US regulators have raised the prospect of taking severe action against banks that submit deficient “living wills” in a sign that supervisors are concerned about the ability of global lenders to unwind themselves in a crisis.

Officials at the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are deciding how much time to give banks to draw up credible resolution plans – living wills – before they impose corrective measures, ranging from requirements for more capital to forced break-up.

Described as a more “robust” debate within the FDIC than at the Fed, the high-level discussions follow living-will submissions by 11 banks last year, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Barclays, people familiar with the matter said.