Search Results
Journal Article
Agriculture banks are outperforming their peers, but how long will it last?
With soaring commodity prices and farmland values in recent years, banks with an agricultural focus (where at least 25 percent of total loans are production and farmland loans) have outperformed their community bank peers. Find out what risks agriculture banks may face.
Journal Article
Trends in community banks' net interest margins
Net interest margins are clearly under pressure at community banks, but this trend is not new. It is a product of a highly competitive banking industry and a direct result of today?s lower lending levels and abundant balance sheet liquidity. The net interest margin is the difference between interest income and interest expense. Interest income and interest expense fluctuated considerably through the business cycle, but the long-term trend indicates that asset yields are falling faster than deposit and other funding costs.
Journal Article
What are the challenges that banks face to raise capital?
Investors remain available for offensive capital-raising but are scarce for defensive capital-raising.>
Journal Article
The drought's impact on Eighth District agricultural conditions
Despite historic drought conditions, crop producers and lenders in Eighth District states appear likely to exit the year in satisfactory financial condition, but the situation is somewhat different for livestock producers.
Journal Article
Will community bank returns on equity return to precrisis levels?
It is possible ROE will settle in at a lower-than-precrisis historical rate, leading to a resetting of performance expectations by community bank stakeholders.
Journal Article
The demographics of decline in small-business lending
Outstanding loan volume at commercial banks declined 2.2 percent between June 2008 and June 2009.
Journal Article
In-depth: can FASB get loan loss accounting just right?
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently released a proposal that would change the way financial institutions set aside funds to cover losses on loans, debt securities and other assets. Under current accounting rules, the allowance for loan and lease losses is based on incurred losses; the new model, if adopted, would require the allowance to be established for losses expected over the life of the loan based on current and future economic conditions, historical losses, and other factors.
Journal Article
What if debit card transactions exchanged at par?
Under a mandate from the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve proposed standards for determining whether debit card interchange fees are ?reasonable and proportional? to the cost of the transaction.
Journal Article
Community bank lending during the financial crisis
The total volume of loans held by community banks peaked in 2008 and dropped during the financial crisis and Great Recession. Total loans bottomed out in 2011 and, as of December 2012, have only recovered to a level roughly 10 percent below their 2008 peak. During this period, both demand and supply factors undoubtedly played roles in the change in bank lending.