In March 2026, the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC quietly buried the original 2023 Basel III Endgame proposal — the one that would have forced the largest U.S. banks to hold 19% more common equity tier 1 capital — and replaced it with a revised framework that does the opposite. The new rules would reduce system-wide CET1 requirements by roughly $87.7 billion. That is not a rounding error. For capital-markets-heavy banks that earn their living trading, underwriting, and advising rather than making car loans, excess capital is a drag on return on equity. When regulators cut the required buffer, the freed capital has one of three destinations: share buybacks, expanded trading books, or both. Washington just moved the money. Here is who catches it.