Small business lending

In letters to administration officials and large banks, the lawmakers sought details about loan recipients following reports that financial institutions had favored their wealthiest clients.

The central bank also asked for public feedback on a proposal to extend support for coronavirus relief loans to nonprofit organizations that were in sound financial condition before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lawmakers cited concerns from small businesses that the current application to have coronavirus relief loans forgiven is “especially burdensome, time-consuming, and costly.”

Uwharrie Capital in North Carolina and Valley National in New York used their community connections to seek out small companies in need of loans from the Paycheck Protection Program. They found plenty of them.

A budget item establishing a new agency to protect consumers from predatory lenders has been put on hold as state officials deal with the coronavirus response and other priorities. But it could be revived in legislative talks later this summer.

The central bank is only now nearing the launch of the credit facilities after the effort was announced in April. But Chairman Jerome Powell said loans have been available through other means.

The venture with Goldman Sachs represents the first time Amazon has let a third party control the underwriting process of one of its financing offerings.

A blueprint that includes more CRA and tax credits for lower-income African Americans would help a demographic disproportionately harmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

A memorandum of understanding will include webinars and training events to increase the industry's understanding of Ex-Im products.

Leaders of companies including Citizens, Comerica and Truist offered more upbeat assessments of loan demand and credit quality than they have in recent weeks. But others warned of weakness in key sectors such as energy and real estate, and said forbearance policies may be hiding potential pitfalls.

Activity in the Paycheck Protection Program has slowed in recent weeks, but Customers Bancorp and Fountainhead Capital continue to pursue loans aggressively in hopes of developing long-term borrower relationships.

The industry granted about 21% of these loan applications after three months of record lows.

The global protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death should serve as a reminder that the banking industry must do more to support minority employees and customers.

The changes are meant to make the program more attractive for both business borrowers and the banks that make the loans; as workers trickle back to offices on Wall Street, they'll see a different landscape due to coronavirus concerns.

The central bank will increase support for credit issued through the Main Street Lending Program while providing midsize firms with more flexibility on the amounts they receive.

Lenders have a role to play in the national reconciliation that must follow the recent racial unrest — providing greater access to capital for African Americans and other underserved groups so they can build wealth, activists said at a panel discussion hosted by Berkshire Bank in Boston.

As part of its commitment, the Minneapolis company said it will provide $100 million in capital to African American owned and operated businesses and organizations.

Bankers said legislative fixes to the small-business rescue program should help more borrowers secure loan forgiveness, though new demand will likely remain tepid because the process is still extremely cumbersome.

Bankers have become more uncertain about how to serve marijuana businesses owing to confusion about which states deem them essential.

Representatives of lenders as well as businesses that received pandemic bailout money told an oversight board Wednesday that delayed and confusing instructions from the government hampered the effectiveness of the main rescue program for smaller companies.