Keefe says Barr stepping down ‘strong catalyst’ for banks

Keefe Bruyette views the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision, Michael Barr, plan to step down on February 28 as a “strong catalyst” for the banks and global systemically important banks, specifically. It is now likely the Basel III Endgame “will be meaningfully watered down and likely to be more capital neutral,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. Keefe says Citi (C) has the most leverage to earnings should the Basel III Endgame proposed capital requirements be meaningfully reduced.