Monday, March 16, 2009

Obama To Announce Small Business Lending Details

Update: Watch the speech here.
Obama is likely to address AIG today along with details on small business lending.
Politico: President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner will join small business owners and community bank lenders at the White House to announce immediate action to ensure that credit – the lifeblood of America's small businesses and its economy – gets flowing again to entrepreneurs and business owners. This marks yet another critical step in implementing the Administration's Financial Stability Plan. Expect details of a new and aggressive effort to unlock the frozen credit markets for small business lending, new reporting requirements on bank lending to small businesses, and plans to temporarily eliminate Small Business Administration loan fees and increase guarantees through Recovery Act funding.

Look for the measures to include: Beginning today, any lender who participates in the 7(a) program can request a guarantee from the SBA of up to 90 percent for each loan. On any new 504 applications submitted beginning today, SBA will eliminate fees charged to lenders and processing fees charged to borrowers. And for any new 7(a) loan, the SBA will temporarily eliminate the up-front fees that lenders pass along to borrowers.