Banks try to raise cash despite rep

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Steve Chiotakis: The headline this morning was supposed to be “Stress test results to be released today.” But no, the Treasury Department took care of that and delayed the public release. It’ll be Thursday before any of us gets a good look at what the tests showed. This morning, we’re hearing Citigroup, Bank of America and a couple of other lenders will try to convince the Federal Reserve and Treasury that they’re not as bad off as the government says. But despite those claims, several are already looking for ways to raise more capital. Here’s Marketplace’s Steve Henn.

Steve Henn: It’s the usual suspects: Bank of American and Citigroup both are already trying to raise more than $10 billion, according to The Financial Times. The paper says B of A actually needs much more that $10 billion to get back on firm financial footing.

A couple large regional banks could be in trouble, too. Wells Fargo and Pittsburg-based PNC do a lot of business in places with really bad real estate markets. The government’s giving troubled six months to raise the cash they need.

Many analysts say raising money from the markets after a less-than-stellar performance on these stress tests could be tricky. But officials are widely expected to say while some banks need a bit bigger cushion, they are all still solvent.

In Washington, I’m Steve Henn for Marketplace.