The US Federal Reserve is considering proposals to raise the asset thresholds that determine when banks face stricter oversight requirements, according to sources cited by multiple outlets. The plan would adjust key cutoffs now tied to bank size, potentially lifting the current roughly $700 billion threshold to around $1 trillion, and raising other lower thresholds as well.
One report says the Fed may raise the lower threshold for certain requirements from about $100 billion to roughly $150 billion, while also increasing the higher threshold from about $700 billion to around $960 billion. The rationale reported across sources is that fewer banks would fall under the most onerous compliance regime, which could reduce costs for some lenders near the existing limits. Analysts highlighted possible second-order effects, including increased incentives for mid-sized banks to consolidate, with concerns that this could affect competition and raise systemic risk depending on how the changes are implemented.
