Double jeopardy: CCAR and the countercyclical buffer

Some US regulators want to hike capital while times are good; banks say Fed’s stress test already does

Mark Long, nbillustration.co.uk

The double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution forbids the government from prosecuting a citizen for the same offence twice. The protection is intended to prevent a government trying someone again and again until they obtain the outcome they want.  

No such legal shield exists for banks looking to ward off attempts by regulators to double up capital requirements for the same risk. This is why lenders are growing alarmed about certain voices at the US central bank