Joint Release/Agencies Issue Final Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test Guidance for Medium-Sized Firms — 2014-03-05

Three federal bank regulatory agencies are issuing final guidance describing supervisory expectations for stress tests conducted by financial companies with total consolidated assets between $10 billion and $50 billion. These medium-sized companies are required to conduct annual, company-run stress tests under rules issued by the agencies in October 2012 to implement a provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. These companies are required to perform their first stress tests under the Dodd-Frank Act by March 31, The agencies' stress test rules are flexible to accommodate different risk profiles, sizes, business mixes, market footprints, and complexity for companies in the $10 billion to $50 billion asset range. Consistent with this flexibility, the final guidance describes general supervisory expectations for these companies' Dodd-Frank Act stress tests, and, where appropriate, provides examples of practices that would be consistent with those expectations.