In its quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, the Federal Reserve reported that in the past three months banks have again tightened their lending standards for large, medium, and small businesses.

Furthermore, loan amounts have been lowered and loan durations have been abbreviated; and covenants and collateral requirements have been strengthened. The survey also showed that loan demand from both businesses and consumers had weakened since the previous survey, in July. The poll included 55 domestic banks and 21 branches of foreign banks.

Nearly two-thirds of domestic banks cited a more uncertain economic outlook to justify the stricter standards. A lesser percentage of banks cited their reduced tolerance for risk, the worsening problems in their industry, and their own weakening capital position as reasons for tightening their lending standards.

Click here to view the survey.