Commercial lending

Commercial borrowers are leaning more often on alternative lenders that provide better speed and flexibility. At the same time, some banks are turning their backs on what has long been a bread-and-butter business.

The acquisition of Sabal Capital Partners, which has been growing its footprint in commercial mortgage-backed securities lending, will help the Alabama bank build out its capital markets business.

The Cincinnati bank, which last month closed its purchase of the health care lender Provide, has raised its estimate for the unit’s 2021 loan volume.

Banks that embraced their role as a conduit for Paycheck Protection Program loans were likelier to take more risk elsewhere, according to new research by three accounting professors. “Anytime you have that amount of money flowing through the bank, it’s going to affect behavior,” one of the authors said.

On Jun. 30, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

The agency proposed reporting standards for any institution that originates 25 or more small-business loans a year. The measure would be especially burdensome for very small lenders and could limit credit access in underserved communities, critics say.

There's still a month left in the federal government's fiscal year, and the Small Business Administration's 504 program is perilously close to hitting its congressionally mandated funding limit for new loans.

On Jun. 30, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

Some banks and credit unions, once hopeful of a swift end to the pandemic, are beginning to toughen credit underwriting and rethink growth strategies as if the coronavirus will influence the economy for years to come.

Bankers are hopeful that the rebound in oil prices and a spike in natural gas use are precursors to more borrowing. But banks are maintaining above-average levels of reserves in case the delta variant stifles economic momentum.