May 05, 2009

Bankers are bracing for additional losses this year across a wide variety of loan categories, according to a report published Monday by the Federal Reserve, as the nation continues to suffer under the weight of a painful recession.In the central bank's latest survey of loan officers, more than 90% of domestic lenders warned of further deterioration across such loan portfolios as credit cards, commercial real estate and non-traditional mortgages.

The threat of rising loan losses, which remains the biggest headwind for the nation's banking industry going forward, comes as industry regulators are poised to report the results of "stress tests" of the nation's 19 largest financial institutions later this week.Some large financial institutions -- including Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) -- are believed to require additional capital as a result of regulators' findings, according to recent reports.