The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) reported an income of $712m, or $0.59 per common share in Q409. The gains come after a $2.4bn loss in Q309 and a $50m loss in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the full year of 2009, BNY Mellon had a $1bn loss for continuing operations, or $0.93 per common share, compared to a net income of $1.3bn, or $1.21 per common share, for 2008. “We saw excellent growth in asset and wealth management revenues this quarter, which benefited from long-term flows, the contribution from Insight Investment Management, higher equity values and stronger investment performance.  However, the persistent low interest rate environment globally increasingly challenged our net interest revenue and fee revenue,” said Robert Kelly, chairman and CEO of BNY Mellon. BNY’s assets totaled $22.3trn at the end of the quarter, an increase of 10% compared with the previous year, and assets under management increased 20% to $1.1trn. The BNY acquisition of Insight Investment Management in Q409 caused the increases. Nonperforming assets decreased 1.7% to $550m in the quarter. The BNY provision for credit losses decreased to $65m in Q409 from $147m in the previous quarter, reflecting fewer downgrades in Q409. BNY posted a Tier 1 capital ratio of 12%, and a Tier 1 common equity, or stock, to risk-weighted assets ratio of 10.5% in Q409. “In 2009, we completed our merger, raised equity and repaid TARP, successfully completed the restructuring of our investment securities portfolio and ended the year with strong capital ratios,” Kelly said. Write to Jon Prior. The author holds no relevant investments