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This Looks Familiar: Pre-Crash Lending Practices Rampant, Regulator Says
Regulators say Wall Street’s sketchy lending standards look like they did just before the 2008 crisis.
A survey by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says competition is driving standards down, and banks are making more exceptions to their policies. Not a small sample size either—the survey eyed 95 firms that combine for 94% of US lending, Bloomberg reports.
Standards are especially low in high risk, leveraged loans—you know, the kind with potential to create a $1.2T gap in defaulted debt.
For some icing on that debt cake, examiners say risk will continue to grow throughout 2016. [Bloomberg]
