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List of 'Stressed' Area Banks Grows
Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:54 AM


(Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)trackingBy Jim Gallagher, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

May 14--Two more banks in St. Louis would need more capital if the federal government's "stress tests" were applied to smaller institutions, according to the bank analysis firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

The firm concluded that Enterprise Financial, parent of Enterprise Bank, would need $85 million more in capital under a scenario in which the recession becomes much worse. They said Marshall & Ilsley, the Milwaukee parent of Southwest Bank in St. Louis, would need $1.2 billion more.

The analysis firm found that Pulaski Bank and UMB Bank would need no extra capital.

A spokesman for Enterprise said the bank questioned some of the figures used by KBW and is trying to get clarification. "It looks like some of the numbers may not be exactly right," he said. The bank has not announced plans to raise capital.

Marshall & Ilsley said it does not comment on analysts' reports. But the bank noted that it has $1.8 billion more in capital than it needs to be considered "well-capitalized" under current federal guidelines.

The Treasury and the Federal Reserve applied the stress tests to the nation's 19 largest banks. Among those with large operations in St. Louis, Bank of America, Regions Bank and PNC Financial (owner of National City Bank) were ordered to raise more capital.

The test assumed unemployment reaches above 10 percent, up from 8.9 percent in April, and that bank loans default at a rate greater than in the Great Depression.

KBW applied that test to 161 smaller banks across the country. It adjusted the stress standards to take into account differences between giant banks and smaller regional and community banks.

The firm found that 59 banks would need an extra $12.8 billion in capital if things get worse.

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