Bank of America Corp. is not enthused by the 85-month loans currently being hawked on the auto finance market. BofA Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson told attendees of the Barclays Global Financial Services event this week that 85-month loans should concern the industry. “I do share some of the concerns that you raise across the industry, that when you see people underwriting subprime borrowers buying used automobiles with 85-month durations and loan-to-values close to 100%, that’s not where we are focused,” he said. Thompson’s comments were among the first to be critical of subprime loans with 85-month terms. Thompson added that BofA’s auto business is retaining $37 billion to $40 billion of auto paper on the bank’s balance sheet. He emphasized that the bank is primarily focused on originating prime and super-prime auto paper.
