Commercial lending

Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley became the latest big banks Monday to promise to cut their support for the coal industry in the name of reducing the pollution blamed for global warming.

The Portland, Ore., company is pitching its technology as a way for banks to enter digital lending without sacrificing their relationships with customers.

The online loan broker Fundera has published information about the interest rates paid by customers of its website, the latest development in a debate about transparency of the cost of credit provided by alternative lenders.

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More banks are looking to buy commercial loans for reasons ranging from a dearth of organic opportunities to a need to diversify their asset mix. That surge in demand is creating an imbalance that benefits banks that have been able to make more loans.

Presuming that medium-sized banks that offer hedging products face added interest-rate-risk fears misses the full story.

Following a trail blazed by rival Social Finance, the two-year-old firm wants to expand beyond lending and offer consumers a broad array of financial products.

The state-owned Bank of North Dakota has approved a plan to provide $300 million in loans to farmers hit by low commodity prices or crop production.

The top Democrat on the House Small Business Committee is looking into what regulators are doing to protect small-business borrowers who use online lenders.

The Treasury Department has recently solicited input on how to improve marketplace lending. Here are four ways to help improve access to credit.

An interbank loan market for community and regional banks, and backed by the Chicago Board Options Exchange, plans to open for business next month.

The American Bankers Association is deemphasizing the crisis-era fight over regulation and refocusing on the rising competitive threat posed by technology companies.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board's proposal to start loss reserves when a loan is originated is antithetical to banks making localized financial decisions.

CEOS of midsize banks traveled to Washington recently to seek relief from some of the more onerous regulations that they say are making it harder for them to compete with both big banks and largely unregulated marketplace lenders that are aggressively going after their customers.

Marketplace lenders are still so new that their business model is untested and unproven, raising fears both for consumers and the industry at large, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials and several bankers said Thursday.

Raj Date, the consumer bureau's former deputy director, said Thursday regulators need to be flexible, responsive and use discretion when it comes to dealing with financial technology startups.

As oil and gas prices keep sliding, banks with large energy loan books are doing what they can to manage ever-increasing risk. It's not just about reducing exposure; many are also working closely with oil, gas and other energy clients to help them raise capital or boost cash flow. Here's a sampling what bankers said on third-quarter earnings calls about the state of their energy books and what, in some cases, they are doing to prevent clients from defaulting on their loans.

The relevant question is no longer whether new regulations will come for the fast-growing industry, but what form they should take.

Banking regulators have been coy about whether they approve serving marijuana businesses, but lately one regional Fed bank has taken a strong position against the practice. But there are nearly three dozen Fed-supervised banks serving pot companies — one of many seeming inconsistencies in an opaque and confusing regulatory policy.

Revenue growth outpaced rising expenses at OnDeck Capital during the third quarter, allowing the fast-growing small-business lender to turn a profit.