• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
US Lenders Score Small Business Relief, Accounting Help in Pandemic Package

US Lenders Score Small Business Relief, Accounting Help in Pandemic Package

December 22, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: VA Sec Says Days Of Unions, Contractors Owning His Agency Are Over

EXCLUSIVE: VA Sec Says Days Of Unions, Contractors Owning His Agency Are Over

June 13, 2025
LA News Outlet Caught In Lie That ICE Targeted Pregnant Woman. It Really Went After Her Illegal Husband.

LA News Outlet Caught In Lie That ICE Targeted Pregnant Woman. It Really Went After Her Illegal Husband.

June 13, 2025
‘My Blood Is Boiling’: Dem Strategist Melts Down Over Alex Padilla Getting Booted From Noem Presser

‘My Blood Is Boiling’: Dem Strategist Melts Down Over Alex Padilla Getting Booted From Noem Presser

June 13, 2025
SHOSHANA BRYEN: Israel Has Rights Beyond The ‘Right To Exist’

SHOSHANA BRYEN: Israel Has Rights Beyond The ‘Right To Exist’

June 13, 2025
‘Everyone Move, Now!’: Fox News Crew Takes Cover Live On-Air As Iran Launches Counter Strikes Against Israel

‘Everyone Move, Now!’: Fox News Crew Takes Cover Live On-Air As Iran Launches Counter Strikes Against Israel

June 13, 2025
Officials Fear ‘Potential Tiananmen Square Moment’ at Military Parade

Officials Fear ‘Potential Tiananmen Square Moment’ at Military Parade

June 13, 2025
‘Highly Partisan’ Official Fired By Trump Quits Anyway — After Smithsonian Attempted To Keep Her

‘Highly Partisan’ Official Fired By Trump Quits Anyway — After Smithsonian Attempted To Keep Her

June 13, 2025
Tim Kaine Really Upset About Alex Padilla Being Tossed From Kristi Noem Presser

Tim Kaine Really Upset About Alex Padilla Being Tossed From Kristi Noem Presser

June 13, 2025
Migrants Escape New Jersey Immigration Detention Center

Migrants Escape New Jersey Immigration Detention Center

June 13, 2025
Video Shows ICE Agents Letting Man Go After Neighbors Interrupt Raid

Video Shows ICE Agents Letting Man Go After Neighbors Interrupt Raid

June 13, 2025
Personal Data of Immigrant Medicaid Enrollees Given to Deportation Officials

Personal Data of Immigrant Medicaid Enrollees Given to Deportation Officials

June 13, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: Dem Rep Takes ‘Fake’ Phone Call To Dodge Question About LA Riots

EXCLUSIVE: Dem Rep Takes ‘Fake’ Phone Call To Dodge Question About LA Riots

June 13, 2025
  • Donald Trump
  • State of the Union
  • Elon Musk
  • Tariffs
  • Congress
  • Faith
  • Immigration
Saturday, June 14, 2025
  • Login
IJR
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls
No Result
View All Result
IJR
No Result
View All Result
Home News

US Lenders Score Small Business Relief, Accounting Help in Pandemic Package

by Reuters
December 22, 2020
in News
245 7
0
US Lenders Score Small Business Relief, Accounting Help in Pandemic Package

FILE PHOTO: A staff cleans the lobby inside Wells Fargo bank in New York City, U.S., March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The long-awaited nearly $900 billion U.S. pandemic aid package will help banks by boosting borrowers’ finances, easing a key small-business lending program’s rules and by granting accounting relief on deferred loan payments, lobbyists and analysts said.

After months of partisan wrangling, the U.S. Congress over the weekend struck a deal on another pandemic aid package, including one-time $600 checks for most Americans, extended unemployment benefits of $300 per week and $284 billion more for the small business Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP.

Passed by lawmakers Monday night, the package includes a number of measures that the industry, potentially facing more than $300 billion in losses on souring loans through 2022, according to consultancy Deloitte, had lobbied for aggressively to bolster their books and help their customers.

Those efforts extended through the weekend, with industry lobbyists making last-ditch calls to lawmakers to push for their asks in the final text, lobbyists said.

Rob Nichols, chief executive of Washington trade group the American Bankers Association, said on Tuesday that the deal should provide much-needed relief to families and workers.

“Importantly, this agreement contains several ABA-supported provisions… that will allow banks to provide additional help to individual and business customers under financial stress from the pandemic,” he said in a statement.

Among the biggest wins is a new streamlined process for writing off PPP loans. Under the program, lenders have dished out more than five million loans worth a total of $525 billion, on behalf of the government.

Bank groups had complained that the documentation the government required to forgive those loans was too onerous and risked leaving borrowers with crushing debts and lenders with millions of high-risk, barely profitable loans.

The bill simplifies forgiveness for loans of $150,000 or less, allowing businesses to attest on a one-page form that they used the funds for payroll and other businesses expenses. It also allows those expenses to qualify for deductions, simplifying tax returns for millions of borrowers.

It also tightens language promising lenders will not be held responsible if borrowers break the PPP rules, pledging no enforcement action may be taken against the lender if they acted in good faith and complied with relevant federal and state regulations. That should comfort lenders who had fretted they may be swept-up in a crackdown on PPP fraud. [L4N2I92PW]

“It’s an improvement over the current PPP program and has many fixes that needed to be addressed, and it extends some relief for the community banks and lenders to continue supporting small businesses,” said Paul Merski, an executive vice president at the Independent Community Bankers of America.

That relief included a year-long extension of a provision, originally due to expire on Dec. 31, which has made it easier for banks to give borrowers leeway on repayments by waiving the usual accounting treatment for modified loans.

The median rate of deferred loans relative to assets for U.S. banks tracked by S&P Global was 1.6% in the third quarter, down from 5.3% in the prior quarter, as borrower stress eased. But that rate could rise again if the economy underperforms.

Had the waiver expired, banks would curtail their loan modification programs rather than incur the increased capital charges and regulatory scrutiny that come with the normal accounting treatment, said lobbyists.

“This will be very helpful for credit unions and banks working with borrowers,” said Ryan Donovan, chief advocacy officer at the Credit Union National Association, who had pushed for the extension.

(Reporting by Pete Schroeder and Michelle Price; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Tags: Coronavirus OutbreakEconomy
Share196Tweet123
Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is an international news organization.

Advertisements

Top Stories June 10th
Top Stories June 7th
Top Stories June 6th
Top Stories June 3rd
Top Stories May 30th
Top Stories May 29th
Top Stories May 24th
Top Stories May 23rd
Top Stories May 21st
Top Stories May 17th

Join Over 6M Subscribers

We’re organizing an online community to elevate trusted voices on all sides so that you can be fully informed.





IJR

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Trusted Voices On All Sides

  • About Us
  • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy
  • Subscribe to IJR

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Top Stories June 10th Top Stories June 7th Top Stories June 6th Top Stories June 3rd Top Stories May 30th Top Stories May 29th Top Stories May 24th Top Stories May 23rd Top Stories May 21st Top Stories May 17th