Some big US banks plan to sue Fed over annual stress testing

On December 24th, according to CNBC, a person familiar with the matter said that several large banks are planning to sue the Federal Reserve over the annual bank stress testing. The person said that the lawsuit is expected to be filed this week, possibly as early as Tuesday morning local time. The Fed's stress testing is an annual routine that requires banks to reserve sufficient buffers for non-performing loans and stipulates the size of stock repurchases and dividends. After the market closed on Monday, the Federal Reserve announced in a statement that it plans to make adjustments to bank stress testing, but it did not elaborate on the specific changes to the annual stress testing framework. But these adjustments may not be enough to allay banks' concerns about onerous capital requirements. Because the Fed said: "These proposed changes are not intended to have a material impact on overall capital requirements." Greg Bell, chief executive of the Bank Policy Institute (BPI), which represents big banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, welcomed the Fed's announcement, saying in a statement: "Today's announcement by the Fed is a first step towards transparency and accountability." However, Bell also hinted at further action: "We are carefully studying this statement and considering additional steps to ensure timely reform that is consistent with both law and policy."