Fed Seeks to Bolster Confidence in U.S. Banks With Stress Tests

The Federal Reserve sought to bolster confidence in the U.S. banking system as concerns over the European sovereign-debt crisis roil financial markets and pose risks to the economic expansion. The Fed yesterday told the 31 largest U.S. banks to test their loan portfolios against a deep recession to ensure they have enough capital to withstand losses. Banks with large trading operations will also test against a European market shock. The most severe scenarios outlined by the Fed include an unemployment rate of as much as 13 percent, an 8 percent drop in gross domestic product and a 52 percent plunge in stocks from the third quarter of 2011 to the fourth quarter of 2012. “This is a daunting test,” said Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner at Federal Financial Analytics, a Washington regulatory research firm whose clients include the largest banks. “The Fed’s credibility as a tough guy can’t be challenged based on this.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-11-23/fed-seeks-to-bolster-confidence-in-31-largest-u-s-banks-with-stress-tests.html