U.S. Regulators Propose to Increase Capital Cushion for Banks

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The banks in the Unites States would be required to improve capital cushion against unexpected losses as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), along with other two agencies, approved on Tuesday to seek comment on new capital rules.

Under these new regulatory rules, proposed by the FDIC, the U.S. Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the minimum core capital ratio of U.S. banks would be required to increase to 7 percent from the current 2 percent.

The FDIC also finalized rules for additional capital requirements for banks that hold at least 1 billion U.S. dollars in assets such as complex financial derivatives that they trade with other banks.

Though nearly all U.S. banks have already met the new requirements, they still opposed the proposals strongly, saying that larger capital reserves could limit what they could lend and would hurt their profit.

The rules, mandated under the 2010 financial overhaul, are expected to be introduced in 2013 and be effective in 2019.