Small business lending

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?

With only a fraction of the funds allocated being used, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is considering tweaks to the middle-market rescue program in an appeal to lenders wary of taking on added risk.

The agency finally detailed how it may implement congressional requirements to collect information on credit to small businesses. Lenders below certain asset thresholds and that make few business loans could be off the hook.

The bureau will detail how it will implement a Dodd-Frank Act provision requiring the agency to collect information on small-business lending in order to identify discrimination.

The bank discovered the actions, all of which were tied to the SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, after noticing that suspicious amounts of money had been deposited into checking accounts owned by bank employees, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The Senate Banking Committee met Wednesday to review central bank lending facilities such as the Main Street Lending Program, which provides bank-issued loans to middle-market firms. But some lawmakers on the panel said the focus of pandemic relief has been misplaced.

Bankers and fintech executives want lawmakers returning to Washington to focus on streamlined forgiveness and a second round of Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses.

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 bank's five-year commitment will focus on providing more capital to small businesses and expanding access to affordable housing and homeownership.

The Minneapolis company’s partnership with the Black Business Investment Fund and other community development financial institutions is an example of how banks can fulfill multimillion-dollar pledges aimed at closing the racial wealth gap.