Stress tests

A top official at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions defended tougher underwriting rules blamed recently for a slump in the nation’s housing market, but left open the possibility that regulations could ease if conditions change.

Last year’s Dodd-Frank rollback facilitated the Chemical-TCF deal; the Fed is holding a conference this summer to discuss possible changes to the tests.

Seventy-eight percent of global banks now use regulatory stress tests to assess concentrations and set limits internally, according to a Deloitte survey to be released Wednesday. That's up from 67% in 2012. Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they use capital stress tests for strategy and business planning, up from 68%.

Fintechs are developing data-crunching, automated products that seek to help banks precisely calibrate capital levels. The banks' goal is to pass stress tests while maximizing returns to investors.

The post-Dodd-Frank era is one of rightsizing and tailoring rules, but a key bloc of the regulatory brain trust believes the U.S. still lacks mechanisms that could prove helpful in a crisis.

The plan would implement a congressional mandate that only the biggest banks must conduct internal stress tests.

One Federal Reserve governor’s push to use an untapped capital buffer to counteract potential losses is stoking concerns that such a maneuver could spook financial markets.

His knack for public policy, dedication to technological improvements once considered the province of big banks, and willingness to tear up a business model that he and his father built make him our top Best in Banking honoree.

The ratings agency said that it views rollbacks of stress-test comparisons and liquidity coverage ratio requirements as "negative" for banks with between $100 billion and $250 billion of assets.

In his second straight day of congressional testimony, the central bank’s top regulatory official was put on the defensive about a pending proposal to relieve regional banks from the toughest supervisory requirements.