WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Regulators are ordering the largest U.S. banks to get tens of billions of dollars of capital to cushion themselves in the event of a deep economic downturn.

After conducting "stress tests" of the 19 biggest banks, the government has told Bank of America Corp it needs $34 billion of capital, roughly triple what had been expected, an industry source familiar with the results said.

Wells Fargo & Co needs $15 billion, Bloomberg News said, citing an unnamed source. Citigroup Inc may need as much as $10 billion, a person familiar with the matter said. About 10 of the 19 banks that were tested may need capital, a person familiar with the official talks said.

The sources were not authorized to speak because the stress test results are not public. Results are due late Thursday.

Analysts believe other banks that may need capital include Fifth Third Bancorp, GMAC LLC, KeyCorp, PNC Financial Services Group Inc, Regions Financial Corp and SunTrust Banks Inc.

The Bloomberg report said JPMorgan Chase & Co needs none. Among other banks that may not need capital are Bank of New York Mellon Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, analysts said.

MORE CLARITY

The government has spent three months conducting stress tests to determine banks' capital needs should economic conditions worsen more than many economists now expect.

If banks are required to raise more capital than expected, it may unnerve investors who had hoped the stress tests might show the industry was in less dire condition than feared.

An inability to sell enough assets could require some banks to convert earlier government aid into common stock, making the government one of their biggest shareholders.

Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz wrote that banks, other than his own, may need to raise $75 billion after the tests.

The release of stress test results should add more clarity about banks' health. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair said she expects the results to be "confidence instilling.

Meanwhile, other investors may buy bank shares because they had been betting on declines, and need to buy shares to cover their short positions.

In midday trading Bank of America shares rose 10.2 percent to $11.95; JPMorgan rose 4.4 percent to $36.35; Citigroup rose 5.4 percent to $3.49; and Wells Fargo rose 10.7 percent to $25.71. The KBW Bank Index rose 6.65 percent.

PRESSURE ON BANK OF AMERICA CEO Continued...

Bank of America's stress test results are certain to increase pressure on Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis, who was ousted as chairman last week in a shareholder vote.

That ouster could also lay the groundwork for his departure from his employer of 40 years, including the last eight as CEO. The largest U.S. bank has already received $45 billion of government help.

"We know what Bank of America's problem is now, but we don't know what the solution is," said Ben Wallace, an analyst at Grimes & Co in Westborough, Massachusetts.

Wells Fargo opposed taking its initial $25 billion of government aid, and did not get government help in buying Wachovia Corp for $12.5 billion at year-end.

Chairman Dick Kovacevich in March said the bank does its own stress tests, and called the government tests "asinine." Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, whose company is the bank's largest shareholder, on Sunday said Wells Fargo does not need more capital.

But analysts have said Wells Fargo may need a greater cushion against loan losses, despite its having taken a big writedown when it bought Wachovia.

Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri and Wells Fargo spokeswoman Julia Tunis Bernard declined to comment on their banks. The Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department also declined to comment.

BANK OF AMERICA'S OPTIONS

Bank of America is struggling with its controversial January 1 takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co as well as heavy credit losses.

Lewis told analysts on an April 20 conference call that "we absolutely don't think we need additional capital," but added: "Make no doubt about it, credit is bad, and we believe credit is going to get worse."

The bank might raise capital by converting into common stock some of its roughly $30 billion of preferred shares held by private investors, or by selling its stake in China Construction Bank Corp for a gain of $6 billion or more. It might also sell its Columbia asset management unit, and has said it may sell its First Republic Bank business.

Critics fault Lewis for failing in December to back away from the Merrill merger or disclose Merrill's sinking finances. Merrill later posted a $15.84 billion fourth-quarter loss.

Regulators are examining Bank of America's disclosures, as well as $3.6 billion of bonuses that Merrill paid out.

(Reporting by Karey Wutkowski and Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Elinor Comlay and Dan Wilchins in New York; Mark Felsenthal and David Lawder in Washington, D.C.; Douwe Miedema in London; and Michael Flaherty and Parvathy Ullatil in Hong Kong; Editing by David Holmes and John Wallace)

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