Regulators released underwriting guidelines for new small-business lending subsidies and on the same day announced a big-name symposium dealing with the small-business sector.
Under a September law giving small banks $30 billion of capital for small-business lending, bank regulators had to issue underwriting standards for loans made with the new funds. The joint guidelines announced Thursday said participants in the program "will have considerable latitude" to formulate their own standards. The agencies said underwriting should reflect the ability of a small-business' revenue to repay the debt, the value of collateral, a borrower's overall creditworthiness and any "secondary sources" for repayment.
The symposium, to be held Jan. 13 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and moderated by CNBC, is to include several high-profile policymakers to discuss obstacles facing small-business lending. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., the prospective chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Small Business Administration chief Karen Mills are to speak.
The forum will also include a panel discussion with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Thomas Bell Jr., the chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
