Small business lending

Midsize businesses and state and local governments are among the beneficiaries of the central bank's latest $2 trillion effort to mitigate the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Many banks were hitting their limits for lending to small businesses devastated by the coronavirus outbreak. They say the Fed's decisions to help fund additional loans and relax capital requirements will resolve many of their problems.

The maneuver could delay efforts by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to add another $250 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program.

The majority of small businesses faced a financial challenge last year and that was before the pandemic curtailed consumer demand and forced nonessential companies to close.

The Fed's actions are designed to ensure the flow of credit to midsize businesses and state and local governments hit hard by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank will be allowed to exceed the limit to enable it to make more small business loans; the CEOs of HSBC and StanChart are also donating part of their pay to coronavirus victim charities.

The agency overhauled its system for the Paycheck Protection Program on Wednesday. Lenders hope it addresses the access issues and a crash that bedeviled the effort’s first week.

The Federal Reserve is temporarily altering the growth restriction it placed on Wells Fargo in 2018 so that the bank can make additional loans to small and midsize business that need funding to weather the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers want to expand the two-day old small business loan program by another $250 billion; Calabria says nonbanks are exaggerating their financial woes as forbearance claims rise.

Firms that spread big-dollar deposits to community banks have seen a rush in demand as small businesses seek emergency loans to weather the coronavirus pandemic.

The Small Business Administration said lenders approved $71 billion in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program in less than five days.

President Trump on Tuesday praised some of the country's largest financial firms for pledging to take new steps to help small businesses disrupted by the coronavirus.

The Small Business Administration’s loan processing platform went down Monday for as long as four hours, temporarily halting the ability of lenders to process loans for small business owners seeking relief from the impact of the coronavirus.

Soaring demand for loans from firms hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic has led to predictions that the program could soon run out of funds.

The government should encourage community lenders to offer six-month loan repayment forbearances to struggling businesses before it’s too late.

Lenders and government guarantors can use loan technology to bring immediate relief to business owners, former OCC official Jo Ann Barefoot says.

The Cincinnati company will hire about 950 workers to meet heightened demand for loan deferrals and other forms of relief clients are seeking to weather the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.

Parties talking about a temporary lift of Wells' asset cap; GDP would have to drop an “unlikely” 35% in Q2 before JPMorgan would be forced to stop payouts.

Lenders must balance the financial risk of extending credit without explicit backing from the Small Business Administration against the reputational risk of delaying aid for needy borrowers.

For many small providers, the coronavirus pandemic means falling revenue and rising expenses, as many either shut their doors to new business or staff up to deal with COVID-19 patients. Bankers say that means helping them bridge the cash-flow gaps until they can get back to business as usual.