Commercial lending

A rule change that allows farms with just one employee tap the Paycheck Protection Program means more pandemic relief funds are flowing into such states as Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and North Dakota.

The Atlanta company joins a small list of banks that have sold loans to companies struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.

The rule, finalized in the waning days of the Trump administration and scheduled to take effect in April, would have punished banks for denying services to certain firms without documented reasons for doing so.

The upstate New York company unloaded three loans, joining a short list of lenders that have purged problematic credits during the pandemic.

The Cleveland company will launch the service in March to broaden relationships its Laurel Road student loan refinancing unit has built with health care professionals.

The Dallas bank says reserves could return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021— a year earlier than analysts were predicting — if vaccines prove effective at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

Businesses owned by minorities and women got a head start this week in a new round of $284 billion funding, and early anecdotal evidence suggests stronger demand coming from these businesses.

A slower-than-expected rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and the threat of social unrest after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol could threaten the recovery, according to an American Bankers Association panel.

First Bank in New Jersey, Northeast Bank in Maine and others have warmed to the idea of using software to streamline Paycheck Protection Program lending so that employees can be more hands-on with customers.

The pace of forgiveness for Paycheck Protection Program loans is expected to accelerate when the Small Business Administration issues guidance on additional steps meant to streamline the process.