Stress tests have been inconsistent, not transparent, too volatile, capricious, arbitrary and just a waste of time, according to JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon. They’re also done for this year, and every major bank easily passed the watered-down 2026 version, showing sufficient capital to survive the dire scenarios conjured by the Fed examiners. With that exercise out of the way, the Big 6 announced plans for bigger shareholder payouts. (It’s a stark contrast for UBS Group in Europe, where the Swiss government’s long-running demand for still more capital was strongly endorsed by the International Monetary Fund.)

The US process reflects the increasing freedom that banks are enjoying under the Trump Administration’s relaxed approach to regulation. The tests are an outgrowth — or to some observers a relic — of the 2008 financial meltdown, and Fed watchdog Michelle Bowman has vowed to make changes to give banks more say on how the tests are conducted. With memories of the Global Financial Crisis fading, few paid attention to warnings from regulators who lived through it like Sheila Bair, who told Politico that too much deregulation might leave the banks and the financial system vulnerable to a new shock.

Speaking of pass rates, it was considerably lower for people taking the Level I CFA test in May. That won’t help the losers get a job at Goldman Sachs, where equities traders are likely to rack up $5 billion in revenue for the second quarter, another new record. And there may be one less bank in Europe where they can apply: Monte Paschi’s chief executive is openly welcoming a potential takeover. Some unexpected openings occurred at Berenberg Bank, where three people were abruptly ousted because of “certain market transactions of unclear provenance.” If you had your eye on the top job at JPMorgan, forget it: A shakeup set up a two-man contest to replace Dimon, with Marianne Lake departing.

Your prospects might be better at Oversea-Chinese Banking, which is building its wealth management staff in Indonesia. A psychology degree might help, too: A McKinsey executive says the mass-affluent now receive private-banking quality service from artificial intelligence, so human wealth managers will need to focus on the emotional needs of wealthier clients to demonstrate their value over AI. — Rick Green