WASHINGTONLONDON, June 24 Reuters The U.S. units of major European lenders including Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Credit Suisse sailed through the Federal Reserve39;s annual stress tests on Thursday, showing they hold enough capital to weather an economic shock.

For the seven European bank subsidiaries the Fed oversees with more than 100 billion in assets, the average capital ratio a measure of the cushion a bank has to withstand potential losses remained well above the regulatory minimum of 4.5.

It was also higher than the average ratio for the broader group of 34 banks tested, according to a Reuters analysis of the results.

The average capital ratio for the seven European lenders stood at 15.2, compared with 9.7 for the 34 banks.

Deutsche Bank39;s U.S. operations had the highest ratio of all banks at 22.8, while Credit Suisse was the thirdhighest of the group with a ratio of 20.1. HSBC was the straggler of the foreign pack with a ratio of 7.7.

However, Credit Suisse39;s core capital ratio suffered the biggest fall of all the banks tested under the severe stress scenario, eroding by more than 7 percentage points from its starting point. HSBC39;s buffer fell the second most, dropping more than 6 percentage points.

Under its annual stress test exercise established following the 20072009 financial crisis, the Fed assesses how banks39; balance sheets would fare against a hypothetical severe economic downturn. The results dictate how much capital banks need to be…