Big US banks face tougher lending rules than global rivals

WASHINGTON: The eight biggest US banks will need to hold twice as much equity capital as required globally under a new rule launched by US regulators on Tuesday, intended to protect taxpayers from any future costly bailouts.

The rule, launched by the country’s three main banking regulators, would impose a socalled leverage ratio, a hard cap on how much banks can borrow to fund their business, requiring them to hold equity capital equal to 6% of total assets.