British banks Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS have passed European stress tests to see if they would cope with worsening economic conditions, the Financial Services Authority regulator said on Friday.

• Seven European banks fail EU stress tests

"The FSA welcomes the publication of the results of the EU-wide stress test exercise conducted by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors," the FSA said in a statement.

"The CEBS exercise shows that the UK banks are well placed to handle further periods of economic stress, as outlined in the macro economic parameters detailed by CEBS, should such stress develop."

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland were the only British lenders that were assessed as part of the so-called "stress tests" on 91 different European financial institutions.