ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- Citing favorable rate spreads, National Bank of Royal Oak has lowered its prime lending rate to 6% from 6.5%.
The unit of Royal Bank Group Inc., which has $183 million in assets, has at times changed its prime ahead of moves by larger institutions.
"Our cost of funds, based largely on the costs of short-term Treasury bill rates, has continued to decrease," the bank said. "The continuing decrease in interest rates for deposits makes it possible for us to lower our prime."
For the better part of the past decade, the Federal Reserve Board in Washington has played a more active role in presidential searches by regional reserve banks. The shift seems to have made the system more diverse, but some argue at the expense of regional bank independence.
Beth Johnson, a self-described math geek, is driving the bank's ESG strategy and training its employees to keep pace with industry trends.
The Cleveland-based bank is projecting steady growth in net interest income even as credit losses remain manageable. But Chairman and CEO Chris Gorman also said that he thinks a recession is likely.
The first-quarter increase involved commercial real estate loans, including some problematic multifamily loans and an office credit, but none of the criticized loans were to consumers, officials at the Dallas company say. Further CRE deterioration is anticipated.
The Detroit-based company is exploring ways to make more consumer auto loans without running afoul of stricter capital standards that are expected from the Federal Reserve. Possible approaches include more securitizations and the use of credit risk transfers.
The House Financial Services Committee also sent to the full House two bipartisan bills, including one that would prevent large banks from opting out of having to recognize Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in regulatory capital.
