The Fed proposes to relax the post-crisis rules for the big banks

The US Federal Reserve on Monday proposed easing key post-crisis regulations for the country's largest banks, despite a member's concerns that the proposal would go too far.

According to this plan, large banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America would be required to submit their complete "living wills" – their closure plan in the event of a new economic crisis – every four years instead of one year . Slightly smaller banks, including Capital One and Deutsche Bank, are expected to file their full plans once every six years.

The proposal comes as the Trump administration continues to look for ways to reduce the regulatory burden on the banking sector a decade after the global financial crisis. The industry complained about the strictest rules, too heavy and too expensive.

The industry has specifically targeted the annual "living wills", a requirement for banking institutions to close their doors in an emergency without harming the economy or requiring the bailout of taxpayers. Industry officials said that banks were healthier today than before the financial crisis and that frequent checks were useless.

Fed officials reviewed the banks' living wills for seven years and said the change was justified. Despite the annual requirement, the review of a single "living will" for larger banks usually takes two years already, officials said.

"The proposal aims to increase business efficiency without compromising the strong resilience of the financial sector," said Randy Quarles, vice president of the Fed's supervisory board, in a statement.

According to the proposal, the big banks would submit a lite version of the "living will" between the traditional will they file every four or six years. Most US banks with less than $ 250 billion of assets, such as American Express and M & T Bank, would be exempt from the living will requirement.

The change for smaller banks was called for by a law passed last year reducing key regulations. But the help given to larger banks goes beyond the legislation, and some critics say the banking sector is already reporting record profits without repealing the rules.

[Banking industry profits hit another record, $62 billion]

Lael Brainard, a member of the Fed's board of governors and appointed at the time of Obama, said she would favor a relaxation of the rules, but that the proposal could "make the system less sure".

"We have clearly seen in the crisis that the bankruptcy of one or more major banking institutions could lead to serious tensions in the financial system," Brainard said in a statement. "I am concerned about the proposals. . . weaken the important protection put in place to address the extremely damaging vulnerabilities of the crisis ".

The Federal Reserve has also proposed relaxing the regulatory requirements for certain foreign banks operating in the United States. According to the proposal, these banks would be subject to the same level of vigilance as their US-based competitors.

The public can submit comments on the proposed amendments until June. We do not know when the Fed will finalize them.