Commercial lending

Toronto-Dominion Bank set targets for reducing the emissions intensity of lending to certain energy industries, charting a clearer path for a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 while still boosting its loan book in those sectors.

Bank of Montreal laid out a plan to sharply reduce emissions connected to loans to the energy and power-generation sectors by 2030 as its aims for a longer-term goal of being net zero.

On Dec. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, which earlier this week announced a $13.4 billion acquisition to expand in the U.S., got a lift from loan growth at home.

Most loans to mortuaries are backed by the Small Business Administration, so they are capped at $5 million. The Delaware lender is teaming with an industry insurer to offer much larger loans to funeral home owners seeking to acquire rivals or refinance operations.

Alternative lenders should be held to the same standards as banks under the Community Reinvestment Act and other laws, M&T CEO René Jones argued in a letter to shareholders.

Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal got an earnings boost with commercial clients ramping up their borrowing as economies emerged further from the pandemic.

On Dec. 31, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two self-proclaimed separatist republics in eastern Ukraine, lenders such as SocGen, UniCredit and Raiffeisen look increasingly exposed to the knock-on effects of financial sanctions by Western governments.

Last year, just 30% of small-business owners received the total funding they were seeking, down from 51% just two years earlier, according to a new Federal Reserve survey. The findings suggest that two years into the pandemic, banks are having a difficult time assessing risk.