Bank of America CEO says higher capital ratios would hurt lending capacity

NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp CEO Brian Moynihan said on Wednesday that an increase in capital ratios for banks will lead to lower lending capacity for lenders.

"If our capital ratios go up by 100 basis points, simply put we can't make $150 billion of loans," he told a conference organised by Bloomberg.

U.S. banks could face capital hikes of as much as 20% under new rules being prepared by U.S. regulators as part of a global effort to harmonize capital requirements, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

U.S. regulators, led by the Federal Reserve, are expected to unveil the proposed tougher requirements by the end of this month, according to this source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar and Davide Barbuscia, editing by Deepa Babington)