SBA

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and others cut back on 7(a) lending to focus on originating Paycheck Protection Program loans. Smaller banks such as Live Oak and Byline gained market share by targeting niche industries and originating bigger loans.

Credit is tightening to 2008 levels at a time when small businesses need help the most, former SBA chief Karen Gordon Mills says.

A Small Business Administration program meant to help struggling entrepreneurs amid the coronavirus pandemic may have sent billions of dollars to scammers or ineligible applicants, the agency’s inspector general said.

Small businesses need a new round of loans and aid from the government to keep employees working as the pandemic continues to spread, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said.

Businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program loans and Economic Injury Disaster advances discovered later they can't get full forgiveness. Lenders want the rules changed.

The legislation would help institutions with less than $15 billion of assets avoid regulatory requirements resulting from participating in the small-business relief program.

The Ohio company's new effort will commit $25 million in 7(a) loans, along with fee waivers and financial education.

The Dallas bank has begun encouraging larger borrowers to seek forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program loans first as it holds out for the government to streamline the process for loans below $150,000.

Wells Fargo fired more than 100 employees suspected of improperly collecting coronavirus relief funds, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Lenders welcomed the move as a helpful first step but are still urging policymakers to develop a broader, simpler process for expediting the approvals of loans extended to troubled small businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program.

The Small Business Administration has been covering six months of principal, interest and fees for loans that existed on Sept. 27. There are concerns the moves are masking weaknesses in lenders' 7(a) portfolios.

To date, the Small Business Administration hasn’t acted on tens of thousands of applications that lenders have submitted since early August. However, it will begin doing so by early next week, an official says.

More than 500 JPMorgan Chase employees got assistance from taxpayers aimed at helping businesses through the pandemic — and dozens of them shouldn't have, according to people with knowledge of the firm's internal investigation.

Lenders are disappointed with a low proposed cutoff for blanket forgiveness, but they said the proposal, which waives applications for some loans, is a good first step.

U.S. banks and credit unions reported skyrocketing levels of suspected business-loan fraud last month, a period that coincided with growing awareness of scams involving government small-business aid programs.

It's been six weeks since the Paycheck Protection Program expired and banks started filing forgiveness applications on behalf of borrowers. So why isn't the Small Business Administration responding?

The 57 charges involve $175 million allegedly stolen from the small-business loan program. Defendants are accused of lying on their applications and using funds to buy cars, jewelry and other luxury items.

More than $1 billion in coronavirus relief went to small businesses that received multiple loans and a congressional subcommittee analyzing the Paycheck Protection Program says it has seen evidence of fraud in thousands more loans.

The St. Louis company is gaining a sizable Small Business Administration platform and several niche deposit teams. Keeping those specialists in the fold will be key to the acquisition's success.

The company will pay $156 million for a bank with a large Small Business Administration lending platform.