Consumer lending

Three midsize banks projected increases in loans this year in the latest round of earnings discussions, but their levels of optimism varied, and their commercial lending strategies in some cases conflicted.

The Michigan company expects a recently announced mortgage initiative to produce solid growth in 2017.

Moody's Corp. agreed to pay almost $864 million to resolve a multiyear U.S. investigation into credit ratings on subprime mortgage securities, helping to clear the way for the firm to move beyond its crisis-era litigation.

The Columbus, Ga., bank reported higher fourth-quarter profit on growth in business loans and mortgage banking.

JPMorgan Chase's net mortgage banking revenue for the fourth quarter was $1.69 billion, an increase of just 1% over the same period in 2015.

Bank of America Corp.'s fourth-quarter mortgage revenue almost doubled to $519 million from a year earlier.

Wells Fargo, which lost its status as the world's most valuable lender after a scandal in its retail bank, said profit dropped 5.4% as revenue from its mortgage business declined.

Deutsche Bank is considering an unusual approach to providing relief to subprime mortgage borrowers as part of a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. government: lending money to private equity firms and hedge funds.

National banks have experienced a dramatic drop in loan modification activity over the past year, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Kenneth Mahon, the new CEO of Dime Community Bank, wants to reduce the 152-year-old institution's multifamily exposure by diversifying into other asset classes. But finding new business amid already fierce competition could be an immense challenge for Dime — and other community banks — in 2017.