It is barely nine months since the collapse of Lehman Brothers ushered in one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression. But for the strongest banks, the second quarter of 2009, which closed on Tuesday, has confirmed the upbeat trends of the first quarter.

While banks such as Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS continue to find life difficult, thriving rivals – JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse – .