Canada’s largest mortgage lenders under pressure says Moody’s

The big six banks are likely to start showing some reduction in their consumer lending books when the release fourth quarter figures next month. That’s according to ratings agency Moody’s which says that consumer lending, including mortgages, has remained relatively stable while commercial lending has dipped. David Beattie of Moody’s told The Canadian Press that the agency expects “signs of stress” to start showing in the lenders’ consumer books on the impact of the weakened oil sector. Some of the largest banks have already begun cutting jobs and branches to reduce costs and while some of that is to enable a bolstering of capital reserves, they may also be mitigating reduced lending revenues.