U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday regulators are considering a capital surcharge on large banks as one way to reduce the risk any one firm's problems could destabilize the financial system.

In his most detailed description of the U.S. central bank's new approach to regulation in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Bernanke said regulators in the United States and abroad are also considering requiring that a greater share of bank capital be held in the form of common equity.