Commercial lending

The beleaguered bank said it is selling 74 loans totaling about $2.6 billion to a subsidiary of Kennedy-Wilson Holdings. The move is part of a plan to pursue strategic asset sales, trim expenses and shore up its balance sheet.

Excluding farms and residential properties, banks accounted for more than 60% of the $3.6 trillion in commercial real estate loans outstanding in the fourth quarter of 2022, with smaller institutions particularly exposed, according to the Federal Reserve's semi-annual Financial Stability Report published last week.

Kyle Bass's expectation of more pain in the office market reflects a more widespread view that the pandemic has driven a semi-permanent shift toward remote and hybrid work that imperils lower quality buildings.

Rising vacancy levels, soaring interest rates and weaknesses exposed by recent bank failures have analysts and investors worried about banks' outsized exposure to high-rise office, apartment and retail properties.

Lenders had started tightening as early as the fourth quarter in anticipation of a possible recession. Now, the banking crisis is driving community and regional banks in particular to hit the brakes harder, stoking renewed recessions fears.

The $1.25 trillion-asset Home Loan Bank System collectively issued $303.9 billion in discount notes and bonds last week, with demand tapering dramatically from $111.8 billion on Monday to $21.7 billion by Friday.

The system of 11 regional banks issued a combined $137 billion of bonds and discount notes on Tuesday and Wednesday, after selling $112 billion on Monday, the largest single day of issuance in its 90-year history.

Banks and other lenders revived special-purpose credit programs after racial-equity protests in 2020 prompted them to reexamine their services for historically underserved groups. Now they're taking those initiatives nationwide.

The case involved a customer who was charged $100,000 in legal fees when he tried to pay off a commercial mortgage early. After the borrower waged a nearly decadelong legal fight, a Florida court ordered the bank to reimburse a portion of the fees.

Some of the biggest lenders to U.S. offices are weighing sales of loans on the properties as regulators heighten scrutiny on commercial real estate debt portfolios.