There was a perceptible change in lender behaviour prior to the credit crisis. Against a backdrop of a buoyant US economy, very low interest rates, rising house prices, low federal regulation, excess global capital, heavy global demand for mortgage-backed securities and ease of risk transfer, lenders (typically banks) sought to satisfy demand by increasing the pool of borrowers and in turn increase their profits. However, in the main, those borrowers that had sought and had qualified for a mortgage had already been provided with one.