New York • The largest U.S. banks — from JPMorgan Chase to Bank of America — have been busy settling lawsuits with investors in the second quarter, casting a pall over their upcoming financial results.

Banks start reporting earnings on Thursday, with the healthiest of the large banks, JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Most Wall Street analysts fear that second quarter earnings will be hurt by settlements with investors over poor-quality mortgage and municipal bonds. There's also been a slowdown in trading of stocks, bonds and other securities, which has led several banks to cut jobs. Investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has already informed the New York Department of Labor that it plans to eliminate 230 jobs beginning in September.

Keith Horowitz, a Citigroup analyst, warned that fixed-income revenue at the country's largest banks probably dropped 30 percent, compared with the first quarter. He estimates equities trading declined 15 percent. Many investors have cut back on trading because of the uncertainty surrounding the European debt crisis. Both bits of bad news will hurt results at banks with large trading desks such as Goldman, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.

Then there are the massive settlements banks agreed to in an effort to clear up problems leftover from questionable mortgages and investment banking deals. Among them, on June 29, BofA announced the largest bank settlement on record. It agreed to pay $8.5 billion to a group of investors for writing poor-quality mortgage bonds that were packaged and then sold as securities. On July 6, Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to pay $125 million to a group of pension funds and other investors to settle allegations the bank failed to warn them of the risks of poorly written mortgage-backed securities.

Here is the consensus of bank analysts surveyed by FactSet, and highlights for some of the largest banks. JPMorgan Chase is expected to earn $1.22 per share on revenue of $25 billion. Citigroup Inc. is expected to report earnings of 96 cents per share on revenue of $19.8 billion. BofA is forecast to report a loss of 86 cents per share on revenue of $19.6 billion. The bank has already warned that its massive settlement and related costs will mean a $14 billion charge in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is expected to earn $2.43 per share on revenue of $8.2 billion. Wells Fargo & Co. is expected to earn 69 cents a share on revenue of $20.4 billion. Morgan Stanley is expected to earn 37 cents a share on revenue of $8 billion.