Major Banks Pass 2025 Stress Test: Bigger Payouts in the Cards?

Core Insights - The annual stress test results indicate that all 22 tested banks passed, demonstrating strong capital levels under a less severe scenario compared to the previous year [1][7] - The Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision confirmed that large banks are well-capitalized and resilient to severe economic outcomes [1] Group 1: Stress Test Overview - The Federal Reserve conducts annual stress tests to assess the largest U.S. banks' ability to withstand significant economic downturns, determining minimum capital requirements and influencing share repurchases and dividends [2] - The stress test evaluates banks' financial resilience by estimating losses, revenues, expenses, and resulting capital levels under hypothetical economic conditions, including baseline and severely adverse scenarios [3] Group 2: Details of This Year's Test - This year's severely adverse scenario included a smaller increase in the unemployment rate and a less severe decline in house prices compared to the previous year [4] - All 22 banks maintained capital levels above the required threshold in a scenario where GDP contracts by 8%, commercial real estate prices decline by 30%, house prices drop by 33%, and the unemployment rate rises to 10% [5] Group 3: Capital Ratios and Loss Projections - The minimum common equity tier 1 capital ratio required to pass the test is 4.5%, while the banks collectively had a ratio of 11.6% during the stress scenario, absorbing projected hypothetical losses exceeding $550 billion [6] - Projected losses included approximately $158 billion in credit card losses, $124 billion from commercial and industrial loans, and $52 billion from commercial real estate [6] Group 4: Regulatory Implications - With all banks passing the stress test, they are positioned to issue dividends and buy back shares, returning capital to investors [7] - The Federal Reserve proposed easing capital rules, potentially freeing up $213 billion for bank subsidiaries and enhancing profitability [7][11] Group 5: Proposed Regulatory Changes - The Fed's proposal aims to reduce capital requirements for Global Systemically Important Banks (GSIBs) by 1.4% or $13 billion, and for depository institution subsidiaries by 27% or $213 billion [11] - The proposed changes would replace current enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) buffers with a new structure based on each bank's GSIB surcharge, allowing banks more flexibility in managing low-risk assets [12]