WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. banks with more than 10 billion U.S. dollars in assets will need to conduct an annual stress test, said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Tuesday.
The final rule, authorized by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, requires all banks with total consolidated assets of above 50 billion dollars to start an annual company-run stress test this year, said the FDIC in a statement.
But the rule delays implementation for those with assets between 10 billion and 50 billion dollars until October 2013. The FDIC is expected to release stress-testing scenarios in November.
U.S. banks will use data as of Sept. 30, 2012 to do the test, and results are due in January 2013, said the FDIC.
As of June 30, 2012, there were 108 banks with more than 10 billion dollars in assets, and 19 with more than 50 billion dollars. Stress tests help the FDIC identify, monitor and address risks in the U.S. banking system, said the statement.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, or the central bank in charge of regulating the country's largest banks, also confirmed on Tuesday that it will carry out a new round of banking stress test on the nation's biggest 19 banks, with a view to guarding against another financial market meltdown.
"Implementation of the Dodd-Frank stress test requirement is an important step in the Federal Reserve's efforts to promote the health of the financial sector," said Daniel Tarullo, governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
"Stress testing is a key tool to ensure that financial companies have enough capital to weather a severe economic downturn without posing a risk to their communities, other financial institutions, or to the general economy," Tarullo added.
After the outbreak of the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed initiated the annual Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review ( CCAR) in late 2010 to assess the capital adequacy and internal capital planning processes of the 19 largest U.S. banks, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.
Following the previous round of CCAR, the Fed announced in March 2012 that several major U.S. banks including Citigroup and SunTrust failed the test.
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