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management 2019s discussion and analysis j.p. morgan chase & co. 26 j.p. morgan chase & co. / 2003 annual report $41.7 billion. nii was reduced by a lower volume of commercial loans and lower spreads on investment securities. as a compo- nent of nii, trading-related net interest income of $2.1 billion was up 13% (13%) from 2002 due to a change in the composition of, and growth in, trading assets. the firm 2019s total average interest-earning assets in 2003 were $590 billion, up 6% (6%) from the prior year. the net interest yield on these assets, on a fully taxable-equivalent basis, was 2.10% (2.10%), compared with 2.09% (2.09%) in the prior year. noninterest expense year ended december 31.
| (in millions) | 2003 | 2002 | Change |
| --------- | --------- | --------- | --------- |
| Compensation expense | $11,695 | $10,983 | 6% |
| Occupancy expense | 1,912 | 1,606 | 19 |
| Technology and communications expense | 2,844 | 2,554 | 11 |
| Other expense | 5,137 | 5,111 | 1 |
| Surety settlement and litigation reserve | 100 | 1,300 | (92) |
| Merger and restructuring costs | — | 1,210 | NM |
| Total noninterest expense | $21,688 | $22,764 | (5)% |
technology and communications expense in 2003, technology and communications expense was 11% (11%) above the prior-year level. the increase was primarily due to a shift in expenses: costs that were previously associated with compensation and other expenses shifted, upon the commence- ment of the ibm outsourcing agreement, to technology and communications expense. also contributing to the increase were higher costs related to software amortization. for a further dis- cussion of the ibm outsourcing agreement, see support units and corporate on page 44 of this annual report. other expense other expense in 2003 rose slightly from the prior year, reflecting higher outside services. for a table showing the components of other expense, see note 8 on page 96 of this annual report. surety settlement and litigation reserve the firm added $100 million to the enron-related litigation reserve in 2003 to supplement a $900 million reserve initially recorded in 2002. the 2002 reserve was established to cover enron-related matters, as well as certain other material litigation, proceedings and investigations in which the firm is involved. in addition, in 2002 the firm recorded a charge of $400 million for the settlement of enron-related surety litigation. merger and restructuring costs merger and restructuring costs related to business restructurings announced after january 1, 2002, were recorded in their relevant expense categories. in 2002, merger and restructuring costs of $1.2 billion, for programs announced prior to january 1, 2002, were viewed by management as nonoperating expenses or 201cspecial items . 201d refer to note 8 on pages 95 201396 of this annual report for a further discussion of merger and restructuring costs and for a summary, by expense category and business segment, of costs incurred in 2003 and 2002 for programs announced after january 1, 2002. provision for credit losses the 2003 provision for credit losses was $2.8 billion lower than in 2002, primarily reflecting continued improvement in the quality of the commercial loan portfolio and a higher volume of credit card securitizations. for further information about the provision for credit losses and the firm 2019s management of credit risk, see the dis- cussions of net charge-offs associated with the commercial and consumer loan portfolios and the allowance for credit losses, on pages 63 201365 of this annual report. income tax expense income tax expense was $3.3 billion in 2003, compared with $856 million in 2002. the effective tax rate in 2003 was 33% (33%), compared with 34% (34%) in 2002. the tax rate decline was principally attributable to changes in the proportion of income subject to state and local taxes. compensation expense compensation expense in 2003 was 6% (6%) higher than in the prior year. the increase principally reflected higher performance-related incentives, and higher pension and other postretirement benefit costs, primarily as a result of changes in actuarial assumptions. for a detailed discussion of pension and other postretirement benefit costs, see note 6 on pages 89 201393 of this annual report. the increase pertaining to incentives included $266 million as a result of adopting sfas 123, and $120 million from the reversal in 2002 of previously accrued expenses for certain forfeitable key employ- ee stock awards, as discussed in note 7 on pages 93 201395 of this annual report. total compensation expense declined as a result of the transfer, beginning april 1, 2003, of 2800 employees to ibm in connection with a technology outsourcing agreement. the total number of full-time equivalent employees at december 31, 2003 was 93453 compared with 94335 at the prior year-end. occupancy expense occupancy expense of $1.9 billion rose 19% (19%) from 2002. the increase reflected costs of additional leased space in midtown manhattan and in the south and southwest regions of the united states; higher real estate taxes in new york city; and the cost of enhanced safety measures. also contributing to the increase were charges for unoccupied excess real estate of $270 million; this compared with $120 million in 2002, mostly in the third quarter of that year. .
Please compute the result.
what was the return on interest bearing assets in percentage, in 2003?
assistant
2.1
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and how much is that numerically?
assistant
0.021
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what was the pre-tax interest income in 2003?
assistant
590.0
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what is, then, the amount of this income that is represented by that return?
assistant
12.39