The Federal Reserve made the long-awaited, much-anticipated announcement on Wednesday afternoon that federal funds target rate will increase by a quarter of a percentage point from its near-zero level where it has been since 2006.
The announcement came as the Fed wrapped its eighth and final Federal Open Market Committee meeting of 2015 on Wednesday afternoon after a widely-expected rate increase did not happen at the September or October meeting. The federal funds rate is now one-fourth to one-half percent.
Careless underwriting standards is causing an influx of credit risk in bank lending portfolios, which could be a huge mistake for these lenders over the long-term. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, supervisor of the national banks and federal saving institutions, released its semi-annual Risk Perspective report on Wednesday, pointing out the growing risks among banks.