‘Too big to fail’ banks ‘need’ $1.2 trillion

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‘Too big to fail’ banks ‘need’ $1.2 trillion

November 9th, 2015

Awake Goy

Global financial regulators Monday issued new rules that are designed to prevent a failing big bank from dragging down the entire financial system. That’s what happened in 2008 when Lehman Brothers imploded, sparking the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The rules call for the 30 biggest banks in the world to boost their capital cushions, the loss-absorbing cash they have to set aside for financial storms.

“The idea is to make it more expensive to be big,” said Christopher Baker, a credit analyst covering banks at Morningstar.

Too Big to Fail rules

These stricter requirements affect American giants like JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC)and Goldman Sachs (GS) as well as European behemoths like HSBC (HSBC) and Barclays.

Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan are the U.S. banks most vulnerable to the new G20 rules, Morningstar’s Baker said. He estimates Wells Fargo may need to raise up to $30 billion, while JPMorgan could need $25 billion.

The Financial Stability Board, a watchdog created by the G20 after the last crisis, said total loss absorbing capacity must equal 16% of a bank’s assets by 2019. That requirement then rises to 18% by 2022.