Fed stress tests show healthier banks

The U.S. Federal Reserve said the largest 18 U.S. banks have shown improved resilience as they distance themselves from the 2008 financial crisis. After the third round of bank "stress tests," in which the Fed presented the banks with hypothetical crisis scenarios, the Fed said in a statement Thursday "the nation's largest bank holding companies have continued to improve their ability to withstand an extremely adverse hypothetical economic scenario and are collectively in a much stronger capital position than before the financial crisis." Next week, in further action mandated by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the Fed will release its response to bank financial requests that include asking permission for share dividend and stock repurchasing plans. In the release Thursday, the Fed said only Ally Financial failed to meet its minimum standard for a capital-to-risk ratio. The Fed measured high quality capital against risk-weighted assets and was looking for a level above 5 percent. Some of Wall Street's flagship financial firms came close to 5 percent -- with Morgan Stanley at 5.7 percent, Goldman Sachs at 5.8 percent, JP Morgan Chase at 6.3 percent and Bank of America at 6.8 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ratio was 13.2 percent at Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and 12.8 percent at State Street Corp.