 "US banks pass stress tests, some with an asterisk")
All the large United States banks passed an annual regulatory test that aims to assess whether they can make it through a financial and economic calamity, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.
But Bank of America, the nation's second-largest bank by assets after JPMorgan Chase, passed only provisionally and could still fail later this year if it does not fix deficiencies that the Fed identified. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, which dominate Wall Street, each had to alter their planned payouts to investors to achieve passing grades.
The American units of Deutsche Bank, the German banking giant, and Santander of Spain failed the tests outright. The Fed conducted its so-called stress tests on 31 banks.
Bank of America's slip-up will most likely raise new questions about its ability to comply with new regulations that are intended to make the financial system safer. Bank of America passed the stress test last year and gained approval for its plan to make payouts to shareholders. But a few weeks after passing, the bank discovered errors that had led it to overstate its capital by $4 billion. The mistakes prompted the Fed to tell the bank to suspend its share buybacks and an increase in its dividend.
The Fed said that Bank of America stumbled this year because it had shown weaknesses in its internal controls and in how it had projected losses and revenue in the tests. Speaking in a call with reporters on Wednesday, a senior Fed official said that Bank of America's inadequacies were somewhat limited, which allowed the bank to avoid failing the so-called stress tests.
Bank of America found out on Wednesday that the Fed had given it only a provisional pass, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The bank announced after the results that it was planning a $4 billion stock buyback.
"We believe that this year's planned repurchase programme is the best way to continue to drive value for our shareholders, Brian T Moynihan, Bank of America's chief executive, said in a statement. "We are committed to meeting the requirements in the time frame the Fed has established."
But the Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation and Santander Holdings USA did fail because of broad and deep deficiencies in how they planned for adverse market conditions and an economic downturn. During a period of hypothetical stress, the banks have to show that they will have sufficient levels of capital, which reflects a bank's ability to absorb losses. It is the second consecutive year that Santander has failed. The Fed said Santander's capital planning process had "widespread and critical deficiencies."
In a statement, T Timothy Ryan Jr, a non-executive chairman at Santander, said, "We will continue to reinforce our governance and management to address our supervisor's qualitative concerns."
The Fed said that it found "numerous and significant deficiencies" in the Deutsche Bank unit's attempts to identify risks and to project losses and revenue, as well as in its internal controls.
"Deutsche Bank has hired 1,300 employees dedicated to ensuring that its systems and controls are best in class and has hired over 500 employees across its various control functions in the US," Deutsche Bank said in a statement.
The senior Fed official said that failing the stress tests would be considered in its wider efforts to supervise individual banks. Santander is a big lender to United States consumers. The Fed tested only a small portion of Deutsche Bank's American operations.
Citigroup passed this year, a result that will come as relief to its top managers, who faced criticism after the Fed failed the banking giant in 2014 for having a deficient disaster plan. Citigroup on Wednesday announced its intention to buy back as much as $7.8 billion of stock.
The stress tests were introduced after the 2008 financial crisis to ensure that the banks were better prepared for shocks and that they had enough capital.
Some bankers criticise the tests, contending that they are unpredictable, unnecessarily intrusive and have saddled them with new compliance costs. The Fed, however, sees the tests not only as a way to assess the banks' financial strength but also as a way of making the largest firms more alert to potential risks.
JPMorgan, Goldman and Morgan Stanley had to change their plans to pay out capital to pass the tests. Neither the Fed nor the banks stated the size of any reductions in the plans. It is the second consecutive year that Goldman had to resubmit its capital distribution plan. The bank declined to say how it had adjusted its plan. In its resubmitted request, JPMorgan announced its intention to buy back $6.4 billion of stock, less than it had requested. Morgan Stanley's adjustment involved withdrawing its request to pay back nearly $5 billion of preferred securities.
After the stress test results came out, Morgan Stanley announced a plan to buy back $3.1 billion of common stock. "Today's actions reflect the hard work of our employees over the last several years as we have been executing our strategic priorities," James P. Gorman, Morgan Stanley's chief executive, said in a statement.
But Bank of America, the nation's second-largest bank by assets after JPMorgan Chase, passed only provisionally and could still fail later this year if it does not fix deficiencies that the Fed identified. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, which dominate Wall Street, each had to alter their planned payouts to investors to achieve passing grades.
The American units of Deutsche Bank, the German banking giant, and Santander of Spain failed the tests outright. The Fed conducted its so-called stress tests on 31 banks.
Bank of America's slip-up will most likely raise new questions about its ability to comply with new regulations that are intended to make the financial system safer. Bank of America passed the stress test last year and gained approval for its plan to make payouts to shareholders. But a few weeks after passing, the bank discovered errors that had led it to overstate its capital by $4 billion. The mistakes prompted the Fed to tell the bank to suspend its share buybacks and an increase in its dividend.
The Fed said that Bank of America stumbled this year because it had shown weaknesses in its internal controls and in how it had projected losses and revenue in the tests. Speaking in a call with reporters on Wednesday, a senior Fed official said that Bank of America's inadequacies were somewhat limited, which allowed the bank to avoid failing the so-called stress tests.
Bank of America found out on Wednesday that the Fed had given it only a provisional pass, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The bank announced after the results that it was planning a $4 billion stock buyback.
"We believe that this year's planned repurchase programme is the best way to continue to drive value for our shareholders, Brian T Moynihan, Bank of America's chief executive, said in a statement. "We are committed to meeting the requirements in the time frame the Fed has established."
But the Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation and Santander Holdings USA did fail because of broad and deep deficiencies in how they planned for adverse market conditions and an economic downturn. During a period of hypothetical stress, the banks have to show that they will have sufficient levels of capital, which reflects a bank's ability to absorb losses. It is the second consecutive year that Santander has failed. The Fed said Santander's capital planning process had "widespread and critical deficiencies."
In a statement, T Timothy Ryan Jr, a non-executive chairman at Santander, said, "We will continue to reinforce our governance and management to address our supervisor's qualitative concerns."
The Fed said that it found "numerous and significant deficiencies" in the Deutsche Bank unit's attempts to identify risks and to project losses and revenue, as well as in its internal controls.
"Deutsche Bank has hired 1,300 employees dedicated to ensuring that its systems and controls are best in class and has hired over 500 employees across its various control functions in the US," Deutsche Bank said in a statement.
The senior Fed official said that failing the stress tests would be considered in its wider efforts to supervise individual banks. Santander is a big lender to United States consumers. The Fed tested only a small portion of Deutsche Bank's American operations.
Citigroup passed this year, a result that will come as relief to its top managers, who faced criticism after the Fed failed the banking giant in 2014 for having a deficient disaster plan. Citigroup on Wednesday announced its intention to buy back as much as $7.8 billion of stock.
The stress tests were introduced after the 2008 financial crisis to ensure that the banks were better prepared for shocks and that they had enough capital.
Some bankers criticise the tests, contending that they are unpredictable, unnecessarily intrusive and have saddled them with new compliance costs. The Fed, however, sees the tests not only as a way to assess the banks' financial strength but also as a way of making the largest firms more alert to potential risks.
JPMorgan, Goldman and Morgan Stanley had to change their plans to pay out capital to pass the tests. Neither the Fed nor the banks stated the size of any reductions in the plans. It is the second consecutive year that Goldman had to resubmit its capital distribution plan. The bank declined to say how it had adjusted its plan. In its resubmitted request, JPMorgan announced its intention to buy back $6.4 billion of stock, less than it had requested. Morgan Stanley's adjustment involved withdrawing its request to pay back nearly $5 billion of preferred securities.
After the stress test results came out, Morgan Stanley announced a plan to buy back $3.1 billion of common stock. "Today's actions reflect the hard work of our employees over the last several years as we have been executing our strategic priorities," James P. Gorman, Morgan Stanley's chief executive, said in a statement.
©2015 The New York Times News Service