Nearly All Major U.S. Banks Pass Fed ‘Stress Tests’

All but one of the nation's 30 largest banks are better able to withstand a severe U.S. recession and global downturn than at any time since the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has determined.

Results of the Fed's annual "stress tests" showed Thursday that only Zions Bancorp failed to meet the Fed's minimum level of capital to withstand a crisis. The results showed continued improvement in banks' financial positions since the 2008 crisis, the Fed said. That built on positive results in last year's tests.

The 30 banks tested included Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

The Fed will announce next week whether it will approve plans by some of the banks to increase dividends or buy their own stock.