Regulators are considering raising the capital requirements on U.S. banks by 20%, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal newspaper.
Apparently, regulators are mulling the increased capital requirements after several mid-sized regional banks failed in the U.S. earlier this year.
According to the report in the Journal, regulators could announce the 20% increase to capital requirements by the end of June.
Last month, the U.S. Federal Reserve's top regulatory official told Congress that the central bank plans to raise the capital rules for American lenders this summer and ensure greater oversight following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and others.
The largest U.S. banks with sizable trading businesses are expected to face the biggest increases in their capital requirements.
Capital requirements refer to the amount of liquid capital (easily sold assets) that banks must keep on hand in relation to their total holdings.
U.S. bank stocks have underperformed the market this year due to uncertainty caused by the bank failures that occurred in March and April.
