Fed restoring capital rules

The Federal Reserve says it will restore capital requirements for large banks that were relaxed as part of the Fed’s efforts to shore up the financial system during the early days of the pandemic.

The Fed said it will not extend the relief from what is called the supplementary leverage ratio past March 31. The easing of the regulation had been intended to give banks flexibility in what assets they could hold to meet regulatory’ requirements during the turmoil of the pandemic, when banks were having to suddenly write down billions of dollars of loans.

The banking industry had lobbied for an extension of the relief but the Fed said that since the requirements were relaxed last year “the Treasury market has stabilized.” 2011.

L.L. Bean was positioned to meet consumer demand for both comfy items for people working from home and outdoor gear as more people ventured outside to ensure social distancing and other pandemicrelated protocols.

“What my greatgrandfather knew more than a hundred years ago was that spending time outside is really important, and that took on more importance this year,” said Shawn Gorman, chairman and greatgrandson of the company’s founder, Leon Leonwood Bean.

The company’s 4,600 full and parttime workers reaped some of the benefit from the net revenue of $1.59 billion. The familyowned company’s board on Friday awarded a cash bonus of 10% of workers’ salary and an additional 401(k) contribution equal to 8% of salary, said CEO Steve Smith. All told, the company gave back $72 million to workers, he said.