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Bank Dividends in Peril With Crisis Veterans Warning of Trouble

  • Thursday stress-test results may change Fed’s view on payouts
  • Joblessness, loan delinquencies, hunger statistics look gloomy
The Bank of America Tower stands in New York.

The Bank of America Tower stands in New York.

Photographer: Nina Westervelt/Bloomberg

A long-running clash over the ability of Wall Street banks to weather hard times and still pay shareholder dividends is gaining urgency as the number of Covid-19 cases ticks up and economic data remain gloomy.

Critics, including a number of government and Federal Reserve veterans of the 2008 financial crisis, say they’d rather see the banks marshal resources for a rocky road ahead than continue paying shareholders.