• Coronavirus small business loans over $2 million will be audited: Mnuchin

    Coronavirus small business loans over $2 million will be audited: Mnuchin

    The feds plan to audit all large coronavirus relief loans amid an outcry over big companies getting help at the expense of struggling small businesses. The US Small Business Administration will review all Paycheck Protection Program loans worth more than $2 million before forgiving the debt, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday. Loans from the …
  • Nathan’s Famous to return $1.2 million coronavirus small-business loan

    Nathan’s Famous to return $1.2 million coronavirus small-business loan

    Nathan’s Famous has joined the slew of companies returning small-business loans amid an outcry over big firms getting coronavirus aid. The storied Coney Island hot dog brand plans to return the $1.2 million loan it received through the Paycheck Protection Program meant to help Main Street merchants cover payroll and other expenses during the pandemic. …
  • Only 13 companies have said they will return coronavirus small business loans

    Only 13 companies have said they will return coronavirus small business loans

    A tiny fraction of the publicly traded companies that got coronavirus loans have pledged to give them back — despite urging from the feds and a public outcry, records show. Just 13 public firms that received a combined $98.5 million through the federal Paycheck Protection Program — which was meant to help Main Street merchants …
  • US will cap how much each bank can lend under emergency coronavirus program: memo

    US will cap how much each bank can lend under emergency coronavirus program: memo

    WASHINGTON – The US government will cap how much each bank can lend under the emergency loan program designed to keep workers on payrolls amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a memo seen by Reuters hours ahead of the reopening of the lending program. The Small Business Administration (SBA) will impose a maximum dollar amount …
  • Small business owners brace for pain when $310B loan program opens Monday

    Small business owners brace for pain when $310B loan program opens Monday

    The Small Business Administration will begin OK’ing a second round of loans to struggling businesses on Monday — a process that will be closely watched by hoards of mom-and-pop owners who say they were excluded from the stimulus program the first time around. The second round of Paycheck Protection Program loans kicks off April 27 …
  • Hedge funds, private equity firms barred from PPP loans

    Hedge funds, private equity firms barred from PPP loans

    Hedge fund and private equity firms are not eligible for the types of US government loans designed to provide relief to small businesses from the economic hardship of the coronavirus outbreak, the Small Business Administration said on Friday. “Hedge funds and private equity firms are primarily engaged in investment or speculation, and such businesses are …
  • Company executives could face prison time for keeping coronavirus loans

    Company executives could face prison time for keeping coronavirus loans

    Officials at big companies could be sent to the slammer for taking loans meant to help small businesses amid the coronavirus crisis. Amid growing scrutiny of its $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program, the US Treasury Department on Thursday urged the dozens of publicly traded companies that got millions of dollars in government-backed loans to return …
  • New coronavirus loan money is likely to dry up quickly, bankers say

    New coronavirus loan money is likely to dry up quickly, bankers say

    New money for loans to small businesses battered by the coronavirus crisis could reportedly dry up almost as soon as it arrives. The US Senate approved $310 billion in extra funds this week for the feds’ Paycheck Protection Program, which exhausted its initial $349 billion budget in two weeks. But banking groups say so many …
  • Insurance companies need to be the ones to help small businesses out

    Insurance companies need to be the ones to help small businesses out

    The insurance industry is blowing it. In my April 9 column, I proposed that insurance companies be used as the conduits for getting government money to battered small businesses like restaurants. The industry wouldn’t be giving out its own dough. It would merely be acting as an agent to get federal loans and grants to …
  • Small businesses share frustration of losing out in first round of PPP funding

    Small businesses share frustration of losing out in first round of PPP funding

    Small businesses shut out of the government’s paycheck protection loan program last week are fuming at their banks for fumbling their applications. Dan Abrams, who owns The Mermaid Inn and five other eateries in Manhattan, had all of his loan documents at the ready when the Small Business Administration launched the $350 million stimulus program …