Banking

Decreasing availability of jumbo and non-QM products accounted for most of November's pullback, as other types of loan offerings saw minimal changes, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Internet-based banks are siphoning deposits away from urban centers in the U.S. and, unlike brick-and-mortar banks, face no requirement that they loan money back into those communities.

Too few lenders are underwriting unsecured consumer debt, which could help borrowers pay down credit card balances with little risk to lenders.

Leaders at the helms of organizations like Georgia United Credit Union, BayPort Credit Union, Blend Labs and more are adapting products such as "soft check" credit scoring, artificial intelligence-powered bots to streamline application reviewal and more.

Income-producing loans secured by real estate are under pressure at banks, the government-sponsored enterprises, insurers, and in CMBS to varying degrees.

Once the pace of private equity-backed sales of middle-market companies picks up, the Rhode Island-based bank expects to benefit. CEO Bruce Van Saun says that Citizens' recent expansions in private banking and wealth management will provide opportunities to cross-sell to corporate clients.

The head of the short-selling firm Muddy Waters said he's short Blackstone Mortgage Trust, saying the publicly traded real estate investment trust is exposed to a perfect storm of economic conditions hitting commercial real estate and may face a liquidity crisis. 

Rep. Maxine Waters pressed executives from City National Bank, PNC Financial Services and Wells Fargo on opening branches in her California district and upholding promises made from recent merger agreements or consent orders.

The trend exists in all past-due categories for subprime mortgages, but the numbers are still below levels seen just before the pandemic, Vantagescore found.

Morais, who leads the auto lender's consumer and commercial banking divisions, is preparing to leave as Ally Financial conducts a search for its next chief executive officer. She had been seen as a potential candidate to replace outgoing CEO Jeffrey Brown.

Financial firms claim a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would restrict lending, raise borrowing costs and result in more denials of credit to consumers.

The BSBY interest rate benchmark was originally envisioned as a successor to the once-ubiquitous Libor rate. But it failed to gain much traction, and Bloomberg now plans to shut it down next year.

Stress tests suggest systemically important depositories could weather current risks. Meanwhile, single-family arrears remain low, but that business could be impacted.

Some proposed changes to uniform mortgage-backed securities, apartment loans and derivatives will be made while one involving credit reports and scores was pulled.

With increasing focus on artificial intelligence in mainstream culture, the home lending field is making progress to adopt it across a variety of functions in the business. Here we round up a few recent developments in the space.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in an annual report to Congress that unpaid medical debt is plagued by inaccuracies, and that consumers are often faced with opaque pricing and uncertain insurance coverage.

Experts across the financial services space hold that the White House's new mandates won't bring wholly new rules to the industry, but will hopefully explain what the path forward for governing agencies will look like.

The agreement includes funds for small-business lending and mortgages for low- and moderate-income borrowers in California and Massachusetts. It puts an end to questions about the fate of an $11.2 billion plan that Silicon Valley Bank inked before it failed in March.

The program helped more than 23,000 consumers establish credit scores in its first year through partnerships with three fintechs, all of which were chosen to renew their participation.

The market could find out next year how well foreclosure prevention innovations and home equity protect borrowers from growing strains on affordability.