Capital brief: Fed Slightly Alters Reserve Requirements

requirements for large banks, and cut them for small ones. Institutions keep reserves against the amount in net transaction accounts, which include demand deposits and certificates of deposit. The more deposits, the more money the bank must leave with the Fed as reserves. The Fed now will require banks to hold 10% in reserve for any deposits above $52 million. The previous threshold for the 10% requirement was $54 million. The Fed also raised the cutoff for deposits not subject to a reserve requirement by $100,000, to $4.3 million. Deposits between $4.3 million and $52 million are subject to a 3% reserve requirement. The result of the changes, which take effect Dec. 19, will be a $137,000 hike in reserve requirements for banks with net transaction deposits of $54 million or more, and a $3,000 cut for banks with deposits of $52 million or less.