Commercial lending

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.

Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.

Lower commodity prices and decreases in government assistance are expected to push farm income lower this year and raise credit risk for banks.

It will take time for the banking industry to work through issues with CRE loans, Brian Moynihan says in discussing the aftermath of last year's banking crisis and New York Community Bancorp's recent warning about its exposure to troubled debt.

The troubled Long Island-based lender laid out steps that it's taking to improve its loan-review process. The remediation efforts follow a massive loan provision last quarter, which led to a management shake-up and a $1 billion rescue led by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The agency had intended to block access to tax data by most lenders on June 30 as part of a policy change that sought to protect taxpayer privacy. But drew broad opposition from the financial services industry.

Voters approved Proposition C, which offers a tax break for developers to convert up to 5 million square feet of commercial space by 2030.

The commercial real estate market is already contending with a historic downturn, but some investors now worry that servicers will make surprise decisions that end up significantly hurting their returns in deals.

Former Trump administration officials Steven Mnuchin and Joseph Otting are headlining an investment group that's seeking to rescue the troubled Long Island lender. Otting is expected to serve as CEO, and Mnuchin will have a board seat.

Long Island-based New York Community Bancorp has a large concentration in loans on New York City apartment buildings with rent restrictions. Property values in that sector have tanked amid higher interest rates, inflation and 2019 revisions to state law.

New York Community Bancorp faced new questions Friday after a flurry of disclosures led to a steep sell-off in its stock. The embattled Long Island-based lender beefed up its risk leadership, but Fitch cut its rating to "junk" status.