Federal Reserve Publishes Survey on Bank Lending Practices

On February 3, 2020, the Federal Reserve published the January 2020 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices addressing changes in the standards, the terms, and the demand for bank loans over the past three months.  The survey, generally published quarterly, received responses by 74 domestic banks and 22 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks discussing observed changes in bank lending to businesses and households.  The survey indicated that banks expect to tighten standards in 2020 for business loans, credit card loans, and auto loans while leaving standards unchanged for closed-end mortgages.  Meanwhile, banks expect decreased demand for multifamily CRE and auto loans, increased demand for credit cards, and some deterioration in loan performance for most loan categories.