U.S. big banks have enough capital buffers to withstand a drastic economic downturn, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday, announcing that 29 out of 30 major banks met the minimum hurdle in its annual health check. All of the big banks except for Zions Bancorp ZION.O stayed above the 5 percent requirement for top-tier capital in the latest round of stress tests. The tests aim to show how banks would weather a financial collapse similar to the 2007-2009 crisis. Banks had to show how they would cope with a halving of the stock market, and the eight largest banks had to weigh the impact of the default of their biggest trading counterparty. "The annual stress test is one of the Federal Reserve's most important tools to gauge the resiliency of the financial sector and to help ensure that the largest firms have strong capital positions," Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said in a statement. Stress tests are closely watched by financial markets as a sign of the industry's health, and also
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