BankThink

The agency reported signs of stress on the credit quality in residential loans serviced by seven large banks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The news media investigation of transactions by nefarious actors puts certain large banks in a negative light, but it also points to inefficient use of suspicious activity reports and other anti-money-laundering issues that the industry has decried for years.

Commercial real estate loans are vulnerable as financial assistance for tenants winds down and might not be fully renewed. Late rent payments could rise, leading lenders to press landlords to pay up.

The Fed chief said that with its Main Street Lending Program, the central bank has “done basically all of the things that we can think of.”

The fund will support Community Development Financial Institutions that lend to minority- and women-owned businesses. The Charlotte, N.C., company is the latest big bank to make a large dollar commitment focused on alleviating racial and economic inequality.