Prominent lenders are cutting back on credit-card solicitations and targeting potential customers more prudently.
Last month, the First Alliance Corporation, a prominent subprime lender that is facing lawsuits by several homeowners and the AARP for deceptive practices, filed for bankruptcy protection.
Earlier this month, a group of prominent mortgage lenders and servicers said they would start writing to borrowers with high-interest loans to determine if they were having trouble making their payments.
"This isn't sub-prime lending," says Jonathan Baum, the head of European risk at GE Capital, an American lender prominent in the region.However, the key, as everywhere, is canny "scoring"—assessing the riskiness of potential borrowers.
Several large banks took advantage of this opportunity, but the most prominent credit-card lender was MBNA, which had become the state's largest commercial employer by the beginning of the 21st century; shortly thereafter, MBNA merged with Bank of America.
"I can still lend as much money as I could before, but it's going to be much more expensive," said one prominent real estate lender, who asked not to be identified.
Bank of America's move to foreclose on the tower is one prominent sign that lenders are losing patience with large commercial borrowers and are stepping up efforts to resolve problem loans behind big properties.
Of 13 prominent UK mortgage lenders, at least two ignore these payments altogether and others demand evidence of a court order outlining payment arrangements – despite a Government push towards informal agreements, which around 150,000 families currently rely on.
The IMF, the most prominent international financial institution, is a lender of last resort with hundreds of billions of dollars at its disposal through commitments from scores of nations.
Mr. Obama signaled his intention to continue to push for a prominent role for local supervision of lenders, introducing four state attorneys generals at the meeting: Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, Lisa Madigan of Illinois, Martha Coakley of Massachusetts and Roy Cooper of North Carolina.
