Fed lets banks restart stock buybacks following stress test

Stress test results announced by the Fed

Stress test from the Federal Reserve.

• Banks will be permitted to pay dividends and buy back stock on a limited basis in Q1
• Banks have enough capital to withstand over USD 600B in losses from a short sharp economic slump as well as a moderate longer lasting downturn.
• Divedends and buybacks are not allowed to exceed its net income for the last year
• It will not use the new results to tweak how much it ordered each bank to hold as a stress capital buffer following the previous test results

In the after hours:

• JP Morgan intends to maintain quarterly stock dividend of $0.90 per share and authorizes new share buyback program of $30 billion