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Policymakers have leaned on the world's biggest banks to raise their capital reserves by retaining earnings, selling shares or curbing dividend payouts to avoid a repeat of the past financial crisis and large-scale taxpayer-funded bailouts.
Capital cushions have already been plumped in response to national watchdogs' demands, but the Financial Stability Board (FSB) that coordinates financial regulation worldwide this week unveils its formal list of global systemically important banks, known as G-SIBs, which have to hold more capital from 2016.
"It's not a positive thing (being a G-SIB). There are higher expectations, you have to hold more capital and the oversight is a little bit more intense," Tim Sloan, head of wholesale banking for U.S. bank Wells Fargo, told Reuters.
The FSB divides the systemically important banks into five categories, determined by their size, geographic spread, complexity and potential impact on the financial system.