US bank stocks hit hard! Wall Street executives fiercely criticize new capital regulations.

According to Zhītōng Finance, this week, at a solemn annual conference hosted by Barclays Group, senior executives from the banking industry took turns discussing a proposal that would require them to hold more capital. In response, Wall Street executives expressed their frustration with the new capital requirements, which, although not uncommon, they rarely show so explicitly.

Jamie Dimon, the outspoken CEO of JPMorgan Chase (JPM.US), was particularly strong-worded, calling one key calculation in the new plan "stupid." He expressed his dissatisfaction with the proposals multiple times during the discussion, and predicted that his complaints would have no impact because regulatory agencies "will do what they want to do anyway." Dimon criticized the new capital rule proposals recently put forward by US regulatory agencies, warning that these proposals could cause bank stocks to lose their investment value and result in borrowers having to pay higher fees for loans.

Dan Simkowitz, the head of investment management at Morgan Stanley (MS.US), called it "out of touch with the real world." David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, also stated, "I think these regulations are meaningless."

This is an unusually strong and unanimous public condemnation as the US financial industry prepares to fight the largest-scale capital rule reform since the Dodd-Frank Act. As Wall Street executives expressed their views at the Barclays conference, six industry groups, including the American Bank Policy Institute and the American Bankers Association, sent letters to regulatory agencies requesting them to reconsider the new proposals.

Representing Wall Street firms, several industry groups have expressed to US regulatory agencies that they should propose new rules on a comprehensive package of bank capital. In July, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) revealed plans to impose stricter capital requirements on large banks, forcing them to increase capital buffers to absorb unexpected losses. However, the Bank Policy Institute and the US Chamber of Commerce stated on Tuesday that the package should be reconsidered because these rules allegedly rely on data and analysis that these institutions have not publicly disclosed, violating the law. They hope these institutions will provide all the missing materials.

In July, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency stated that they intend to require banks with assets of at least $100 billion to increase their capital buffers, with the eight largest banks expected to increase their buffers by 19%. The long-awaited reform is related to Basel III, an international reform launched in response to the 2008 financial crisis.

Companies, consumer advocates, and any other stakeholders have had several months to weigh in, and not everyone is as pessimistic as Dimon about the back-and-forth with regulatory agencies. Simkowitz stated, "Some comments from regulatory agencies suggest that they are quite open to finding the right answer for the economy. There is no consensus on the appearance of these rules and how they will be implemented. So we are in a true engagement period."