Commercial lending

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and TD Auto Finance all see opportunities in providing financing to dealers for inventory, the purchase of competitors and the addition of infrastructure for electric vehicle sales. Two other banks recently said they're exiting the business, which could provide a further opening.

Community bankers anticipate that interest rates could soon level off and the broader economy may avert a downturn as a result. If that forecast proves true, lenders could minimize credit losses and enjoy stronger loan demand than they had expected earlier in the year.

The product, which is both popular and controversial in consumer financial services, is attracting interest from merchants that don't want to pay high interest for a traditional loan.

Moody's said higher funding costs, a potential decline in bank capital and growing risk in the commercial real-estate industry prompted many of the downgrades.

Many small-business lenders have less than 18 months to figure out how to gather and report on an extensive array of data.

Much of the industry is slimming down, with some banks calling it quits on riskier sectors and selling loans they no longer want. The trend is particularly prominent at regional banks that are preparing to comply with new capital rules.

Critics complain a bill sponsored by the leaders of the Senate Small Business Committee would reinstate a moratorium on participation in the SBA's flagship 7(a) program by nondepository lenders. Supporters of the bill argue that widening the program could invite more fraud.

The Federal Reserve said that banks reported tighter standards and continued weak demand for loans in the second quarter, extending a trend that began before recent stresses in the banking sector emerged.

A federal judge has temporarily stopped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from implementing its small-business data collection rule until after the Supreme Court rules next year on whether the bureau's funding is constitutional.

Large financial institutions have "meaningful but manageable" loan volumes to industries that are most likely to see declines in output and profit after climate-friendly regulations take hold, new research shows.