Commercial lending

CIT's bread-and-butter business — commercial banking — weakened as it embarks on a broader turnaround plan. Soft demand from midsize companies plagued it and other lenders last quarter. Will that problem continue the rest of the year?

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup said Wednesday it plans to use the investment to help grow its cloud-based factoring platform for small businesses and expand into new market segments.

With the purchase of Sweep, Max Levchin's firm is betting that daily engagement with consumers will pay long-term dividends.

How two midsize banks and a marketplace lender are relying on chief culture officers to maintain a lively work environment and preserve their values amid M&A and organic growth.

CommonBond, an online lender that specializes in student loan refinancing, announced Monday that it has sold $150 million of bundled loans to investors.

Lance Osborne is vying for two board seats at First Niles Financial in Ohio, but he isn’t pushing the thrift to sell itself. Rather, he wants management to pull money out of securities to make more loans.

Recent prosecutions against lenders accused of usury violations will test the government's use of a law more commonly known in organized crime cases.

Bankers blamed regulators' new methodologies for rating certain energy loans – and a new two-stage shared national credit review process – for an increase in downgrades and loan-loss provisions. Regulators reportedly are reacting to an increase in second liens tied to exploration and production companies.

Illinois, California and New York are all taking initial steps to try to crack down on borrower abuses in the fast-growing digital lending marketplace. The states are facing pressure to intervene because federal agencies have yet to take decisive action.

F.N.B.'s acquisition of Metro Bancorp bulked up the Pittsburgh company's loan book, but M&A costs ate into its first-quarter profit.