Credit quality

Megabanks like JPMorgan Chase boosted loan-loss provisions to record levels in the second quarter in preparation for what could be a wave of loan defaults.

The results show how Wall Street giants such as Citigroup leaned on volatile businesses in the second quarter to counter mounting signs of distress from lending operations.

The country's largest bank said second-quarter profit fell 51% to $4.69 billion, a smaller drop than forecast, as record trading revenue helped counter the biggest loan-loss provision in its history.

Bankers had asserted in April that they could handle a slump in oil prices tied to the coronavirus pandemic. Continued volatility, combined with declining collateral values and a rise in bankruptcies for exploration companies, is denting their confidence.

The New York-area companies' $489 million agreement runs counter to recent merger pacts built around branch cuts and more tech spending.

Deferral periods on scores of commercial loans will soon be ending, and many banks’ profits this year could turn on whether borrowers can resume making payments or will seek extensions.

With credit quality suffering due to the coronavirus outbreak, the online business lender faces onerous loan repayments if it can't renegotiate a corporate debt facility.

The last bank where he was CEO, Opus Bank, ran into trouble largely because it made too many acquisitions in too short a time span. This time around, Gordon will take a more methodical approach.

As revenue-starved retailers fall further behind on rent payments, landlords' cash flow will be strained, and defaults on commercial real estate loans could rise.

Fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is pressuring banks that have relied on expansion efforts and fee income to produce outsize investor returns.

Two years ago, the Tulsa, Okla., company expanded its Native American casino lending business nationwide. It seemed like a great plan until the coronavirus pandemic struck.

The rescue bill enabled banks to protect loans in forbearance from an immediate hit to a borrower’s credit report, but experts say affected consumers may have trouble getting loans after the pandemic ends.

The economic contraction caused by the coronavirus pandemic has been worse than the Wall Street firm had modeled two months ago, its president John Waldron said Wednesday.

The Toronto company also said it set aside 232 million this year for U.S. regulatory probes into the bank’s metals-trading practices and costs tied to the wind-down of that business.

The bank is trying to recover millions of dollars in returned deposits. It also has a $14 million loan to the company that allegedly conducted the scheme.

Some lenders are issuing debt and preferred stock to provide an extra buffer for credit losses. Others are preparing for growth opportunities.

The second-quarter jump in provisions may be three to four times higher than a year earlier and will be mostly for loans that have yet to go bad, analysts said.

Lenders are scrambling to pause ranchers’ loan payments as meat processing plant shutdowns during the pandemic threaten $25 billion in losses for the livestock industry.

The Pittsburgh company’s sale of its stake in the asset manager yielded billions of dollars that could cushion the pandemic’s economic blow and eventually help fund a big acquisition.

The upstarts enjoyed rapid growth during the long economic expansion. Now they are on the ropes.