Individual "stress tests" may be unveiled

By Karey Wutkowski

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials are leaning towards announcing the "stress test" results of individual banks next week instead of just summary results, a source familiar with administration talks said on Thursday.

The markets are anxiously anticipating the results and the banks' recapitalization plans, which could dilute common shareholders at some firms. Regulators are expected to encourage some of the banks to boost their capital buffers by converting preferred shares to common equity.

The source, speaking anonymously because talks are ongoing, also said officials will likely release the capital requirements of the 19 financial firms at their holding company level, not just the needs of their banking units.

Some of the banks being tested, such as Bank of America, have large non-bank subsidiaries that were included in the assessments, the source said.

Regulators have stress-tested the 19 largest U.S. banks to determine their capital needs should economic conditions deteriorate further. The source said the announcement of the results has been pushed back, possibly to May 6.

The plan on exactly how to release the results "is not very far along," the source said, adding that regulators are looking to disclose a lot of supervisory information about banks that is usually kept confidential.

The information has the potential to alarm investors and send certain bank stocks lower, depending on how large the capital needs are found to be.

Officials have said banks will be encouraged to turn to their own stakeholders first to build capital by extending conversion offers to their preferred shareholders.