Commercial lending

A New York banker who mastered the art of buying low and selling high, broke industry norms and learned from his mistakes in commercial real estate, John Kanas became a model regional bank builder. After stepping down as BankUnited's CEO last year, he wants to do "one more thing" before fully calling it quits.

The Michigan company, which lost more than $1.4 billion in the aftermath of the financial crisis, is trying to become more of a commercial lender. Its recent agreement to buy a deposit-rich franchise in California could help it get there.

Built Technologies successfully completed a capital raise, enabling the three-year company to expand its software offerings for both commercial and residential construction lenders.

Sterling Bancorp in New York is determined to turn Astoria Financial's largely residential operation into a commercial powerhouse. While investors are skeptical, CEO Jack Kopnisky has proven in the past that such an ambitious plan is doable.

Rather than pull up stakes and leave two low-income Mississippi towns at the mercy of payday lenders, Regions Bank donated the branches to a local credit union and kicked in another $500,000 for operating costs.

Capital Corps, led by Steven Sugarman, aims to provide financing to homeowners and small businesses that it believes are overlooked by banks. The firm features several former Banc of California executives.

Call-report data on commercial and industrial loans does not fully capture small-business lending by smaller institutions, a recent FDIC survey suggests.

The delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate loans in CMBS is now 5.21%, a decrease of 19 basis points from the September level, according to Trepp. That is the second-largest rate drop measured in the last 19 months.

BOK Financial benefited from rising interest rates in the third quarter even as it reported declines in fee income and commercial real estate loan balances.

The Michigan company's third-quarter results were down slightly from a year earlier despite increased commercial lending and a wider net interest margin.