12 US banks tighten lending standards for corporate credit intermediaries

Twelve of 50 U.S. banks tightened lending standards for corporate credit intermediaries over the past three months, while 37 reported no change, according to the Federal Reserve's October Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, which covered roughly the third quarter of 2026 and drew responses from 61 U.S. banks and 18 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks through October 5. The same category also saw rising loan demand, even as standards tightened. The split suggests credit conditions for intermediaries are tightening at the margin rather than broadly, which matters for how corporate credit continues to flow through nonbank channels.