Auto lending

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, has brought on industry veteran Tom Wirth to fill the newly created position of auto finance product and strategy director.

Banks are losing auto finance market share to captive lenders and finance companies, according to a new report from the credit bureau Experian.

The Senate is the next battleground for legislation requiring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to rescind 2013 guidance on indirect auto lending, but the bill may do nothing to slow enforcement efforts.

Auto-loan, commercial-mortgage-backed and other securitizations use what is known as the swaps curve to price floating-rate deals. But pricing volatility is causing some to ask whether the market should go back to Treasuries after a 15-year hiatus.

A report released by Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee accuses the CFPB of willfully overstepping the law to punish indirect auto lenders for alleged discriminatory practices that, the report says, are fair business.

The $938 million-asset company will incur $400,000 in expenses from shutting down the unit, including $300,000 for contract termination costs and $100,000 for severance and employee benefits.

The auto lender, a unit of the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander, repeatedly reassured investors that it has a handle on the subprime business.

Overall U.S. auto debt surged to $1.05 trillion in the third quarter, and the rise in subprime auto loan originations has heightened the New York Fed's concerns about that market.

Automobile lending reached its highest level ever at the end of the third quarter while showing few signs of credit weakness, the credit bureau Experian reported Wednesday.

The auto lender has changed the way it calculates its closely-watched provision for credit losses, a move that added to third-quarter profits and raised questions about the transparency of its loan book.