Banks to Get Briefed on Stress Tests: Report

Regulators will begin briefing banks Friday about how they fared in government-performed "stress tests," giving lenders an opportunity to debate the findings before they're made public a week later, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing government officials.

The discussions will signal to some banks whether they'll have to seek additional capital, either from private investors or the Treasury Department, the Journal notes.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday said the government's $700 billion bailout fund has at least $109.6 billion in resources left, and he anticipates that $25 billion will be paid back by borrowers.

Geithner said the "vast majority" of U.S. banks have more capital than they need and that some could be allowed to repay funds distributed under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

In the stress tests, regulators used some estimates of likely losses on loans that were tougher than observers had expected, the newspaper reports.

The government plans to release on Friday an outline of how the tests were conducted, including the assumptions that regulators used to measure a firm's health. On May 4, some results of the tests are expected to be made public, though it isn't clear exactly how much information will be revealed, the Journal reports.

Of the biggest banks facing government scrutiny, analysts expect JPMorgan Chase(JPM Quote) and U.S. Bancorp(USB Quote) to emerge among the strongest. Large regional banks are expected to face the biggest challenges, the Journal reports.

Meanwhile, banks are lobbying the Treasury Department to make it less costly for them to get out of TARP, the Journal reports.