![]() Subscribe to Dollars & Sense magazine. Recent articles related to the financial crisis. Biggest Banks Need $75 Billion MoreThe results of the "stress tests" are in.According to the results, the biggest banks need $75 billion in additional capital to ride out a "prolonged downturn" (as opposed to whatever it was we've just been through and all the money we've loaned out). The Washington Post has a handy chart here. The biggest potential losers are Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and GMAC. However, according to former banking regulator and S&L scandal prosecutor William Black, the tests are a "complete sham" that don't go nearly far enough. If they really tested banks properly they would show a collective hole of $2 Trillion (yes, capital "t"), and force banks to massively increase their capitalization rates. Read the article here and the interview here, as well as Black's amazing article for D&S way back from 2007. --d.f. Labels: bank stress testing, banking crisis, banking system, Daniel Fireside, stress tests, William Black, William K. Black |