Paycheck Protection Program

Participation in the Paycheck Protection Program and other emergency lending during the pandemic has swelled many small banks’ balance sheets. Federal regulators are giving them a temporary pass on supervisory requirements tied to their size.

Lenders want Congress to bring back incentives used during the last recession, such as bigger subsidies and reduced fees, to jump-start participation in the Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a) program.

Joseph Lebel's promotion follows a third-quarter loss as the New Jersey company company looks to get ahead of credit issues by selling high-risk loans.

Community development financial institutions, which tend to be less digitally savvy than traditional banks and credit unions, are developing online-lending platforms and automating backroom processes with investments and technical assistance from big banks, high-tech firms and other sources.

Scammers may have had more success at duping fintechs than banks in obtaining Paycheck Protection Program loans. But there are reasons for this apparent disparity.

Regulators were receptive to Republican lawmakers' calls to ease burdens on banks that cross new asset thresholds as a result of their participation in the Paycheck Protection Program.

Underwhelming participation in the middle-market loan program has forced the central bank to reduce the minimum borrowing amount for the third time, to $100,000.

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.

A recently introduced bill concerning the Paycheck Protection Program loans could hint at what lawmakers will focus on when the House and Senate reconvene next month.

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

Institutions that cling to outdated lending tools run the risk of being left behind by commercial clients who are barraged with opportunities to borrow faster and more conveniently.

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.

Executives are urging Congress and the White House to prioritize another round of help for businesses amid concerns that the continuing restrictions on reopening could lead to more loan defaults.

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 flood of liquidity that accompanied the pandemic recession isn’t likely to subside anytime soon. Banks will have to employ a mix of securities buying, hedging and other balance-sheet-management tricks to prop up margins longer than initially imagined.

Longtime finance entrepreneur Jackie Reses, who led Square Capital for the last five years, is leaving the company at the end of the month. Square has not yet named a successor.

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