Bank regulators have thrown a wrench into bankers' capital planning.

After the results of the stress test were announced last month, some bankers were quick to say that they were ready to repay the money they received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Some figured they could raise enough money to fill gaps found by the stress test, and raise a sum that should suffice for repaying their TARP investments, in one fell swoop.

Apparently, some miscalculated how demanding the government would be about how much capital they needed to raise to repay TARP.

The Federal Reserve's rules to return TARP money, formally announced late Monday but outlined to bankers last week, require that banks demonstrate that they can access the capital markets, both equity and also debt not guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. They must also demonstrate they can continue to lend.

Capital, the hot commodity for the last two years, remains the key issue even after the stress test. The Federal Reserve made clear Monday that capital levels after TARP repayment have to be "consistent with supervisory expectations."

Those "supervisory expectations" are unrelated to the requirements set by the stress test. They aren't firm ratios but vary from bank to bank; yet bankers eager to repay TARP know what those expectations are through their communications with regulators.

For some banks, TARP repayment won't be done until some time in the future. Some banks haven't even requested repaying TARP yet.

Others, like Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), tried to anticipate what regulators would require to repay TARP. The Cincinnati bank said last month it would raise $1.5 billion in fresh capital to improve common equity, as required by the Fed's stress test. A spokeswoman said Tuesday, "We determine it would be wise to raise more than we needed for the immediate moment. This part of our capital plan displays that we have the ability to do that."

Morgan Stanley (MS) was among those who had to go back to market. It raised $10 billion in debt and equity last month following the stress test; those measures also looked as if they fulfilled the requirements set out by the Federal Reserve on Monday to repay TARP. Yet the bank was told by regulators to raise another $2.2 billion in equity to improve capital before it could repay TARP.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), meanwhile, raised $5 billion in equity in April and doesn't need any more to repay TARP, according to people familiar with the matter.

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is eager to repay, but hasn't issued the required debt. Moreover, Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Matt O'Connor said in a research note that the bank may need to raise more equity. The bank declined to discuss the matter.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) has issued debt. But repayment doesn't seem to be a near-term event. The bank didn't return phone calls for comment.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC)'s Chairman and Chief Executive James Rohr is in no rush to pay it back - it may not be best for shareholders to raise dilutive capital to pay back TARP, he has said. The bank hasn't formally requested repayment, according to people familiar with the matter.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) was told by its regulators that it has enough capital to sustain even a severe economic downturn, but on Tuesday morning raised $5 billion to repay TARP. It had issued non-guaranteed debt, but no equity, because it argued it didn't need any.

However, "most banks will not get multiple bites at the public market apple so they will need to approach the markets deliberately raising sufficient capital," said Lawrence Kaplan from the Banking and Financial Institutions Group at law firm Paul Hastings, and a former special counsel at the Office of Thrift Supervision.

-By Matthias Rieker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5936; matthias.rieker@dowjones.com

(Joe Bel Bruno and Marshall Eckblad contributed to this story.)