Economics
Fed Weighs Extending Bank Dividend Cap; Restarts Stress Test
- Agency considers prolonging limit on payouts until end of year
- Regulator’s new stress test scenarios influenced by pandemic
This article is for subscribers only.
The Federal Reserve, which just started a second round of Wall Street stress tests, is considering extending the unprecedented constraints on dividend payments and share buybacks it imposed on the biggest U.S. banks.
The Fed said in a statement Thursday that it will decide in the next two weeks whether to prolong the limits, which are scheduled to lapse at the end of the third quarter. Any extension through the end of the year would likely disappoint banks, as JPMorgan Chase & Co. has already indicated it might resume buybacks in the fourth quarter if allowed to by regulators.