UK banks well placed to handle economic stress - FSA

A combination of four photographs shows (top L-R) a worker silhouetted against an illuminated sign in a branch of HSBC; Two people walking out of the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland; (bottom L-R) a Lloyds bank branch near St Paul's Cathedral and a customer using a Barclays ATM, in central London July 23, 2010.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's banks are well-placed to handle further periods of economic stress, the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulator said on Friday.

The four UK banks which passed a European banking industry stress test were HSBC (HSBA.L) (0005.HK), Barclays (BARC.L) and the part-nationalised companies Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L).

Analysts had widely expected the British banks to pass the stress test.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by Myles Neligan)