Biggest Banks Clear Their First Hurdle in Fed’s Stress Tests

Thirty-four of the largest banks operating in the U.S. cleared a Federal Reserve stress test of their ability to withstand economic shocks, showing firms are getting the hang of the once-dreaded reviews -- a trend that may continue if the Trump administration dials them back.

Every bank subject to the annual tests’ first phase exceeded minimum thresholds, though Morgan Stanley trailed the rest of Wall Street on a key measure of leverage -- the second year it performed worse than peers on one of the main metrics. Last year, during a second phase examining proposals to pay out capital to shareholders, the bank was forced to resubmit its plan to address a “material weakness.” Results from that round are due next week.