Interest rates

While the London interbank offered rate won't go dark until 2021, the commercial real estate finance industry should start preparing for the transition now, says the Mortgage Bankers Association.

An effort to increase awareness of the transition to a new benchmark rate, and nudge banks to start preparing, is expected to intensify in 2019.

The new policy, meant to assist borrowers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, will let servicers evaluate borrowers using pre-disaster payment information.

Judges say a CashCall loan may have fit the state’s definition of an “unconscionable” interest rate.

Virginia National will set aside up to $950,000 to cover losses after ReliaMax, a firm that issues surety bonds for student loans, was placed into liquidation.

Growing competition may prompt commercial mortgage-backed securities issuers to accept higher loan-to-value ratios in their deals.

Capital One Financial will stop originating mortgage and home-equity loans after competition made it difficult for the businesses to be profitable.

The accord is the latest development in investigations by governments across the globe into banks’ manipulation of benchmark interest rates.

The alternative reference rates committee announced in June its recommendation of a broad Treasuries repo financing rate as an eventual replacement for U.S. dollar Libor, which is derived from polling data.

A Fed committee studying Libor’s replacement has dwelled heavily on the potential impact to the derivatives market. Loans may become a bigger part of the conversation later this year, but the panel plans to leave a lot of the specifics up to lenders.