Citigroup said on 24 June that it plans to raise its quarterly common stock dividend by 12% to $0.67 per share, from $0.60, starting in the third quarter of 2026, after completing the Federal Reserve's 2026 supervisory stress test. The increase remains subject to quarterly approval by the board.
The bank also noted that it commenced a $30 billion multi-year common stock repurchase programme in the second quarter of 2026. That programme was announced before this year's stress test and continues alongside the higher dividend.
STRESS CAPITAL BUFFER
Stress test results normally feed into each large bank's stress capital buffer (SCB), which sets how much capital a firm must hold above regulatory minimums. This year, however, the Fed is keeping existing SCB requirements in place until 1 October 2027, following a vote in February 2026, so Citi's SCB remains 3.6%.
Citi said its 2026 results would otherwise have implied an SCB of 3.3%, including an add-on reflecting the planned dividend increase. Its standardised common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital requirement is unchanged at 11.6%, compared with a standardised CET1 ratio of 12.7% at 31 March 2026. The bank said capital depletion under the test improved to 290 basis points, from 320 basis points in the previous cycle.
SECTOR RESULTS
The Fed said on 24 June that all 32 banks in this year's test remained above minimum capital requirements. Under a hypothetical severe recession that included a 39% fall in commercial real estate prices, a 30% fall in house prices and unemployment peaking at 10%, the banks' projected losses totalled $708 billion and aggregate capital declined by 1.6 percentage points. The Fed said the test will be re-run in 2027 using revised loss-estimation models informed by public feedback.