The Fed has tweaked its Main Street Lending Program to stir more enthusiasm, including the creation of a third financing option for larger companies. Will it make a difference?
There were few fireworks at Wells Fargo’s first annual meeting under new CEO Charlie Scharf; billionaire investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban pitches Fed-backed overdraft protection; as hotels sit empty, loan delinquencies pile up; and more from this week’s most-read stories.
Some bankers, economists, policy experts and even Mark Cuban say that creative uses of overdraft programs could be lifelines for consumers and businesses whose finances have been upended by the coronavirus crisis.
Queued-up loans. Extra bankers. Government tweaks to promote fairness. None of these precautionary measures has been enough for the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program to avoid the pitfalls of the first.
More details have emerged about the damage the coronavirus pandemic is inflicting on the hospitality industry. One servicer alone has received 2,000 workout requests in the past month.
The Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program is meant to be a lifeline for midsize businesses, but two weeks after its unveiling, those firms and their lenders remain on edge about what strings will be attached.
Rather than selling off assets at a steep discount, the Dallas company is considering taking equity positions in energy firms struggling to make loan payments in the wake of collapsing prices.
