Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo are being sued by small business owners, who claim the big lenders unfairly favored companies seeking higher loan amounts under the government-backed Paycheck Protection Program
SBA has released limited data showing granular loan activity by bank, making it hard to pinpoint how many loans and of what size each firm made on any given day.
JPMorgan declined to comment on the litigation but disputed that the bank had given priority to bigger clients in“We funded more than twice as many loans for smaller businesses than the rest of the firm’s clients combined,” it said. “We have different lines of business that serve different types of clients. Each business worked separately on loans for its customers. … Our intent was to serve as many clients as possible, not to prioritize any clients over others.
U.S. Bank also rejected the claims in the lawsuit. “We plan to vigorously defend ourselves as it is without merit,” the bank said in a statement. “The cumulative industry data provided by the SBA is not reflective of U.S. Bank’s practices or results. We continue to serve our small business customers and are prepared to process loans as quickly as possible should additional funds become available.”
Wells Fargo declined to comment but said it was “working as quickly as possible to assist small business customers with the Paycheck Protection Program.”The Paycheck Protection Program exhausted all of the $349 billion set aside for loans last week, and Congress is negotiating additional funding. The National Federation of Independent Business released a survey on Monday that showed 80 percent of applicants in the program are still waiting for financial assistance.
A federal judge last week defended a controversial move by Bank of America to restrict the pool of small businesses that could receive PPP loans. The businesses that sued Bank of America are planning to appeal.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Shake Shack, Ruth's Chris and other chain restaurants got big PPP loans when small businesses couldn'tIn recent days, it's been revealed how large chunks of funds in the Paycheck Protection Program were gobbled up by chain restaurants, hoteliers and publicly traded corporations.
Consulte Mais informação »
Mnuchin, Pelosi say 'very close' to a deal on second round of small business loansThe $349 billion rescue loan program ran out of money on Thursday, just two weeks after it was launched to help small businesses struggling with the financial hit of the coronavirus pandemic.
Consulte Mais informação »
Mnuchin says deal 'very close' on billions more for small business loansThe deal would include $300 billion in new funds for small businesses to pay their employees, as well as $75 billion for hospitals, Mnuchin said.
Consulte Mais informação »
In Race for Small-Business Loans, Winning Hinged on Where Firms BankThe small businesses that received government aid weren’t always the ones with the greatest needs or the best chances to survive the pandemic.
Consulte Mais informação »
Small-business loan program ran out of money within minutes, some banks saySmall-business loan program ran out of money within minutes, some banks say.
Consulte Mais informação »