The state of the banking system Since the financial crisis, banks have made considerable progress in repairing their balance sheets and building capital. Risk-based capital and leverage ratios for banks of all sizes have improved materially and are significantly above their previous highs.
Importantly, the 19 largest banking institutions that participated in the 2009 stress tests, as well as the two subsequent Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) processes, have considerably more and better-quality capital than a few years ago. Indeed, those firms have increased their Tier 1 common equity, the best buffer against future losses, by more than $ billion since 2009, to nearly $ billion.