Small business lending

Bank regulators are considering a bypass to the 2015 court ruling governing loan sales that would ultimately offer more credit options to entrepreneurs.

George Cook could have joined Somerset Trust, where his father is CEO. Instead, he founded Honeycomb Credit, a crowdfunding platform that competes with banks.

The startup — whose backers include CitiVentures, SVB Capital and Microsoft's venture fund — says it's building an end-to-end platform for small businesses that integrates loans, checking, payments and other services.

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Banks are putting more effort in deposit gathering and fee-based products to offset thinning margins and increased payoffs by small-business clients.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order Wednesday establishing a board that would come up with a plan to create a public bank in New Jersey.

Community bank leaders at an ABA-hosted meeting questioned the timing for a new accounting standard for loan losses and discussed their struggles to keep pace with new technology.

At a forum convened by the CFPB, several bank and fintech executives argued that long-delayed rules required under the Dodd-Frank Act can help fight discrimination and shine a light on unsavory practices in the market for small-business credit.

The CFPB, OCC and FDIC are signaling a renewed focus on the sector after regulation of it fell more to the states in recent years.

The National Credit Union Administration is hosting an event on equality and inclusion, which will include industry leaders discussing best practices for embracing these ideals.