It is a hard slog running a major European investment bank these days. New rules from the US Federal Reserve won't help much. But they could have been a lot worse.

The Fed is trying to increase its oversight of large foreign banks including Deutsche Bank and Barclays so that their US units don't fall short on capital or liquidity. That means, for example, that foreign banks with large US operations will have to hold qualifying equity equivalent to 3% of their assets.