Commercial lending

Leveraged loans and collateralized loan obligations do not represent an "existential" threat to the global economy or to the U.S. banking system, as some recent highly charged reports have suggested.

The leveraged loan market, long favored by private equity firms to fund LBOs, has lagged. The largest buyers of the debt - vehicles known as collateralized loan obligations - are not purchasing as much as they used to as they deal with the wave of downgrades that has hit many of the companies they already hold.

A budget item establishing a new agency to protect consumers from predatory lenders has been put on hold as state officials deal with the coronavirus response and other priorities. But it could be revived in legislative talks later this summer.

The online small-business lender’s temporary halt to loan originations contributed to a breach of a minimum asset level for its Series 2019-1 collateral pool, according to Kroll.

As revenue-starved retailers fall further behind on rent payments, landlords' cash flow will be strained, and defaults on commercial real estate loans could rise.

The central bank is only now nearing the launch of the credit facilities after the effort was announced in April. But Chairman Jerome Powell said loans have been available through other means.

The venture with Goldman Sachs represents the first time Amazon has let a third party control the underwriting process of one of its financing offerings.

The central bank will increase support for credit issued through the Main Street Lending Program while providing midsize firms with more flexibility on the amounts they receive.

The captive-finance lender for General Motors is providing lower expectations for the vehicles' future residual values, compared to its prior lease ABS deals, in recognition of the likely severe recessionary impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The firm will offload parts of its business including its business development company, Garrison Capital Inc., and other credit vehicles.

“Since April, the decline in corporate credit has resulted in a significant number of downgrades among the assets underlying some CLOs,” a Moody’s press release stated on Wednesday.

Shut out from many coronavirus relief programs, private equity companies have found a back door at HHS, where they have borrowed at least $1.5 billion.

The changes being sought would benefit both small businesses and banks, which would avoid the cost of servicing many low-yielding loans.

The Federal Reserve set up a liquidity facility to help banks meet demand for emergency small-business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, but it's gone largely unused.

The new regulation is intended as a workaround for banks affected by the 2015 decision that created legal uncertainty for loans sold across state lines.

Business development companies (BDCs) were trending ever healthier prior to the pandemic, but if the economy remains in the deep doldrums it may ultimately be their affiliated asset-management companies that investors should look to for assurance.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston published details on the terms for lenders and borrowers to participate in the facility intended to provide coronavirus relief funds to middle-market firms.

A New York judge last week dismissed a claim that a leveraged loan JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other Wall Street banks sold in 2014 could be considered a security and, as such, be subject to the same disclosure requirements as stock and bond offerings.

In a report issued Tuesday, the ratings agency notes that 1,287 companies as of April 28 faced prospects of potential debt and issuer downgrades, impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and a virtual shutdown of the global economy this spring.

The templates are meant to make it easier to obtain agency approval for small-dollar loan products and to accommodate mortgage servicers that want to provide online loss mitigation options.