The Bank Policy Institute — a lobbying group for big banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup — is recommending, among other things, that the Federal Reserve lower capital requirements and ease the periodic “stress tests” banks take to prove they can survive another economic crisis.

The Federal Reserve could “make changes to its bank regulations or enact promptly already planned regulatory changes that would not reduce safety, soundness or financial stability,” the group said in a note titled “Actions the Fed Could Take in Response to COVID-19” signed by Greg Baer, its chief executive; Francisco Covas, head of research; and Bill Nelson, the chief economist.

The recommendations are “transparently opportunistic,” said Jeremy Kress, an assistant law professor at the University of Michigan School of Business. For years, the banking industry resisted calls for higher capital requirements that could have been used as a buffer, or a rainy-day fund, during economic turmoil, he said. Those buffers could have been turned off now to give the industry more flexibility to make loans during the current economic uncertainty, Kress said.

But without those buffers reducing existing capital requirements, which are currently set at minimum levels, the timing could be risky, he said.

“The whole idea of capital requirements and stress-testing banks is to make sure they have enough cushion to absorb losses” during an economic crisis, Kress said.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, ranking member of the Banking Committee, said in a statement that: “My priority right now is ensuring that our federal, state and local health agencies have the resources they need to keep Americans safe. It’s not the time to reduce financial system protections to bolster the bottom lines for Wall Street.”

Several of the group’s largest members, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup, declined to comment on the BPI’s efforts. JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, is “ready to help” with the government’s coronavirus response, spokesman Andrew Gray said in a statement. “Our primary focus as a bank is to consistently provide credit and capital to support clients, customers and communities through this uncertain period,” he said. The bank stands by efforts by regulators to “help lenders freely, fairly and better serve their customers,” Gray said, but “this issue is up to the regulators and should not be used to push for unrelated regulatory changes.”

The Fed made an emergency interest rate cut Tuesday, slashing the benchmark U.S. interest rate by half a percentage point, but has made no mention of the industry’s desired regulatory relief. “We saw a risk to the outlook of the economy and we chose to act,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference shortly after the rate-cut announcement.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters after a Capitol Hill hearing Tuesday that he is talking to bank regulators about potential regulatory relief measures.

The staff of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a group of high-level regulators, is also scheduled to discuss the coronavirus during a meeting this week, according to a person familiar with the planning but not authorized to speak publicly.

Wall Street has scrambled to respond to the spread of the virus, which now has a global death toll of more than 3,000. Morgan Stanley is requiring any person, including employees, entering its offices anywhere in the world to disclose whether they had recently traveled to mainland China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea, according to a person familiar with the bank’s policy but not authorized to publicly discuss it. It has also postponed some events and is hosting others virtually, the person said.

At the bank’s annual meeting earlier last week, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said he dreamed about the coronavirus. “I had this nightmare that somehow in Davos, all of us who went there got it, and then we all left and spread it,” he said, according to CNN. “The only good news from that is that it might have just killed the elite.”

In the note from the Bank Policy Institute, the group says it supports “easing monetary policy” but goes on to recommend some long-sought regulatory changes. “All of these reforms are designed to allow banks to deploy their abundant capital and liquidity to continue lending in support of the economy,” Baer, the group’s president, said in a statement. “We have been proposing many of these reforms for years with a moment like this in mind; it would be strange to abandon them when they were potentially most needed.”

The banking industry has scored significant wins rolling back regulations during the Trump administration. Federal regulators earlier this year proposed weakening key post-financial-crisis restrictions on risky trading known as the Volcker rule. It has also proposed allowing big banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America to submit their full “living wills” — plans for their closure during another economic crisis — less often.

But some bankers have grown concerned that post-financial crisis rules could still limit their ability to lend to troubled companies during an economic downturn.

Deregulation has already gone too far, and the coronavirus could pose unique challenges to the financial system that are still unclear, said Larry White, a professor at New York University School of Business. As the virus spreads some people may not be able to work, shop and travel, he said, and “that is a problem for businesses because at the end of the day they won’t be able to sell stuff.”

“But I am not sure that is a good argument for, ‘Oh, we need to do something about liquidity.’ That is overreach by BPI,” White said.

Chief Executive Officer Yoshinori Isozaki said that Kirin is considering more ways to reward shareholders, according to prepared remarks for a press briefing Tuesday during the company’s investor day. Pushing back against criticism from activist investor Independent Franchise Partners (FP), with whom the company has been embroiled in conflict, he said that Kirin is not deviating from its main focus of beer.

Kirin has been in defense mode about its wellness and pharmaceutical business, which FP wants it to dispose of. The London-based fund has put in shareholder proposals for its annual meeting on March 27, which requests Kirin to undertake a 600 billion yen ($5.6 billion) buyback funded by a disposal of its health-related businesses. It’s also demanding the company to add two independent directors and revamp its executive compensation.

Shares of Kirin, Japan’s second-largest beermaker, have fallen 16% since FP’s proposals were made public Feb. 14, compared to a 12% drop in the benchmark Topix Index.

Isozaki’s remarks are the latest in a back-and-forth spat that started last month over FP’s desire to see Kirin exit its health-care business, including its majority ownership of pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin Co., and its stake in beauty brand Fancl Corp. But the brewer says that its wellness segment is being set up take advantage of a market in Japan that could double to 4 trillion yen by 2024, according to its investor day presentation.

Kirin last month rejected a compromise from FP to withdraw its other requests if the company agreed to revamp its board with their suggested directors.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Feb. 27, Kirin’s Chief Financial Officer Noriya Yokota described FP’s suggestions as “drastic.”

“If we just focus on beer, we won’t be able to grow at the speed that we want,” he said.

Vocal investor activity has blossomed in Japan in the past year, shaking up what was previously a staid corporate landscape. Last year, there was a tussle for control of Unizo Holdings Co., while Oasis Management Co. pushed Tokyo Dome Corp. to modernize its entertainment complex in the megalopolis.

While it’s still unclear how successful these campaigns will be, a multi-year push by the government to overhaul corporate governance is making investors more confident that they can get companies to change.

An escalating outbreak that drives off customers and revenue could lead to ratings downgrades, hinder refinancing efforts, and in some cases trigger defaults. And it’s more than just travel companies: Debt-laden commodities producers, shipping firms and luxury automakers have endured waves of selling by bondholders as they ratchet down expectations for global growth.

Investors who’ve spent years pouring money into nearly everything the credit markets had to offer are balking now that the outbreak has spread to more than 65 countries. That’s stoking fears of a prolonged slump in riskier assets. While central banks from the U.S. to the U.K. and Japan have all said they stand ready to roll out stimulus to support credit markets, it’s not clear the tactic will work if the problem is an historic slump in consumer demand.

“We should all be worried,” said Azhar Hussain, head of global credit at Royal London Asset Management, who manages 6.1 billion pounds ($7 billion) of assets. “First-order effects are likely to be travel and cyclicals with long supply chains, but the concern is that it spreads to the developed-market consumer.”

Diamond Hill Capital Management’s Bill Zox and John McClain told investors Monday morning that they see little upside from more rate cuts if business activity is increasingly disrupted by the virus and everyone is forced to work from home. “Corporate CFOs won’t be Skyping in plans for new capital projects,” they wrote.

Below are some of the companies on the watch lists of credit investors and ratings firms as the human and economic toll of the virus increases.

Airlines:

— Virgin Australia Holdings: The carrier, part of billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, saw its $425 million of bonds due in 2024 plunge nearly 12 cents since the start of last week to a record low of 85.2 cents on the dollar on Monday. The airline warned last week that the coronavirus is expected to reduce earnings by A$50 million ($33 million) to A$75 million in the second half of 2020. S&P Global Ratings last week lowered its outlook on the company to negative, citing restrictions on inbound tourism from Chinese nationals.

— Garuda Indonesia: The flag carrier’s $500 million global sukuk due in 2020 has slumped nearly 37 cents since the start of last week to a near record low of 60.6 cents on the dollar on Tuesday. Tourism to the country is faltering, and the government forecasts $4 billion of losses on travel restrictions.

— Airline vendors are also feeling the pressure. WiFi companies Gogo Inc. and Global Eagle Entertainment Inc., which provide passenger internet for airlines including United, Delta and Southwest, are declining in debt and equity markets on concern that if more companies suspend business travel, the demand for in-flight WiFi could drop significantly. Both companies carry some of the weakest junk ratings and high debt relative to their earnings.

Gaming:

— Codere: If the spread of the virus in Europe isn’t contained, the Spanish gaming company may find it more difficult to refinance bonds due next year, according to Lucror Analytics. The debt, 500 million euros of notes due in November 2021, has plunged 9 cents on the euro since Feb. 21 to about 87 cents, Bloomberg data show.

— Macao casinos: China’s gambling hub shut down 41 casinos for 15 days to contain virus exposure, triggering a record drop in gaming revenue in February. March may bring more of the same, writes Bloomberg Intelligence’s Margaret Huang.

— That could pressure U.S. casino companies with significant business in Macau. MGM China, a unit of MGM Resorts International, sought to ease covenants tied to a HK$9.75 billion ($1.25 billion) loan to address what MGM China CEO Grant Bowie said “may be an extended recovery period.” The company’s junk-rated $750 million of notes due in 2026 have dropped 5.25 cents on the dollar to a nine-month low of 101.25. Meanwhile, the $1 billion of notes that Wynn Resorts Ltd.’s Macau unit issued in December have plunged to 97 cents from almost 102 on Feb. 12.

Travel:

— Cruise lines: Passenger ships have been among the worst-hit in markets after a quarantined ship off Japan’s coast with more than 600 confirmed cases led to cancellations and profit warnings. While most of the sector brags of investment-grade ratings and relatively strong balance sheets, the escalating crisis is raising concern that those ratings may be at risk if the virus isn’t contained. Take the credit-default swaps market, where credit investors buy insurance against losses. For cruise operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the cost of the contracts has more than tripled in less than a week.

— Tui: The German travel service provider was downgraded to BB- from BB with a negative outlook on Friday by S&P, which said the coronavirus could jeopardize bookings, adding to risks it was already facing from the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max and unusual weather patterns. Tui’s 300 million euros of notes due in October 2021 have dropped almost 7 cents on the euro to 95.

Entertainment:

— Companies and municipalities have been shutting doors to venues like museums, casinos and movie theaters to prevent widespread exposure. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s bonds plunged to stressed levels last week after the chain closed 22 of its 47 theaters in Italy. While the closures in aren’t expected to have a major impact on the company, an outbreak in the U.S. could be a problem, Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron said on an earnings call Thursday. The company has already been suffering from a decline in movie theater attendance, reporting that ticket sales in the U.S. slipped 4.4% in 2019. AMC’s $600 million of notes due in 2025 dropped to 81.5 cents on the dollar to yield more than 10%.

Energy:

— The world is facing the biggest commodity demand shock since the global financial crisis as the virus outbreak spreads, according to Goldman Sachs. Oil and gas companies across the globe have come under pressure amid fears of a global slowdown. Some, such as Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Whiting Petroleum Corp., have plunged to distressed levels in credit markets, with Chesapeake’s notes due 2025 dropping to 60 cents on the dollar and Whiting’s plunging to about 38 cents.

–In Asia, India’s Vedanta Resources Ltd.’s 2024 bonds fell 7.5 cents last week as the virus weighed on commodity prices, and Indonesia’s Medco Energi Internasional Tbk has also fallen some in the bond market.

Shipping

–China has grown into the maritime industry’s main source of cargoes, and sailings to ship goods to consumers around the world has been disrupted. As the virus wreaks havoc on physical supply chains and global trade, the shipping industry is rife with canceled voyages, idle containers and falling rates. CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest shipping company is seeking to refinance $1 billion of debt coming due next year, but coronavirus might disrupt the plans of the highly leveraged shipping operator, which opened shop in Shanghai in 1992. The company’s notes due January 2025 are currently up 1 point to 65 cents, but were trading at 70 cents last Monday.

Autos

–Aston Martin’s bonds lost around 6 cents on the dollar last week, with its April 2022 notes bid at around 92 cents on Monday after it declined to divulge its latest sales figures for a new SUV. The company is relying on growth in China to double its sales output. Notes issued by Jaguar Land Rover also lost around 6 cents on the euro in the same period. Its November 2024 notes were bid at around 95 cents on Monday as coronavirus fears nixed its plans to issue a U.S. dollar bond.

Investors will get 39 euros in cash for every Qiagen share, Thermo Fisher said Tuesday. That’s 23% higher than Monday’s closing price. Qiagen also sells products for food and forensic testing. Bloomberg earlier reported the companies were nearing a deal after reviving discussions that broke off late last year.

The purchase would rank as one of Thermo Fisher’s largest after the company spent $13.6 billion for Life Technologies Corp. to gain DNA-testing capabilities in 2014. Deals have heated up in the industry after a slow start to the year, with this coming one day after Gilead Sciences Inc. agreed to buy Forty Seven Inc. for about $4.9 billion to advance into cancer treatments.

Qiagen shares surged as much as 22% in Frankfurt, the biggest gain in almost two decades. Thermo Fisher said the purchase will boost its earnings per share immediately after the deal is closed, which is expected in the first half of 2021. The company expects synergies of $200 million in the third year after completion.

Thermo Fisher will assume 1.26 billion euros in net debt, and it will finance the purchase through cash, bridge financing and new debt.

When a new coronavirus emerged out of China in January, Qiagen got to work on a test to detect the virus in bodily fluids. The test is now being evaluated at four hospitals in China and one in France. The diagnostic gives results in about one hour.

Qiagen’s stock took a hit last October as Chief Executive Officer Peer Schatz announced he would step down after 15 years at the helm and the Dutch company slashed its forecast for quarterly sales growth.

The testing company started exploring options after receiving approaches from several possible buyers, then ended them in December, saying the proposals weren’t compelling enough. Qiagen said its board backs the Thermo Fisher transaction.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are advising Thermo Fisher. Qiagen hired Goldman Sachs and Barclays Bank.