Summary Box: Regulators urge banks to make loans to Gulf oil spill victims

Summary Box: Push made for loans to Gulf victims

GETTING CREDIT, NOT OIL, TO FLOW: Regulators urged banks to make loans to creditworthy people and businesses whose livelihoods have been hurt by the Gulf Oil spill.

WHY IT MATTERS: Doing so, will help victims recover financially and help local economies heal.

DELICATE DANCE: Even as they want banks to provide more loans to people and businesses, regulators want banks to do so prudently. Lax lending standards figured prominently into the 2008 financial crisis.