News release: “The Federal Reserve Board is seeking comment on a proposal to require top-tier U.S. bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or greater to submit annual capital plans for review. The aim of the capital plan review, which builds on the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) conducted earlier this year, is to ensure that institutions have robust, forward-looking capital planning processes that account for their unique risks and that permit continued operations during times of economic and financial stress. Institutions would be expected to have credible plans to have sufficient capital so that they can continue to lend to households and businesses, even under adverse conditions. Boards of directors of the institutions would be required each year to review and approve capital plans before submitting them to the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve would evaluate institutions’ plans to make capital distributions, such as increasing dividend payments or repurchasing or redeeming stock, as part of the capital plan reviews. In some cases, such as when institutions’ capital plans have been rejected by the Federal Reserve, firms would be required to receive approval from the Federal Reserve before making capital distributions.”