Federal Reserve To Release Stress Test Results Thursday At 4:30 PM EDT

The Federal Reserve plans to release results of its latest bank stress tests Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, the central bank said Monday.

The Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review, or CCAR, looks at how the 19 biggest U.S. banks would perform in a severe downturn--including a peak unemployment rate of 13%, a 50% drop in equity prices and a 21% decline in housing prices.

"The stress-test results, including projected capital ratios, revenues and losses in the supervisory stress scenario, will be disclosed for the 19 large bank holding companies that participated," the Fed said Monday.

Three years ago, as the financial crisis was abating, the Fed published potential loan losses and how much capital each institution would need to raise to absorb them. This time around, the Fed has pledged to release a wider array of information.

The Fed on Monday released a paper describing the methodology used in the stress test as well as the templates for disclosure of the summary results.

One new template has the names of the banks and two columns.

The first column shows capital ratios in the event there aren't dividends, share buybacks or issuances. That allows investors to compare the banks' relative strength--apples to apples--because it assumes no capital distributions after March 31.

The second shows ratios if banks execute proposed capital plans, and would indicate if any bank fails the stress test by dipping below the minimum level set out by the Fed.

Investors won't be able to determine the capital plans the banks have proposed.

The Fed isn't forecasting a severe recession. But the central bank said: "Strong capital levels are critical to ensuring that banking organizations have the ability to lend and to continue to meet their financial obligations, even in times of economic difficulty."

Bankers, citing competitive concerns, are pressing the Fed to limit its release of information.

-By Jeffrey Sparshott, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9291; [e-mail]

--Dan Fitzpatrick and Victoria McGrane contributed to this article.