Fed’s Covid stress tests strain top banks’ leverage ratios

The Federal Reserve said the largest US banks have enough capital to withstand a prolonged Covid-induced recession following a second round of stress tests. But five lenders were projected to eat into their leverage capital buffers under the central bank’s severely adverse scenario.

Thirty-three banks participated in the exercise, which followed the Fed’s regular stress test cycle and a special coronavirus sensitivity analysis in June. Firms were assessed using a severely adverse scenario and