Commercial lending

Recent polling an industry group analyzed points to a range of outcomes that could create opportunities and risks for commercial and residential financing.

The Arkansas bank said CRE is no longer its principal growth driver, yet it is still the bank's most prominent business and a big part of its robust lending activity.

The Buffalo, New York-based bank said its commercial real estate portfolio continued to shrink, but this was more than offset by business and consumer lending.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed measures designed to bolster consumer protection rules. The bills target several issues that have also been percolating at the federal level.

The regional bank has already seen a large reduction in "criticized" loans, and it expects that trend to pick up as lower borrowing costs alleviate the pain in the commercial real estate sector.

The bank faced credit setbacks in the nation's capital and margin pressure this year. But it made a series of hires to reduce risk and diversify its loan portfolio, preparing for a new era of demand as the industry awaits interest rate cuts.

Prophecies about a wave of bank failures caused by sickly CRE loans haven't yet come true. But there are still plenty of caution signs in a saga that will take years to play out.

Trimont CEO Bill Sexton acknowledges that a "daunting" volume of commercial real estate loans need to be refinanced in the next few years. But he says nonbank lenders are well equipped to provide financing that will allow troubled buildings to be reimagined.

Lower interest rates could bolster loan demand, credit quality and securities portfolios. But they could also curb lending profitability faster than they ease deposit costs, crimping net interest margins and eating into near-term profits.

First Foundation in Dallas recently got a $228 million capital injection led by Fortress Investment Group. Now it's announced plans to pivot away from its heavy focus on multifamily loans, which lost value as interest rates rose.

Institutional investors have an opportunity to "do well while doing good" while advancing a flagship public/private partnership model writes the Chief Growth Officer of Rocktop.

When the superregional bank sold its insurance business for $10.1 billion, it laid out three ways to use the proceeds: buybacks, a balance sheet repositioning and loan growth. The latter plan is so far proving to be elusive.

Bank OZK is the latest commercial real estate-heavy bank to announce plans to diversify its business. CEO George Gleason emphasized that he's confident in the bank's loan portfolio, but said he thinks misperceptions are dragging down the stock price.

For at least the fifth consecutive quarter, the Providence, Rhode Island, company increased its allowance for credit losses on general office loans, which continue to be a problem area for banks.

The San Francisco bank's interest expenses continue to rise as depositors switch to higher-yielding options. At the same time, soft loan demand from business customers is putting a lid on how much interest Wells is collecting from borrowers.

Some banks with large commercial real estate concentrations are seeing their stock values take a roller-coaster ride as investors discount their assurances about the wobbly asset class.

Pacific Investment Management Co. expects more regional bank failures in the U.S. because of a "very high" concentration of troubled commercial real estate loans on their books. 

Net charge-offs at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank increased by more than 80% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. BofA executives say that the rising losses were in line with the bank's risk appetite.

With high deposit and borrowing costs persisting amid the Federal Reserve's campaign against inflation, lenders face stress on their net interest margins and the potential of troubled loans ticking up.

Dean Wheeler will drive the firm's growth push in the U.S. and follows the London firm promoting Serenity Morley to COO, to drive growth globally.