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The hand turns the sign with the inscription open to the Closed position. The end of the working day

While the second round of Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) funding remains available for new applicants, the first round is about to enter a new phase—loan forgiveness. Under the PPP, up to the full amount of the loan may be forgiven if the borrower spends proceeds on eligible payroll, mortgage, rent, and utilities expenses in the eight weeks following loan origination (subject to certain limitations, including that not more than 25% of forgiveness may be based on eligible non-payroll expenses). Forgiveness will be reduced for employer reductions in headcount and for certain reductions in salaries/wages in excess of 25% for any employee making less than $100,000 on an annualized basis during the eight-week period as compared with pre-COVID-19 conditions. To facilitate the forgiveness process, the SBA has now issued a PPP Forgiveness Application (SBA Form 3508). Borrowers that plan to seek forgiveness should carefully review the form and its instructions in advance of submission to their lenders or current servicers.
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Continue Reading US SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Forgiveness Application

Businessman

On May 18, 2020, the US Small Business Administration (SBA) released its twelfth interim final rule (IFR #12) on treatment of entities with foreign affiliates and purporting to “clarify” its own prior “guidance” noting that:

“Some market participants have indicated that there may be uncertainty regarding whether PPP applicants must include employees of foreign affiliates in their employee counts, because SBA has previously issued guidance stating that an entity is eligible for a PPP loan if it has 500 or fewer employees whose principal place of residence is in the United States. See 85 FR 20811, 20812 (April 15, 2020).”

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Continue Reading Now We Know it Was “Mud”: The SBA “Walks Back” Its Prior Rules and FAQs Regarding Treatment of Foreign Affiliates

Today, just one day before the safe-harbor deadline for returning Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, SBA released new guidance (FAQ # 46) on the good-faith certification of economic uncertainty. While this new guidance does not provide the clarity that many borrowers were seeking, it appears to reduce the risks associated with this certification by adopting a new safe harbor for loans under $2 million and limiting the potential penalties for loans above $2 million.
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Continue Reading New SBA Guidance May Reduce the Risks to Borrowers Making the Certification of Necessity for Paycheck Protection Program Loans

Main Street in Rogers, Arkansas

The US Small Business Administration has extended the safe harbor period for PPP loan return until May 14, 2020, stated that it will provide further guidance regarding the PPP necessity certification, and added confusion regarding the employee-size standard.

In yesterday’s FAQ #43, the US Small Business Administration (SBA) stated:

  1. Question: FAQ #31 reminded borrowers to review carefully the required certification[1] on the Borrower Application Form that “[c]urrent economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support the ongoing operations of the Applicant.” SBA guidance and regulations provide that any borrower who applied for a PPP loan prior to April 24, 2020 and repays the loan in full by May 7, 2020 will be deemed by SBA to have made the required certification in good faith. Is it possible for a borrower to obtain an extension of the May 7, 2020 repayment date?

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Continue Reading Another Day with the Paycheck Protection Program: US SBA “Tweaks” the Rules (Yet Again)

Over the last week, the Department of Labor, together with the Treasury Department, released several key pieces of guidance temporarily relieving deadlines for participants and beneficiaries in health, disability, other welfare and pension plans, and liberalizing enforcement policies and deadlines applicable to plans and plan sponsors.  The guidance is likely to be welcome relief for…

The Federal Reserve’s Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (“PPPLF”) is now available to non-bank PPP lenders to finance Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans that they originated or purchased.  While the PPPLF was previously only available to depository institutions to finance PPP loans that they originated, the Federal Reserve revised its eligibility criteria on April 30, …

scientist in lab collect dna sample in test tube with cotton swab

On April 29, 2020, the US Department of Defense (DoD) announced that it had exercised its authority under Title III of the Defense Production Act (“DPA”), 50 U.S.C. § 4501 et seq., to fund increased production capacity for swabs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Section 303 of the DPA provides authority to ensure the timely availability of essential domestic industrial resources to support national defense and homeland security requirements through the use of tailored economic incentives. Authorized incentives include direct purchases and purchase commitments, development of emerging technologies, and the authority to procure and install equipment in private industrial facilities. 50 U.S.C. § 4533.

Previously in April, DoD provided $133 million in Title III contracts to bolster production of N95 respirators.

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Continue Reading Defense Production Act: Continuing Use of Title III Authority by DoD

Non-bank lenders providing struggling small businesses a lifeline through forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans may soon have access to the Federal Reserve’s Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (“PPPLF”) to support their lending operations. The Federal Reserve issued a term sheet for the PPPLF on April 9, 2020, indicating its intention to provide capital to …

COVID-19 CARES ACT of 2020

On April 28, 2020, the SBA issued a new Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) addressing certain requirements imposed on lenders under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). The IFR clarifies how and when PPP loans must be disbursed, sets expectations regarding the reporting of PPP loans to the SBA, and identifies certain circumstances under which a PPP lender will not be entitled to its processing fee as origination compensation for PPP loans. The rule is effective immediately, though requirements related to loan reporting contemplate the SBA’s issuance of a form that is not yet available.

First, the IFR clarifies several aspects of PPP loan disbursement requirements. The IFR provides that PPP loans are single disbursement loans. It also provides that the 10-day disbursement window within which a lender must disburse loan funds normally runs from the date the lender receives a SBA loan number, but: (i) for loans not already fully disbursed, the 10-day window runs from April 28th and the 8-week forgiveness window runs from the date of the first disbursement; and (ii) the lender is not responsible for delays in disbursement attributable to a borrower’s failure to timely provide loan documentation (e.g., executing a promissory note), though loan approvals must be cancelled if required loan documentation is not submitted within 20 calendar days after approval. Moreover, it provides that amounts included in a PPP loan representing refinancing of a SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) must be disbursed directly to the SBA, rather than to the borrower.

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Continue Reading SBA Issues New PPP Rule Addressing Disbursement Requirements, Loan Reporting, and Lender Compensation

By Executive Order (“EO”) dated April 28, 2020, President Trump invoked the authority of the Defense Production Act (“DPA”) to direct that meat and poultry processing facilities continue operations notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic. As explained in our previous Legal Updates,1 the DPA gives the President “an array of authorities to shape national defense preparedness…