Commercial lending

At least five regional banks on Thursday discarded concerns about the global economy, stocks, interest rates and credit quality, forecasting loan growth for the rest of this year.

Fourth-quarter earnings reports probably couldn't have been scheduled for a worse time. Banks reported results (and sometimes good ones) right as the markets and the price of oil tanked. The cold reception from investors and analysts is a reminder of how sometimes the analysis of a banks' numbers has little to do with the past quarter, and more to do what's going on right now.

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, reported higher fourth-quarter earnings, citing increases in commercial and auto lending and fees from deposit accounts and payment processing.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., is the latest bank to partner with an online lender, announcing an agreement Thursday to refer certain small-business customers to OnDeck Capital.

LendUp, which makes subprime consumer loans online and over mobile phones, announced Wednesday that it has raised $50 million in equity funding, plus an additional $100 million in debt financing.

BlueVine, a Palo Alto, Calif., firm that is aiming to modernize the invoice-financing business, announced a new fundraising round on Wednesday.

The Current Expected Loss Credit model will help to quantify bankers' intuition and can be built with readily available data.

LoanHero, an online lender specializing in consumer loans at the cash register, announced that it has raised $2.5 million in seed funding.

Online lenders like Aprenita, Payability and Pollen VC have all launched within the last 13 months to fill a need they say is not being met by traditional banks, and only partially by venture capitalists and invoice-financing companies.

Still facing revenue challenges, Regions, PNC and U.S. Bank vowed to reduce overhead in 2016. The cuts are less about bolstering short-term returns than funding investments in cutting-edge technologies or new products and services to remain competitive.

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., reported double-digit earnings growth in the fourth quarter as gains in both fee income and loan balances helped to offset a sharply higher loan-loss provision related to weakness in its energy portfolio.

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Bank chiefs should brace for a barrage of questions about economic uncertainty, if JPMorgan Chase's experience after releasing fourth-quarter results is any indication. Double-digit increases in loans and profits were not enough to stave off questions about the odds of recession, energy risks and adequacy of reserves.

Umpqua Holdings in Portland, Ore., has hired Tory Nixon, who played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s, as head of commercial banking.

Fundation Group, an online small-business lender, has hired an industry veteran as its first chief operating officer.

Eagle Bancorp in Bethesda, Md., has hired four bankers to a develop a business line making Federal Housing Administration-insured loans for multifamily rental properties.

Live Oak Bancshares in Wilmington, N.C., one of the largest 7(a) program lenders in the U.S. last year, has promoted Greg Thompson to chief operating officer.

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., will increase its fourth-quarter allowance for loan losses by $13 million to compensate for potential late payments or defaults on loans in its energy portfolio.

A compilation of our favorite stories of 2015, as selected by the people who assigned and edited them.

A recent tax change will provide more stability to banks and developers that use the low-income housing tax credit program, and the supply of below-market-rate apartments should increase as a result. But it's not enough to create the economic incentives needed to meet skyrocketing demand for affordable housing in the U.S.