Hot on the heels of a vague CNBC report that stress test results showed Wells Fargo would need “more capital” comes this Bloomberg story :
Wells Fargo & Co., the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, requires about $15 billion in new capital as a result of regulators’ stress test on the lender, according to a person familiar with the matter.Which is less than half of the $34bn number bandied about for Bank of America, a number provided by a very busy “person familiar with the matter” who seems to have spoken to just about every major US media outlet.
(The NY Times, at least, named their source: J Steele Alphin, Bank of America’s chief administrative officer. They were also more precise about the figure – $33.9bn. And not a penny more.)
The Bloomberg story also includes the following delightful tidbit:
Wells Fargo Chairman Richard Kovacevich in March called the administration’s stress-testing program “asinine” and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett, whose company is the bank’s biggest shareholder, said May 3 that Wells Fargo didn’t need any more capital.
Indeed.
Related links:
“I had to put all my net worth into a single share that day, it would be Wells Fargo” – FT Alphaville
Bank of America’s curiously specific denial – FT Alphaville