European banks need $12.5 billion to protect against a financial collapse

European banks need $12.5 billion to protect against a financial collapse
(Image credit: Thomas Lhones / Getty Images)

Twenty-five of Europe's largest banks flunked a financial stress test because they did not have big enough cash buffers to weather a hypothetical economic crisis, the European Central Bank said Sunday.

The stress test examined 130 banks' finances through the end of 2013. And of the 25 eurozone banks that failed, 13 have still not raised enough capital this year to insulate themselves from a future crisis. In order to do so, the ECB said, they'll need to raise another 10 billion euros, or $12.5 billion.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.