????周三，美聯儲（Federal Reserve）批準了美國30大銀行中25家的資本計劃，這是后者按要求進行的年度壓力測試進入最后環節后的步驟之一。

????在資本計劃遭到否決的銀行中，最引人注意的要屬花旗集團（Citigroup）。美聯儲表示，讓它感到擔心的是花旗無法預計自己在經濟極度滑坡時可能蒙受多少損失。五家銀行的資本計劃被否決，其中有三家是外國銀行的美國子公司。Zions Bancorp的資本計劃也遭到了美聯儲否決，而且也沒能通過上周的第一階段壓力測試。

????資本計劃被否定后，花旗和其他四家銀行明年將不能提高分紅或股票回購水平，而這一直是股東殷切期盼的東西。只是就外國銀行而言，美聯儲執行這條禁令的能力可能有限。

????此外，上周美聯儲私下要求美國銀行（Bank of America）和高盛（Goldman Sachs）重新提交資本計劃。美聯儲稱，如果不重新提交這項計劃，這兩家銀行本周也將無法通過壓力測試。按照它們原先提交的計劃，如果經濟再次極度衰退，分紅或股票回購方案將使美銀和高盛的一項關鍵財務指標降到美聯儲要求的最低水平以下。兩家銀行都在重新提交的資本計劃中下調了明年用于分紅和回購股票的資金規模，從而得到了美聯儲的批準。

????不過，本次壓力測試再次表明，這些美國一線銀行的情況遠好于金融危機爆發之際，甚至好于一年前。大多數銀行向美聯儲提交的計劃都增加了分紅或股票回購規模。這兩種行為一般都會推動股價上漲，而且會讓投資者歡欣鼓舞，但它們同時也會消耗彌補貸款或投資損失所需的資金。以前銀行可以在不怎么受監管的情況下提高分紅或股票回購水平。但金融危機爆發以來，它們每年都必須將分紅或股票回購計劃提交給美聯儲審批。

????大家都說，這幾年美聯儲的壓力測試越來越嚴格。幾個月來，美聯儲一直在告誡參與測試的銀行，后者的資本計劃會不會遭到否決不光取決于它們能否應付金融危機，還取決于它們針對金融危機所制定的計劃有多完善。看來花旗就是沒有達到后一項要求。

????這不是花旗第一次在美聯儲的壓力測試中艱難掙扎。兩年前，美聯儲也曾像今年這樣禁止花旗提高分紅或股票回購水平。但去年花旗在壓力測試中全面達標，而且完成測試后它的資本充足率在大型銀行中排名第一。今年美聯儲表示，雖然花旗有望在經濟急劇滑坡時幸存下來，但似乎無法“預測自己的很大一部分全球業務在面臨壓力時的收入和損失”。

????此外，美聯儲還指出，一段時間以來花旗一直知道美聯儲擔心哪些問題，但一直沒有采取任何措施來加以改善。舉例來說，花旗上周估算，如果出現美聯儲假設的極為不利的經濟環境，它的損失將接近240億美元。美聯儲則認為，花旗的損失可能會高達460億美元。

????首席執行官邁克爾?考伯特在花旗的公告中表示，他對美聯儲的決定“深感”失望。考伯特說：“新的資本行為所代表的資本回報率水平適中，而且仍能讓花旗達到所要求的量化限定值。”花旗提出的計劃是明年再投入52億美元資金回購股票，并將季度分紅水平提高到每股0.05美元。美聯儲則將它的季度分紅和股票回購水平分別限定在0.01美元和12億美元。

????The Federal Reserve approved the capital plans of 25 of the nation's 30 largest banks on Wednesday as part of the final leg of their annual required stress tests.

????Citigroup was the most notable bank among those that had their capital plans rejected. The Fed said it was troubled by Citi's inability to predict how much it could lose in an severe economic downturn. Three of the five other rejected plans were of U.S. subsidiaries of foreign banks. Zions Bancorp (ZION), which also failed the first part of the Fed's stress test process last week, also had its capital plan rejected.

????The rejections ban Citi and the four other banks from increasing their dividends or share repurchases for the next year, something shareholders have been eagerly anticipating. Although when it comes to the foreign banks, the Fed may have a limited ability to enforce that restriction.

????In addition, Bank of America (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS) were confidentially asked last week to resubmit their capital plans. The Fed said those banks would also have failed this week's stress test had they not resubmitted their plans. In both of those cases, the banks had proposed dividends or share repurchases that would have put them in jeopardy of falling below the minimum the Fed requires on a key financial ratio had the economy entered another severe recession. Both of the banks' resubmitted plans, which cut back how much money they would spend on dividends and share buybacks in the next year, were approved by the Fed.

????Still, the stress test showed, once again, that the nation's largest banks are in far better shape than they were going into the financial crisis, and better than they were even a year ago. Most banks submitted a plan to the Fed to increase their dividend or buy back shares. Both moves generally boost share prices and are cheered by investors but can deplete needed capital to cover losses from loans or bad investments. Banks used to be able to up these payouts without much oversight. But since the financial crisis, banks now have to get these distribution plans approved by the Fed each year.

????By all accounts, the Fed has made its stress tests more strict over the years. For the past few months, the Fed has warned banks that it might reject their capital plans not only on whether they could weather a financial crisis, but how well they did at planning for one. The later part is where it appears Citi failed.

????It's not the first time Citi (C) has struggled with the Fed's stress test. Two years ago, the bank was similarly barred from increasing its dividends or buying back shares. Last year, though, Citi came out of the stress test with a clean bill of health, and the highest post-stress test capital ratio of any of the big banks. This year, the Fed said that while Citi would likely be able to survive a severe downturn, the bank seemed unable to "project revenue and losses under a stressful scenario for a material portion of the bank's global operations."

????What's more, the Fed said Citi had been aware of the Fed's concerns for sometime, but had done nothing to improve them. Last week, for instance, Citi estimated it would have nearly $24 in losses in the Fed severe adverse economic scenario. The Fed said Citi could lose as much as $46 billion.

????In a statement, Citi's CEO Michael Corbat said he was "deeply" disappointed by the Fed's decision. "The additional capital actions represented a modest level of capital return and still allowed Citi to exceed the required threshold on a quantitative basis," said Corbat. Citi had asked to be able to spend an additional $5.2 billion on share repurchases in the next year, and up its quarterly dividend to $0.05 a share. Instead, the company's dividend will be stuck at $0.01. Share buybacks will be limited to $1.2 billion.