All big US banks pass Fed’s annual ‘stress tests’
By KEN SWEET
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s 3 biggest banks have enough capital to withstand a severe economic contraction. That’s according the Federal Reserve’s latest annual “stress tests” of the U.S. financial system. The Fed built a scenario under which the nation’s unemployment rate would more than double to 10%, and a severe contraction in commercial real estate and stock market values would cause losses of more than $600 billion. The Fed said that even in with those variables, the 33 largest banks would still on average have a capital ratio 9.7%, well above the 4.5% required by law.
