credit-worthy

It certainly would not require any lender to make a loan to any applicant who was not credit-worthy.

Disparate Impact, Loan Quotas and Mortgage Lending

Financing remains available to only "the most credit-worthy purchasers," he said.

Home Forecast Calls for Pain

Issuers also are more credit-worthy because the riskiest ones were driven out of business during the financial crisis, though investors still steer clear of lending to some European banks.

Crisis Lessons Learned, Commercial-Paper Market Skates Through Tumult

Wells Fargo has fought lawsuits from Baltimore and the city of Memphis alleging that the bank preyed upon black borrowers; settled claims it illegally steered credit-worthy borrowers into subprime loans and misled investors about the risks of mortgage-backed securities it sold; and fought investigations and regulatory actions stemming from revelations that it employed so-called "robo-signers," the agents directed by lenders to process foreclosure filings en masse without examining the underlying paperwork.

Wells Fargo Target Of Justice Department Probe; Agency Alleges Discriminatory Lending

At the same time, pressure to reduce default rates is freezing out less credit-worthy entrepreneurs.

Peer-to-Peer Loans Grow

"Companies that are credit-worthy haven't been in a borrowing mood, but we are starting to see that change," said Jeffrey Harte , a principal with Sandler O'Neill + Partners LP.

Pickup in Lending Lifts Big Banks

Banks say they are having trouble finding enough credit-worthy borrowers to make use of their deposits.

'Operation Twist' Augurs Pain for Banks

Alliant CEO Dave Mooney said member-owned lenders have a better sense of how credit-worthy their customers are.

Credit Unions Push For Small-Business Lending

But analysts said they expected financial firms to review their borrowing terms and potentially raise rates for the least credit-worthy borrowers in coming months.

A Fresh Jolt for Strained Consumers

But for the second quarter in a row, banks' total revenue dropped in the quarter ending in June, a development FDIC officials attributed to the struggle banks face in finding credit-worthy customers who want to borrow.

FDIC's 'Problem List' Shrinks for First Time Since 2006