Corporate finance

Businesses are struggling to adapt to remote work, according to a new survey by Arizent, the parent company of Employee Benefit News.

Some corporations are willing to oblige, turning instead to new, pricier term loans or revolving credit lines rather than tapping existing ones, industry officials say.

Tom Barrack, who a week ago warned that commercial real estate financing was on the brink of collapse because of the coronavirus pandemic, is now calling for a moratorium on margin calls and intervention by the Federal Reserve to keep values of mortgage debt from plummeting further.

The impending wave of loan delinquencies because of the coronavirus hurt private mortgage insurer earnings, but the companies will still have sufficient capital, a Keefe, Bruyette & Woods report said.

While analysts agree banks are in better shape than in 2008, lawmakers are dusting off a crisis-era tool used by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to soothe potential liquidity fears during the coronavirus pandemic.

The central bank's sweeping actions suggest a cash shortage gripping sectors directly hit by the pandemic. Banks were supposed to be protected by Dodd-Frank but are still vulnerable to a funding domino effect.

The Federal Reserve committed Monday to conducting more asset purchases of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities and announced $300 billion in new financing for credit facilities.

An effort by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to examine membership rules for the Federal Home Loan Bank System is reigniting an argument over whether to allow more nonbanks in or impose tougher barriers.

The cancellation by New Residential of a money-losing subservicing agreement should benefit Ocwen's financial results going forward, the company said.

Freddie Mac saw a decline in net profit in 2019 due to decreased interest rate income, lower amortization revenue and risk-reducing investment costs, but its consecutive-quarter results improved.