Fitch Ratings says the world's 29 biggest banks together may have to raise $566 billion by the end of 2018 to meet new international requirements for holding cushions against risk.
In Thursday's report, Fitch says that having to raise that much capital could crimp the banks' ability to increase dividends or buy back their own shares. The so-called Basel III rules for banks to increase capital reserves are designed to prevent another global financial crisis.
The 29 banks, in 12 countries, were designated "global systemically important financial institutions" by an international regulators' group. That means they're so big that a failure of one could bring down the financial system. The eight U.S. banks include Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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