The U.S. federal bank regulators on Monday issued stress-testing guidance for banking institutions supervised by the agencies and each having more than 10 billion U. S. dollars in assets.

"The guidance highlights the importance of stress testing at banking organizations as an ongoing risk management practice that supports a banking organization's forward-looking assessment of its risks and better equips it to address a range of adverse outcomes," the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a news release Monday.

The guidance, which will become effective in July, is separate from the stress testing requirements in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Fed's capital plan rule that apply to certain companies. Those requirements have been or are being implemented through separate proposals, the regulators said.

The guidance laid out general principles, approaches and applications of stress testing and emphasized in particular the importance of stress testing in capital and liquidity planning.

"A banking organization should use the principles to develop, implement, and maintain an effective stress testing framework. Such a framework should be adequately tailored to the banking organization's size, complexity, risks, exposure, and activities," said the release.

It also said that a banking organization's stress testing framework will be effective only if it is subject to strong governance and controls to ensure it is functioning as intended.

The three federal agencies clarified that the new rules do not apply to community banks which include banks, savings associations and other institutions with 10 billion dollars or less in total assets.