Many big banks in the United States have been urging the Federal Reserve to modify the methodology used in annual stress tests.

Annual stress tests are used by the Federal Reserve to determine the ability of banks to survive a recession and keep lending after being affected by potential economic shocks, such as a spike in unemployment or a crash in stock market.

The test requires lenders to project losses on various loans and operations using a standard index through which the resiliency of the entire financial system is judged. They were launched in 2011 under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform bill to gauge how much capital banks can use for dividends or stock buybacks.

However, the banks argue that the test have become too stressful and urge the Feds to adopt their custom-made methodology when it comes to the annual tests.

Executives from many top banks have been taking the unusual step of meeting informally to compare notes on what issues regulators were examining during the stress testing process.

However, the Fed regulators are reluctant to respond to banks' calls for a more differentiated approach.

According to senior regulators, the Fed deliberately keeps lenders in the dark about how it will model their performance so that they can’t figure out loopholes in the process.