Several banks at Morgan Stanley's financials conference—including Citizens Financial Group and Fifth Third Bancorp—said that corporate borrowers are becoming more cautious due to uncertainty about trade and interest rates, along with “overall economic unease.”

That may “suggest future pressure on loan growth,” Morgan Stanley analyst Ken Zerbe wrote in a note on midcap bank takeaways from his firm's event, which was held this week. He added that executives were “quick to point out” that commercial clients' concern isn't yet resulting in weak loan growth and that credit quality is still strong.

Other key takeaways: Banks are hedging their interest rate exposure, but it may be too late to help much. Recession isn't enough of a risk factor to deter banks from continuing buybacks. And New York legislation around rent-regulated apartments poses a “meaningful headwind” for New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) and Signature Bank.