News Topic: Trade agreements

The timing couldn’t be worse for ag and energy lenders as well as global banks, which were all counting on the Chinese market to help bolster commercial lending and fee income. ... Read full article

Lenders that depend on the Export-Import Bank to back loans to exporters are already seeing business borrowing pick up after Congress reauthorized the agency in December. ... Read full article

A smiling President Donald Trump thanked some of the biggest U.S. companies for about 10 minutes on Wednesday at the White House, where he was celebrating his trade deal with China. When it came to JPMorgan Chase, he asked for reciprocation. ... Read full article

The country's biggest bank is leaning more on fee income to offset rate pressures, expanding in selected U.S. cities and laying the groundwork for operations in China that CEO Jamie Dimon hopes will endure “for 100 years.” ... Read full article

But some industry watchers are tempering expectations, saying that the language is too vague to know for sure if China is serious about introducing more foreign competition. ... Read full article

Though details of a potential pact with China aren't clear, bankers are hoping it could convince leery customers to finally go through with delayed investments. ... Read full article

Many business customers are putting off expansion because they can’t find enough workers to fill available jobs. ... Read full article

The percentage of farm lenders losing money hit a six-year high in the third quarter, according to the FDIC. ... Read full article

So far farm loans are holding up well, but bankers gathered at an industry conference this week said they are growing increasingly concerned that credit quality will weaken if the U.S. and China don’t reach a deal soon. ... Read full article

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called for the panel to hold a hearing on what he termed the danger that the Federal Reserve will meddle in the 2020 presidential election. ... Read full article

Competition for deposits is tight, the outlook for loan demand is uncertain, and regulatory relief is slow-moving. Yet community bankers are feeling better about the economy than they have in two years, a Promontory Interfinancial Network survey found. ... Read full article

China's decision to stop buying U.S. soybeans and let its currency depreciate raised the prospect of further interest rate cuts. That hurt banks slightly more than the rest of the market on what was a bad day for all equities. ... Read full article

The president said that European Central Bank President Mario Draghi would do a better job overseeing monetary policy in the U.S. than Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. ... Read full article

In a presentation Thursday, co-COO Gordon Smith expanded on Jamie Dimon's recent comments about frustrations in the mortgage market, was upbeat about branch profitability and discussed some of the bank's Chase Pay challenges. ... Read full article

The Senate has confirmed a new president and two board members, giving the U.S. Export-Import Bank the ability to approve loan guarantees of more than $10 million for the first time since 2015. ... Read full article

Can farmers — and the banks that lend to them — survive Trump's trade war? ... Read full article

From Democrats winning control of Congress to an escalating trade war and technology companies applying for a fintech charter, there are plenty of scary prospects facing the industry. ... Read full article

Rising tariffs are rapidly increasing the cost of building materials, putting banks at risk. ... Read full article