Q4 SLOOS Foreign Survey

OMB No. 7100-0058
Approval expires May 31, 2027

FR 2018

Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey
on Bank Lending Practices
October 2025
Questionnaire for U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign
Banks

Table of Contents

Page

Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Lending

1

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Lending

7

Special Questions: C&I Loans

8

Optional Question

9

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October 2025 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey

Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Lending
Questions 1-6 ask about commercial and industrial (C&I) loans at your bank. Questions
1-3 deal with changes in your bank’s lending policies over the past three months. Questions
4-5 deal with changes in demand for C&I loans over the past three months. Question 6
asks about changes in prospective demand for C&I loans at your bank, as indicated by the
volume of recent inquiries about the availability of new credit lines or increases in existing
lines. If your bank’s lending policies have not changed over the past three months, please
report them as unchanged even if the policies are either restrictive or accommodative relative
to longer-term norms. If your bank’s policies have tightened or eased over the past three
months, please so report them regardless of how they stand relative to longer-term norms.
Also, please report changes in enforcement of existing policies as changes in policies.

1. Over the past three months, how have your bank’s credit standards for approving applications for C&I loans or credit lines—other than those to be used to finance mergers
and acquisitions—changed?
1. Tightened considerably
2. Tightened somewhat
3. Remained basically unchanged
4. Eased somewhat
5. Eased considerably
6. My bank does not originate C&I loans or credit lines

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2. For applications for C&I loans or credit lines—other than those to be used to finance
mergers and acquisitions—that your bank currently is willing to approve, how have the
terms of those loans changed over the past three months? (Please assign each term a number between 1 and 5 using the following scale: 1=tightened considerably, 2=tightened
somewhat, 3=remained basically unchanged, 4=eased somewhat, 5=eased considerably.)
a. Maximum size of credit lines
b. Maximum maturity of loans or credit lines
c. Costs of credit lines
d. Spreads of loan rates over your bank’s cost of funds (wider spreads=tightened,
narrower spreads=eased)
e. Premiums charged on riskier loans
f. Loan covenants
g. Collateralization requirements
h. Use of interest rate floors (more use=tightened, less use=eased)
i. Other (please specify)

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3. If your bank has tightened or eased its credit standards or its terms for C&I loans or
credit lines over the past three months (as described in questions 1 and 2), how important
have the following possible reasons been for the change? (Please respond to either A, B,
or both as appropriate and rate each possible reason using the following scale: 1=not
important, 2=somewhat important, 3=very important.)
A. Possible reasons for tightening credit standards or loan terms:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.

Deterioration in your bank’s current or expected capital position
Less favorable or more uncertain economic outlook
Worsening of industry-specific problems (please specify industries)
Less aggressive competition from other banks or nonbank lenders (other financial intermediaries or the capital markets)
Reduced tolerance for risk
Decreased liquidity in the secondary market for these loans
Deterioration in your bank’s current or expected liquidity position
Increased concerns about the effects of legislative changes, supervisory actions, or accounting standards
Other (please specify)

B. Possible reasons for easing credit standards or loan terms:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.

Improvement in your bank’s current or expected capital position
More favorable or less uncertain economic outlook
Improvement in industry-specific problems (please specify industries)
More aggressive competition from other banks or nonbank lenders (other
financial intermediaries or the capital markets)
Increased tolerance for risk
Increased liquidity in the secondary market for these loans
Improvement in your bank’s current or expected liquidity position
Reduced concerns about the effects of legislative changes, supervisory actions,
or accounting standards
Other (please specify)

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October 2025 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey
4. Apart from normal seasonal variation, how has demand for C&I loans changed over the
past three months? (Please consider only funds actually disbursed as opposed to requests
for new or increased lines of credit.)
1. Substantially stronger
2. Moderately stronger
3. About the same
4. Moderately weaker
5. Substantially weaker
6. My bank does not originate C&I loans or credit lines

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5. If demand for C&I loans has strengthened or weakened over the past three months (as
described in question 4), how important have the following possible reasons been for the
change? (Please respond to either A, B, or both as appropriate and rate each possible
reason using the following scale: 1=not important, 2=somewhat important, 3=very
important.)
A. If stronger loan demand (answer 1 or 2 to question 4), possible reasons:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Customer inventory financing needs increased
Customer accounts receivable financing needs increased
Customer investment in plant or equipment increased
Customer internally generated funds decreased
Customer merger or acquisition financing needs increased
Customer borrowing shifted to your bank from other bank or nonbank sources
because these other sources became less attractive
g. Customer precautionary demand for cash and liquidity increased
h. Other (please specify)
B. If weaker loan demand (answer 4 or 5 to question 4), possible reasons:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Customer inventory financing needs decreased
Customer accounts receivable financing needs decreased
Customer investment in plant or equipment decreased
Customer internally generated funds increased
Customer merger or acquisition financing needs decreased
Customer borrowing shifted from your bank to other bank or nonbank sources
because these other sources became more attractive
g. Customer precautionary demand for cash and liquidity decreased
h. Other (please specify)

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6. At your bank, apart from normal seasonal variation, how has the number of inquiries
from potential business borrowers regarding the availability and terms of new credit lines
or increases in existing lines changed over the past three months? (Please consider only
inquiries for additional or increased C&I lines as opposed to the refinancing of existing
loans.)
1. The number of inquiries has increased substantially
2. The number of inquiries has increased moderately
3. The number of inquiries has stayed about the same
4. The number of inquiries has decreased moderately
5. The number of inquiries has decreased substantially
6. My bank does not originate C&I lines of credit

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Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Lending
Questions 7-8 ask about commercial real estate (CRE) loans at your bank, including
construction and land development loans and loans secured by nonfarm nonresidential properties. Question 7 deals with changes in your bank’s standards over the past three months.
Question 8 deals with changes in demand. If your bank’s lending standards or terms have
not changed over the relevant period, please report them as unchanged even if they are either restrictive or accommodative relative to longer-term norms. If your bank’s standards
or terms have tightened or eased over the relevant period, please so report them regardless
of how they stand relative to longer-term norms. Also, please report changes in enforcement
of existing standards as changes in standards.

7. Over the past three months, how have your bank’s credit standards for approving applications for CRE loans or credit lines changed?
1. Tightened considerably
2. Tightened somewhat
3. Remained basically unchanged
4. Eased somewhat
5. Eased considerably
6. My bank does not originate CRE loans
8. Apart from normal seasonal variation, how has demand for CRE loans or credit lines
changed over the past three months? (Please consider the number of requests for new
spot loans, for disbursement of funds under existing loan commitments, and for new or
increased credit lines.)
1. Substantially stronger
2. Moderately stronger
3. About the same
4. Moderately weaker
5. Substantially weaker
6. My bank does not originate CRE Loans

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Special Questions: C&I Loans
Question 9 asks about changes in your bank’s likelihood of approving C&I loan applications
by borrower size and trade exposure. Answer Question 9 based on your best judgment of
exposure to trade for each firm-size group. Question 10 asks about the factors contributing
to changes in demand for C&I loans from your bank.
9. In comparison to the beginning of the year, how much more or less likely is
your bank to currently approve a C&I loan application to a borrower in each
firm size and trade exposure category? In each case, assume all other borrower
characteristics are typical for C&I loan applications from borrowers in that category.
(Please assign each borrower category a number between 1 and 5 using the following
scale: 1=much more likley, 2=somewhat more likely, 3=about as likely, 4=somewhat
less likely, 5=much less likely, 6=my bank does not originate C&I loans or credit lines
to these borrowers.)
A. C&I loans or credit lines to large and middle-market firms with high trade exposure
B. C&I loans or credit lines to large and middle-market firms with low trade exposure
C. C&I loans or credit lines to small firms with high trade exposure
D. C&I loans or credit lines to small firms with low trade exposure
10. What have been the main factors contributing to changes in demand for C&I
loans from your bank since the beginning of the year ? For each possible factor
listed below, please indicate in which direction and by how much each factor affected
demand for C&I loans. (Please rate each factor using the following scale: 1=weakened
demand significantly, 2=weakened demand somewhat, 3=not important, 4=strengthened
demand somewhat, 5=strengthened demand significantly.)
A. Changes in customers’ investment needs due to the outlook for economic activity
B. Changes in customers’ investment needs due to prevailing interest rates and terms
C. Changes in customers’ investment needs to acquire inventory or make advance
purchases due to trade developments
D. Changes in customers’ investment needs due to trade-related shifts in product
availability or pricing
E. Changes in customers’ mergers and acquisitions investment needs
F. Changes in customers’ investment needs for reasons not listed above
G. Changes in the relative attractiveness of other bank credit sources
H. Changes in the relative attractiveness of nonbank credit sources
I. Other (please specify)

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Optional Question
Question 11 requests feedback on any other issues you judge to be important but are not
addressed in this survey.

11. Are there any other recent developments in lending practices not addressed in this survey
that you find particularly significant? Your response will help us stay abreast of breaking
issues and in choosing questions for future surveys. There is no need to reply if you have
nothing you would like to add.

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