An exemption ordered last May by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to ease one of the key capital rules for large banks is due to expire on March 31, according to Risk.Net. The previous exemption originally allowed banks to exclude U.S. Treasury securities and deposits at Fed banks from the calculation of their supplementary leverage ratios. This helped organizations respond to the pandemic-induced economic crisis, allowing banks to expand their balance sheets to continue lending to struggling customers and businesses. Thus far, the Fed has given no indication that it will grant an extension of this leverage ratio relief. Market participants are concerned that without an extension, big banks may have to scale back their balance sheets, disrupting key markets like Treasury repo.

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