Overview
- JPMorgan announced a new $50 billion share repurchase program and said it will seek board approval to raise its quarterly dividend to $1.65 per share, with the buyback authority effective July 1.
- Goldman Sachs said it will lift its quarterly dividend to $5 per share and several other major banks also increased payouts or kept large buyback plans in place.
- The Federal Reserve’s annual stress test found all 32 large banks would stay above minimum common equity tier 1 requirements even after a hypothetical scenario that projected roughly $708 billion in industry losses.
- The Fed said the published results will not change capital requirements and will keep stress capital buffers steady through 2027 while it overhauls the test methodology, a pause that banks used to expand shareholder returns.
- Investors should expect higher near-term shareholder income and continued buyback activity but also watch for future regulatory moves such as the Basel III Endgame that could reshape capital rules later on.