Commercial real estate lending

Consumers’ desire to shop online is creating huge demand for distribution centers and forcing property owners to think creatively about redeveloping vacant retail space. Meanwhile, hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent rebuilding areas hard hit by hurricanes and wildfires.

DoubleLine Capital is embarking on a plan to originate and securitize mortgages, seeking to fill a niche that has traditionally belonged to banks and brokerage firms.

A lawyer for UBS Group AG urged a New York jury to reject the tale of a former senior commercial mortgage-backed securities strategist who claimed he was fired for refusing to let the Swiss bank's traders influence his research reports.

The $280 million securitization is also expected to boost capital levels and lower Dime's loan-to-deposit ratio.

UBS Group AG's head trader for commercial mortgage-backed securities denied claims of trying to influence research reports published by the Swiss bank's former senior strategist for those products.

Freddie Mac is broadening its capital markets vehicles with its first offering of participation certificate securities backed by multifamily tax exempt loans.

SunTrust sold an insurance financing unit that it deemed noncore, but it is on the lookout to buy more complementary businesses such as a CRE lender it acquired last year.

The Trepp CMBS delinquency rate is now 5.18%, a decrease of three basis points from the October level; declines were limited to the industrial, multifamily and office subindexes.

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 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.