U.S. Treasury to give out stress test data

WASHINGTON, April 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury said it is looking for a strategy to reveal details of tests it is conducting to assess the strength of the nation's largest banks.

Ordinarily, details of bank examinations aren't disclosed. In previous descriptions of the current stress test procedures -- in which the 19 largest U.S. banks have been tested against the possibility of deteriorating economic conditions -- the Treasury said it would reveal only the outcomes of the test, which is to say the amounts of capital it gives the banks as a result of the tests' outcome, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Fearing details of the tests will be leaked, officials are trying to manage the public relations fallout that could occur of some banks are revealed to be healthier than others, the Times said.

"The purpose of this program is to prevent panics, not cause them," one senior official told the newspaper.

However, he said, "it's becoming clearer that we and the banks are going to have to explain clearly where each bank falls in the spectrum."

Treasury spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the Treasury will "work with the banks on how best to release the appropriate data ... to ensure fairness and minimize market uncertainty."