Federal Reserve Board Releases Stress Test Results

Federal Reserve Capital Requirements

On March 7, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) released summary results of stress tests conducted for the 18 largest banks. This is the third round of stress tests conducted by the FRB, but the first conducted under new Dodd-Frank Act stress test requirements. According to the FRB, under the severe, nine-quarter hypothetical scenario, projected losses at the 18 bank holding companies would total $462 billion, and the aggregate tier 1 common capital ratio would fall from an actual 11.1 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014. The FRB assures that despite the large hypothetical declines, the aggregate post-stress capital ratio exceeds the actual aggregate tier 1 common ratio of approximately 5.6 percent prior to the government stress tests conducted in the midst of the financial crisis.