Commercial lending

Banks are perfectly willing to comply with a reasonable data collection standard. The problem is that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule makes demands far in excess of what the law requires.

Commercial-property sales have come under pressure over the past year as borrowing rates soared and values plummeted. Sellers and borrowers have often struggled to agree on pricing, given uncertainty around where values sit today.

The Michigan City company, part of a growing list of banks announcing similar overhauls, aims to sell nearly $400 million of securities and reinvest the proceeds in higher-yielding loans.

The world's largest credit union reported a 5% increase in total loans in the third quarter while lending at the largest banks was almost stagnant. However, the Vienna, Virginia, institution's charge-offs also jumped significantly.

Analysts agree that the Long Island-based bank will probably absorb some losses due to its exposure to struggling segments of the commercial real estate market. But they differ on the extent of the likely damage.

The Ohio-based regional bank has laid out an ambitious expansion blueprint, including new health care asset-based lending, a Native American financial services unit and a push into commercial banking in North Carolina and South Carolina.

The passage of a Congressional Review Act resolution to rescind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small-business data collection rule may be only symbolic, but the rule is designed to detect and stop discrimination — something everyone should support.

Rep. Maxine Waters pressed executives from City National Bank, PNC Financial Services and Wells Fargo on opening branches in her California district and upholding promises made from recent merger agreements or consent orders.

Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the House and Senate, which already had passed an identical bill, say the data-collection rule would be too onerous for lenders and small-business borrowers. President Biden is expected to veto the legislation.

Total loans at U.S. banks with less than $10 billion of assets grew by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. That was a slowdown from the previous quarter, and concerns about the viability of commercial real estate lending could dampen activity further.