Credit

Misconceptions about the risks of private credit must not be allowed to affect important policy decisions about an industry that provides vital support to a vast swath of the American economy.

Institutions like BMO Financial Group and Bank of Nova Scotia saw earnings bogged down by increased loan loss provisions and higher tax rates.

The Toronto-based bank set aside CA$1.5 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter to cover potentially bad loans. Executives say higher-than-normal impaired losses could persist next year.

Under the Biden administration, a trio of regulatory agencies have teamed up to limit consumers' access to credit. The incoming administration should force them to stand down.

Artificial intelligence systems built to assess creditworthiness are trained on data that implicitly accepts past discriminatory lending decisions as legitimate signals about borrowers today.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the FICO credit-scoring model has drawbacks in price, predictiveness and market competition, and stakeholders should develop a more open-sourced model that uses artificial intelligence.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned companies about modern-day surveillance of workers and requirements to follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The Wilmington, North Carolina, company reported a breakout quarter for loan production, but profits fell as an increase in nonperforming loans led to higher provisioning.

Despite strong growth and solid profits, the Miami-based lender, formerly a business development company, still hasn't convinced the market it fits in as a bank.

An American Bankers Association panel of forecasters predicted slower growth, but it said the U.S. economy would likely avoid a recession, sparing lenders deep credit quality woes.