US Regulators Reach Consensus on Relaxing Key Bank Capital Rule

U.S. financial regulators have reached consensus on the proposed plan to relax a key capital requirement for the country’s largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase JPM, Bank of America BAC, Goldman Sachs GS and Morgan Stanley MS. The finalized proposal has now been sent to the White House for review, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.

The move centers on adjustments to the enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) — a core element of the Basel III capital framework that dictates how much capital major financial institutions must hold against their assets.

The plan is expected to be formally adopted within weeks, pending approval from the administration.

Details of Proposed Plan

In June 2025, the Federal Reserve unveiled the proposal to reduce the total capital requirements for Global Systemically Important (GSIBs) banks like JPM, BAC, GS and MS by 1.4% (or $13 billion) and by as much as 27% (or $213 billion) for their depository subsidiaries.

The Fed had intended to replace the fixed 2% SLR buffer with one that equals half of each bank’s GSIB surcharge.

How Will Reduced Capital Requirements Help Banks?

Once the capital requirements are formally eased, banks like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will get more flexibility to expand operations, particularly in lending and Treasury trading.

It will help banks to support Treasury trading during times of market stress, while still maintaining adequate capital to ensure financial stability. Additionally, lower capital buffers may enhance banks’ profitability by freeing funds for investment or business expansion.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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