April 1, 2016.

Assets

At March 31, 2016 , total assets were approximately $2.2 trillion , up $41.2 billion from December 31, 2015 . The increase in assets was primarily driven by higher securities borrowed or purchased under agreements to resell due to increased customer financing activity, higher cash and cash equivalents due to strong deposit inflows, and an increase in loans and leases driven by strong demand for commercial loans outpacing consumer loan sales and run-off.

Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity

At March 31, 2016 , total liabilities were approximately $1.9 trillion , up $34.6 billion from December 31, 2015 , primarily driven by an increase in deposits, securities loaned or sold under agreements to repurchase and trading account liabilities, partially offset by a decline in all other liabilities driven by the BNY Mellon settlement payment.

Shareholders' equity of $262.8 billion at March 31, 2016 increased $6.6 billion from December 31, 2015 driven by an increase in accumulated other comprehensive income (OCI) due to a positive net change in the fair value of available-for-sale (AFS) debt securities as a result of lower interest rates, earnings and preferred stock issuances, partially offset by returns of capital to shareholders of $2.0 billion through common and preferred stock dividends and common stock repurchases.

For footnotes see page 12 .

We view net interest income and related ratios and analyses on an FTE basis, which when presented on a consolidated basis, are non-GAAP financial measures. We believe managing the business with net interest income on an FTE basis provides a more accurate picture of the interest margin for comparative purposes. To derive the FTE basis, net interest income is adjusted to reflect tax-exempt income on an equivalent before-tax basis with a corresponding increase in income tax expense. For purposes of this calculation, we use the federal statutory tax rate of 35 percent. This measure ensures comparability of net interest income arising from taxable and tax-exempt sources.

Certain performance measures including the efficiency ratio and net interest yield utilize net interest income (and thus total revenue) on an FTE basis. The efficiency ratio measures the costs expended to generate a dollar of revenue, and net interest yield measures the bps we earn over the cost of funds.

We also evaluate our business based on certain ratios that utilize tangible equity, a non-GAAP financial measure. Tangible equity represents an adjusted shareholders' equity or common shareholders' equity amount which has been reduced by goodwill and intangible assets (excluding MSRs), net of related deferred tax liabilities. These measures are used to evaluate our use of equity. In addition, profitability, relationship and investment models use both return on average tangible common shareholders' equity and return on average tangible shareholders' equity as key measures to support our overall growth goals. These ratios are as follows:

The aforementioned supplemental data and performance measures are presented in Table 8 .