Some US banks are walking wounded. Some are the living dead. A full 21 months into the credit crisis, investors are still unclear about which banks are which. The banking system cannot function without confidence. So, Tim Geithner, the US Treasury secretary, is fighting chronic uncertainty with transparency. The results of the “stress tests”, an exercise to identify undercapitalised banks so the government can make sure they have enough capital to recover, will be announced on Thursday.

Regulators have examined the 19 biggest US banks. They have decided which of them they believe would be healthy – and which would lack sufficient capital to survive – under two different economic scenarios. Since, post-Lehman Brothers, bank bondholders are protected from bearing any losses, institutions with insufficient capital cushions will be forced to raise new equity, whether from private sources or from the public purse.