Until now, in determining whether a lender is discriminating in its pricing decisions, examiners have relied on several factors: the relationship between loan pricing and compensation of loan officers or brokers; lender policies giving loan officers broad pricing discretion; the use of empirically based and statistically sound risk-based pricing systems; disparities among prices quoted or charged to applicants who differ in their protected characteristics (such as race); and consumer complaints alleging price discrimination.
The recently released December Tankan (Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises in Japan) shows that firms are projecting growth in their current profits for the fifth consecutive year since fiscal 2002 and the ratio of current profits to sales is exceeding the peak reached in the bubble era.