Regional Banks Due For Relief in Fed Stress-Testing Plan

Midsize banks such as BB&T, Fifth Third, Regions and SunTrust would receive less scrutiny from the Federal Reserve under proposed changes to the annual stress tests required of systemically important financial institutions.

Banks with less than $250 billion in assets would be exempt from the qualitative review portion of the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR), Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said in a Sept. 26 speech. The regulator also wants to reduce the amount of data midsize banks are required to submit for the purpose of running the stress test.

The changes would apply to midsize or regional banks under ...