Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest, is reporting its third-straight year of net losses due to a 1.4 billion-euro charge resulting from new U.S. corporate tax legislation.

The net loss was 497 million euros. The bank said Friday it would have shown a net profit of 900 million euros if it had not been forced to revalue deferred tax assets.

CEO John Cryan said earnings were helped by dwindling expenses for litigation resulting from past misconduct and by lower asset impairments. He said that "we are firmly on the path to producing growth and higher results."

The bank's fourth-quarter loss of 2.2 billion euros reflected the tax charge — but also weakness in key businesses such as bond and currency trading, where income fell 29 percent.