Stress Test Results Due May 7: Report

Updated from 1:59 a.m. EDT

The Federal Reserve is postponing the release of results of stress tests on the biggest U.S. banks until May 7, while executives debate preliminary findings with examiners, reports Friday citing government and industry officials say.

Regulators are expected to break out potential loss estimates for each individual bank as well as a tally of the 19 banks being tested, according to The Wall Street Journal. The results originally were slated to be unveiled on May 4.

Regulators and bank CEOs are concerned about how the disclosure is handled because weaker institutions could suffer a collapse in their stock prices, Bloomberg notes. The stress tests are being done to identify potential shortfalls in capital.

Citigroup(C), Bank of America(BAC), Goldman Sachs(GS) and insurer MetLife(MET), which owns a U.S. bank, are among the 19 firms subject to the tests. Regional lenders Fifth Third Bancorp(FITB) and Regions Financial(RF) also are on the list.

The firms subject to the tests hold two-thirds of the assets and more than half of the loans in the U.S. banking system, notes Bloomberg, citing a Fed study released last week.

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