Regulation

Nine of the 12 largest banking companies in the U.S. proposed higher quarterly payouts to shareholders. In announcing the actions, the banks touted their strength after more than a year of economic dislocation.

Some of the 23 large banks that participated in last week’s stress tests will be better positioned to reward shareholders than others, since they padded their capital amid the pandemic. Still, all are expected to tread cautiously amid ongoing economic uncertainty.

Four companies — Regions Financial, MUFG Americas Holdings and the U.S. arms of the Royal Bank of Canada, BMO Financial— felt they had something to prove to the Federal Reserve after being assigned higher capital buffers than most of their peers last year. Will their decisions pay off for shareholders?

The Federal Reserve found that under its harshest stress-test scenario, bank capital ratios would decline to 10.6% on average — well above the 4.5% minimum requirement. Restrictions imposed on dividend payments and share repurchases during the economic crisis last year will be lifted after June 30.

The House voted on Thursday to dismantle a Trump-era rule that sought to make it easier for national banks to make and sell loans through fintech partnerships.

The Community Home Lenders Association has called for suspension of federal limits on the loan volumes that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase from individual lenders. The demand came on the same day that the Biden administration fired FHFA Director Mark Calabria and started the process of nominating his successor.

The cloud-based software vendor has completed a $10 million funding round through BlackFin Capital Partners and Picus Capital.

The biggest U.S. banks, led by JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, are expected to pay out $142 billion in capital to shareholders after clearing this year’s stress tests.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued a proposal this month laying out how banks should treat cryptocurrencies held on their balance sheets. It could give stablecoins, which are tied to traditional assets, an edge over more volatile digital assets like Bitcoin.

President Joe Biden plans to meet with regulators on Monday to discuss the health of the system they oversee and how his administration’s priorities, including on climate change and inclusion, can best be addressed.