Interest rate risk

The credit union regulator has held back in allowing the use of derivatives but has released a proposal that would remove red tape for some larger institutions.

The industry will have to grapple with pressure on net interest margins, interchange income and credit quality, said CUNA Mutual's Steve Rick during a virtual conference.

With multiple business sectors reeling from the pandemic, banks are facing tighter net interest margins, provisioning more for losses and seeing their balance sheets expand, the agency said in a report.

Consumers are parking their funds at financial institutions as lending slows and interest rates remain near zero, making it difficult for credit unions to deploy these deposits.

With rates so low — after steep emergency Federal Reserve cuts in response to the pandemic’s fallout — banks will struggle to generate bread-and-butter interest income and asset-sensitive lenders will face substantial net interest margin contraction this year and next, analysts say.

The group that worked with the Fed to devise an alternative rate to Libor rejects criticism that the index favors megabanks.

Some megabanks are pushing New York lawmakers to add a legal safe harbor if lenders use the new Secured Overnight Financing Rate. Smaller banks would have little choice but to take that option.

Smaller institutions should prepare themselves for some of what the competition has experienced, including increased provisions for losses and declining net interest margins.

The Fed’s decision to cut its benchmark interest rate amid growing coronavirus concerns is bound to have an impact on banks, but just how broad and how deep remains to be seen.

Banks' lowering of origination fees and loosening of underwriting standards often foreshadow a downturn.