Federal Reserve Board Publishes Stress Test Rules
On October 12, 2012, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System published Federal Register notice of final rules implementing Supervisory and Company-Run Stress Test Requirements for Covered Companies. These rules respond to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires the Board to conduct annual stress tests of bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more and nonbank financial companies that the Financial Stability Oversight Council designates for supervision by the Board. This rule is effective November 16, 2012.

In the same Federal Register notice, the Board published different stress test rules that require financial companies with total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion, and for which the Board is the primary federal financial regulatory agency, to conduct stress tests on an annual basis. This final rule does not apply to any banking organization with total consolidated assets of less than $10 billion. Furthermore, implementation of the stress testing requirements for bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, and state member banks with total consolidated assets of greater than $10 billion but less than $50 billion, is delayed until September 2013.