The firms spent two years working on hypothetical bankruptcy plans to prove they aren't "too big to fail." The agencies ordered the banks to simplify their legal structures and revise some practices to make sure their collapse wouldn't damage the wider financial system.
The living-wills exercise was a key check on large banks written into the Dodd-Frank Act, a regulatory overhaul prompted by the 2008 financial crisis and the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
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The banks were sent letters outlining specific deficiencies the agencies want them to fix. The industry expressed irritation that the firms didn't get more direction from regulators before filing their most recent plans last month.
The banks should develop a "less complex legal structure" and amend financial contracts by next year to give regulators more time to resolve a failing institution, the agencies said.
Spokesmen for the banks declined to comment on the living wills.
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