home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- BUSINESS, Page 69Business NotesCREDITLighten Up, Lenders
-
-
-
- Banking regulators often lecture on the need for caution.
- But last week lenders heard quite a different message: Loosen
- up. The advice came straight from the top U.S. regulators,
- including Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve
- Board, who trooped over to a Washington meeting of a
- banking-industry group to warn lenders against being overly
- cautious and too restrictive in their loan policies.
-
- Greenspan aims to ease a trend that began last year, when
- federal regulators tightened their examination of loans in the
- wake of massive real estate defaults. In the economically
- distressed Northeast, this tough oversight has compelled some
- banks to reduce lending. Greenspan is concerned that examiners
- and bankers may be cutting off credit to worthy borrowers,
- particularly small businesses. A credit crunch could help touch
- off the recession that the Fed chairman has deftly avoided thus
- far.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-