FDIC, OCC Extend Comment Period for Stress Test Rule

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are giving banks more time to comment on proposed stress-testing requirements for depository institutions.

Under the Dodd-Frank Act, institutions with more than $10 billion must complete annual stress tests using standards established by their primary regulator. This is in addition to tests required for the largest financial companies — those with over $50 billion in assets — managed by the Federal Reserve Board.

In January, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency each proposed stress test standards for institutions they supervise with over $10 billion in assets. Both agencies had originally given institutions until late March to comment on their respective proposals, but the FDIC and OCC have both extended their comment periods to April 30. (The Fed, which included its stress-test standards in a broader proposal implementing Dodd-Frank provisions, had also taken steps to extend its comment period to the end of next month.)

"The FDIC believes that it is important to allow parties more time to consider the impact of the proposed rule, and that such an extension will facilitate further public comment on the proposed rule," the agency said last week.