Regional banks rebuild capital, but CRE still shadows earnings
The recap worked. The offices did not disappear.
Bank headquarters and city offices
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The emergency recapitalizations of 2023 did their job. Regional banks are better funded, better marked, and less casually run. They are still landlords of last resort to a lot of office buildings.
Credit officers said the office book is being worked, not ignored. Extensions, recapitalizations with sponsors, and the occasional sale at a clearing price are all on the table. None of that is a one-quarter story.
Equity investors will pay for a clean deposit franchise. They will not pay a premium multiple until the CRE footnote stops reading like a novella.
Priya Nair
Finance Reporter
Writes on banks, private credit, and the regulatory perimeter around nonbank lenders.