As more corporations turn to the securities markets to meet their funding needs, the role of banks as providers of credit to large businesses seems increasingly uncertain. But a look at developments during the financial market turmoil last fall suggests that banks are still a critical source of...

Although loan quality in the U.S. banking industry deteriorated in recent years, a comparison with the banking crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s suggests that the industry is in a far better position today than it was a decade ago. The percentage of troubled loans is lower, loan quality...