Big US banks should be able to meet tighter global capital requirements without having to raise substantial amounts of new equity, according to calculations by Barclays Capital.
The analysis by BarCap’s debt capital markets group estimates that the 35 largest US banks will have to come up with half as much new capital as had been expected following last month’s rewrite of proposed requirements by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
Analysts at Nomura calculated earlier this month that the top 16 European banks would also gain a sizeable, though slightly smaller, benefit. The numbers are likely to revive complaints that the reforms have been softened too much in the face of lobbying by banks.