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Government Delays Stress Test Results

The government has delayed a planned release of stress test results of the 19 largest banks until May 7, according to a government official.

Federal regulators had been expected to release results on Monday. The announcement is likely to come late in the day, after the markets close, sources said.

The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Board, and the banks being tested will jointly release the results of the tests. The government has been wrangling over how much information will satisfy the market but does not want to reveal too much individual bank information.

Treasury has been conducting the tests to determine how much capital the banks need to lend under adverse economic conditions. Banks that need capital will have six months to raise the capital from the private market before turning to the government for assistance.(/P)(/FONT)

Reports have already revealed that the tests found Citigroup and Bank of America will need more assistance. But roughly two-thirds of the companies effectively passed the test and will not require additional capital, according to sources. The majority of the six or so that require capital improvement will convert their preferred government shares to common stock. Only a few banks will require more government funds, sources said.

Regulators announced plans to conduct the stress tests two months ago as part of a plan to assess capital positions at the biggest companies if economic conditions continue to deteriorate.

The tests relied on two scenarios, one a baseline scenario of expected conditions in the next two years, and the other a more adverse scenario.

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