Banks' Earnings Tell A Tale Of Cost Cutting

As big name banks report this earnings season, one theme has become painfully clear—

. Problems stemming from China's weakening economy and the tumble in commodity prices have left big name banks to fend for themselves by controlling the only thing they can; their own costs. Companies like

led the charge; the firm reported its largest ever annual profit in almost ten years due to an aggressive cost cutting program. Now, with worries about loan defaults on the horizon, other banks are following suit and hoping to mitigate losses by streamlining their expenses.

The energy sector's decline has posed a real problem for big banks as they've spend the past year keeping energy firms afloat with hefty credit lines. However, if prices continue to flounder, many banks say they will have to prepare for some massive loan defaults. In order to cope with this potential pitfall, big banks are planning to roll out cost cutting initiatives.

said it plans to do away with over $1 billion worth of expenses by the end of 2017 with an initiative called "Project Streamline." Bank of America is hoping to continue with its cost cutting efforts this year and

said it will reduce spending by eliminating voicemail and monitoring employees' printing habits.

Banking execs say their cost cutting initiatives focus on controlling the aspects of their firms' profitability that they can, as things like macroeconomic conditions and energy prices can't be changed. Another cost the banking sector has had to swallow is that of cybersecurity, which most companies have had to increase over the past few years as hacking attacks become more and more common.