The Obama administration is considering making some results of the stress test being conducted on the country’s largest banks, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move would highlight the stronger banks while simultaneously revealing weaker rivals.
Analysts quoted by the WSJ believe that the move could allow stronger banks to free themselves of government restraints and highlight those banks still reliant on federal aid.
The Treasury originally suggested it would defer to individual banks to disclose results, but some regulators are worried about banks selectively leaking information. The government hopes to curtail any leaks that could promote bias toward some banks.
It’s not clear what information the government would disclose. The data may not bank-specific but the government believes some amount of information needs to be released. Staff at various regulatory agencies have been discussing releasing information for several weeks.
Last month, Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan said “there will be definitely some information that will be provided” once regulators make their decisions. “Exactly what that will be and when it will be provided will come forth later,” he said at the time.
Several small banks have already repaid their bailout funds. Goldman Sachs Group successfully raised $5 billion in equity aimed at helping it repay the $10 trillion in Troubled Asset Relief Program capital it received in October.
A senior U.S. Treasury official told the WSJ that the government will accept repayment of rescue funds from any institution whose regulator dubs it healthy enough to operate without federal capital.