The rumour mill is on fire lately - this time it’s BMO in the hot seat, with whispers of a potential $1B sale of its transportation finance division floating around. At ~$14B, the segment is a small portion of its commercial loan book (~4%)…

… but it punches above its weight in terms of credit impact when times are tough, given the cyclicality of the industry.

With credit quality deteriorating in recent quarters…

… and a number of challenges still plaguing the trucking industry, it’s likely BMO wants to stop the bleeding and refocus the portfolio on something less capital intensive.