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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Federal regulators tell 10 banks to raise $75 billion

‘Stress test’ premised on further downturn

A woman makes signs during an antiforeclosure rally Thursday in Oakland, Calif. Some of the nation’s largest banks will be scrambling to demonstrate that they can raise capital after results of government stress tests showed many need more capital.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Daniel Wagner And Jeannine Aversa Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The government’s long-awaited “stress-test” results show the financial system, like the overall economy, is healing but not yet healed.

Ten of the nation’s 19 largest banks need a total of about $75 billion in new capital to withstand losses in case the recession gets worse, according to the Federal Reserve’s findings, released Thursday.

Some of the largest banks are stable, the tests found. Others need billions more in capital. Government officials have said a stronger banking system is needed for an economic rebound.

Among the 10 banks that need to raise more capital, Bank of America Corp. needs by far the most – $33.9 billion. Wells Fargo & Co. needs $13.7 billion, GMAC LLC $11.5 billion, Citigroup Inc. $5.5 billion and Morgan Stanley $1.8 billion.

The five other firms found to need more of a capital cushion are all regional banks – Regions Financial Corp. of Birmingham, Ala.; SunTrust Banks Inc. of Atlanta; KeyCorp of Cleveland; Fifth Third Bancorp of Cincinnati; and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. of Pittsburgh.

The banks will have until June 8 to develop a plan and have it approved by their regulators. If they can’t raise the money on their own, the government said it’s prepared to dip further into its bailout fund.

The stress tests are a big part of the Obama administration’s plan to fortify the financial system. As home prices fell and foreclosures increased, banks took huge hits on mortgages and mortgage-related securities they were holding.

The government hopes the stress tests will restore investors’ confidence that not all banks are weak, and that even those that are can be strengthened. They have said none of the banks will be allowed to fail.

Among the banks that the government did not ask to raise more capital were JPMorgan Chase & Co., brokerage house Goldman Sachs Group Inc., insurer MetLife Inc. and credit card companies Capital One Financial Corp. and American Express Co.

Together, the 19 firms that took the test hold two-thirds of the assets and half the loans in the U.S. banking system.

Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley said they’ll try to raise billions in fresh capital. Meanwhile, American Express became the first major financial institution to formally request permission to return federal bailout money provided under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

Separately, Citigroup said it’s planning to convert an extra $5.5 billion of preferred shares – a kind of debt – into common stock after the stress tests determined it needs an equal amount in fresh capital.

The tests found that if the recession were to worsen, losses at the 19 stress-tested firms during 2009 and 2010 could total $600 billion. Of those losses, $185.5 billion would be from mortgages, $82.4 billion from credit card loans and $53 billion from commercial real estate loans – the loans on banks’ books that analysts say are now most vulnerable to default.

“Looking at the big picture, you can say that things aren’t so bad for the financial industry as a whole,” said Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist at Dresdner Kleinwort.

But Logan said attracting fresh capital will be a challenge for banks that need it.

“The banking industry is not going to make a lot of money going forward, and that’s a dilemma for keeping banks solvent and getting them lending,” he said.

Large and regional bank stocks mostly rallied in after-hours trading as investors showed relief over the results. Bank of America rose 9.2 percent to $14.75, while JPMorgan gained 1.5 percent to $35.77. Fifth Third Bancorp advanced 23.4 percent to $6.60, while Boston’s State Street Corp. jumped to $40.90, a gain of 8.1 percent.

The government’s unprecedented decision to publicly release bank exams has led some critics to question whether the findings are credible. Some said regulators seemed so intent on sustaining public confidence in the banks that the results would have to find the banks basically healthy, even if some need to raise more capital.

Jaidev Iyer, a former risk management chief at Citigroup, said regulators are playing to public expectations, which could put the government in the role of creating “winners and losers.” Because the government has said it won’t let any firm fold, taxpayers may wind up on the hook.

“If there is in fact no appetite to let losers fail, then the real losers are the market at large, the government and the taxpayers,” Iyer said.

In the tests, the Fed put banks through a scenario that imagines how they would fare if the recession worsened. It imagined that joblessness would hit 10.3 percent next year and house prices would fall more than 22 percent.

Some analysts have questioned whether the tests were rigorous enough. For example, economists expect the jobless rate to approach or exceed 10 percent by year’s end – and to go higher next year – even if the recession doesn’t worsen.

A steeper downturn would make it harder for consumers and businesses to repay loans, which would cause banks’ assets to lose value. The government is forcing the banks to keep their capital reserves up so they can keep lending even if the economic picture darkens.

Banks that need capital have several options. Some would be able to close the gap by converting the government’s debt into common stock.

“These tests will help ensure that banks have a sufficient capital cushion to continue lending in a more adverse economic scenario,” said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. “They will provide the transparency necessary for individuals and markets to judge the strength of the banking system.”

Describing the purpose of the tests, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said at a news conference with Geithner, “This is to make sure banks have enough capital to offset the losses we know are coming in the next couple of years.”