Auto lending

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule Wednesday that allows it to monitor the biggest nonbank auto finance companies.

Demand for automobile loans has soared to new levels, Equifax said in a Thursday report. Meanwhile, delinquencies of 60 days or more have hit their lowest point in nearly a decade.

At a time when regulators, prosecutors and the media have stepped up their scrutiny of subprime auto lending, some in the industry have changed their definitions of key terms in ways that downplay the risks involved.

Exeter Financial has hired Freddie Mac executive Paige H. Wisdom to be its chief financial officer.

Orchard Platform in New York has added two nonbank lenders to its marketplace lending service that matches institutional investors with loan originators.