President Trump today signed into law an additional $484 billion in coronavirus relief, $310 billion of which replenishes the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Senate Small Business Committee Chairman, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) announced via Twitter that he expects the PPP to restart Monday morning.
Last night, Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) along with a bipartisan group of 27 other members of Congress submitted a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asking him to level the playing field for access to the PPP by nonbank finance companies. You can read the full letter here.
“As you may know, in many parts of our districts (especially in our rural communities), our constituents’ sole access to financial services is from small-size nonbanks-installment lenders, finance companies, factoring companies, and CDFIs, to name a few-and as a result have been designated “essential” businesses permitted to remain open…,” the letter noted. “Yet these businesses have been shut out completely from the PPP, which has forced many of them to lay off their highly trained employees who would have preferred to keep their jobs than seek government unemployment assistance.”
AFSA wholeheartedly agrees with the position of the members and continues to advocate for the inclusion of nonbank finance companies, such as installment and vehicle financial lenders. Vehicle finance lenders are uniquely equipped to support both their dealership partners and consumers. Traditional installment lenders are a crucial part of Main Streets across the nation and will be important players in helping jumpstart the American economy in the coming weeks and months.
"As the economy reopens, consumer lending – from auto finance to installment loans – will be crucial to jumpstarting growth and our members will be there to help," AFSA VP of Communications Ed McFadden, said in a POLITICO story [paywall] this afternoon.
President Trump today signed into law an additional $484 billion in coronavirus relief, $310 billion of which replenishes the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Senate Small Business Committee Chairman,… Read the rest
This week, the American Financial Services Association submitted a letter to the FCC requesting immediate action regarding a petition that AFSA and other trade associations submitted last month.
In the petition the trades ask for an expedited… Read the rest
AFSA’s State Government Affairs (SGA) team yesterday submitted a comment letter regarding Massachusetts HD 5014, which would enact emergency financial protections and forbearance for consumers and small business during the COVID-19… Read the rest
This is part two of our AFSA Extra Credit Podcast series covering the COVID-19 pandemic.In this conversation, we’re speaking with David Anthony and Sadia Mirza, also with Troutman, on the overall impact of the virus, including debt… Read the rest
The news cycle continues to turn and with it comes more information about the coronavirus. Consumer finance companies, like ordinary Americans, are drinking from the firehose, trying to sift through what they need to know now to continue … Read the rest
The American Financial Services Association State Government Affairs (SGA) team yesterday published a COVID-19 state policy update white paper, the first of two covering state responses to the coronavirus outbreak.
The white paper provides… Read the rest
The next two episodes of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast are a bit different. We talk with attorneys from Troutman Sanders about the impact coronavirus is having on the consumer credit industry. Throughout the conversation, our guests highlight… Read the rest
American Financial Services Association President and CEO Bill Himpler posted the following related to the current status of federal COVID-19 response lending policies.
Across the country, member companies of the American Financial … Read the rest
The American Financial Services Association has been in ongoing contact with officials at the White House, Federal Reserve, Treasury, the Small Business Administration, as well as Congress, regarding the various funding programs for … Read the rest
