Big Banks Ramp Up Business Lending; Increase Driven by Loosening Lending Standards
Banks are boosting their lending to businesses, providing fuel for companies to increase spending on workers and equipment as the economy improves.</br></br>The rise is being driven both by banks, which are loosening their lending standards, and companies, which are seeking more money, bank executives said.</br></br>Earnings results from the six largest U.S. commercial banks by assets, which include J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., show a 8.3% increase in commercial loans outstanding in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier.</br></br>The results suggest companies are getting more confident about the economy after years of sluggish growth, and are anticipating interest rates might start to climb from rock-bottom levels.</br></br>Lenders, too, are making bigger bets on an economic expansion at a time when tighter regulatory restrictions on many banking functions have placed more importance on core lending activities to boost earnings.