Mid-tier banks face their own troubles
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Megabanks have released some pretty dismal numbers of late. And now smaller, more regional banks are posting some sour information too. Ohio-based Fifth Third Bancorp this morning posted a $2.2 billion quarterly loss, its third straight. But mid-tier banks, as they’re known, have other things to take into account that differentiates them from the bigger siblings. Here’s Marketplace Mitchell Hartman.
Mitchell Hartman: The banking sector as a whole is suffering, with banks writing down assets and setting aside loan-loss reserves as fast as they can. But as Erik Oja of Standard & Poor’s explains, not all banks are hurting the same.
Erik Oja: A lot of these mid-tier banks specialize in bread-and-butter commercial lending. They’re a lot less complex than, say, a Citigroup or a JP Morgan in terms of their securities holdings and their exposure to derivatives.
Oja says the mid-sized banks in the most trouble are those that chased the housing bubble outside their regions, lending to builders in places like Florida, Nevada, and California. That includes Comerica and Fifth Third, and Marshall and Ilsley.
But Oja says even banks that stuck with safer lending in local markets will be playing clean-up throughout 2009, setting aside additional reserves as borrowers get behind on their loans or stop paying altogether.
I’m Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.
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