Kicking off the earnings season, JP Morgan has today released its financial results for the first quarter of 2015.

JP Morgan has today reported that net income for the first quarter of 2015 was $5.9 billion, up by $645 million - or 12 per cent - from the prior year, driven by higher revenue, the US firm said.

Net revenue rose to $24.8 billion – an increase of $967 million compared with the prior year, propelled primarily by strong performance in the corporate and investment bank.

Net income from asset management was $502 million, up by $48 million from the prior year (reflecting higher revenue) but down from $540 million in the previous quarter.

Total assets under management rose by $111 billion to $1.8 trillion during the year due to net inflows to long-term and liquidity products and the effect of higher market levels. AuM from private banking clients increased by 17 per cent to $440 billion.

The provision for credit losses was $959 million, which is $109 million higher than a year ago despite $217 million of lower net charge-offs, it added.

The results for the latest quarter also include an after-tax charge of $487 million for legal expenses.

As noted by the Wall Street Journal, JP Morgan disclosed in February that it is in discussions with the US Department of Justice over an investigation into alleged manipulation in foreign exchange markets. In November, it paid $1 billion to US and UK regulators to resolve probes into the same conduct.

The bank's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, reportedly wrote in his annual letter to shareholders last week that legal expenses "should normalize in 2016," the WSJ said.