Commercial lending

Acquisition-hungry Stearns Bank has been fielding so many calls from would-be sellers that it has brought in a merger specialist to sort through them.

M&T Bank, Citizens Financial and Huntington Bancshares are playing it safe even as some of their counterparts have started to trim allowances in response to government stimulus efforts and rapid progress in the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.

Legislators expressed concerns that thousands of pending applications are stuck in limbo just weeks before the Small Business Administration is legally required to stop accepting them.

Lenders are preparing scores of Paycheck Protection Program applications to secure approval from the Small Business Administration by March 31, but unresolved error codes continue to hinder their efforts.

“We were already shifting to recruiting more problem solvers than people handling transactions,” said Robert Fisher, CEO of Tioga State Bank in New York and incoming chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America. “That pace of change has accelerated.”

Nonbanks had worried the end of the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility would hurt their ability to lend to small businesses. On Monday, the Federal Reserve announced the facility would be extended for three months.

On Dec. 31, 2020. Dollars in thousands.

A big funding source for the Paycheck Protection Program is set to expire on March 31. Its demise would pinch nonbanks that are originating and buying loans, especially if Congress continues the PPP beyond this month.

The bank must submit a plan for improving its risk management and decreasing its commercial real estate exposure, the Federal Reserve said in an enforcement order.

Credit investors are stepping into a void left by banks and insurance companies and providing debt financing for top-quality hotels in a bet on a post-pandemic recovery, according to a report from the real estate services firm JLL.

MUFG Union Bank is offering a new deposit product to commercial clients who want to see their cash reserves used to help finance sustainable projects, such as renewable energy or green transportation.

DMG Bancshares, formed by banking veteran Don Griffith, wants to buy more West Coast banks. For California First, the sale ends a four-year period in which it substantially shrank its loan book after it was ordered to shed leveraged loans.

The Small Business Administration is still writing rules for the Paycheck Protection Program two months after its relaunch. Lenders fear they may not have enough time to review those rules before the program’s March 31 expiration date.

Bipartisan legislation introduced Monday would permit loans made as part of the COVID-19 relief effort not to count against limits on member business lending.

The payment processing company will offer loans and deposit accounts to its small-business customers through a Utah-based industrial bank.

Turnaround times on loans in the 504 program are stretching out for weeks as the Small Business Administration grapples with a spike in applications and responsibilities tied to the Paycheck Protection Program.

Community Banks with the Largest C&I Loan Portfolios

Citigroup is one of the world's largest lenders to the fossil fuel industry, but CEO Jane Fraser vowed on Monday that the bank would achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions in its financing activities by 2050.

Community banks, which for years have relied heavily on commercial real estate lending, have been tightening underwriting standards, conducting more frequent loan reviews and stepping back from certain subsectors to minimize their credit exposure.

Already contending with stressed retail, hotel and restaurant loans, bankers are beginning to view office lending — historically a safe bet — as increasingly risky as companies of all types rethink their space needs.