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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

Main Street Lending Program opens for lender registration

Federal Issues Covid-19 CARES Act Federal Reserve Small Business Lending Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

Federal Issues

On June 15, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (Boston Fed) announced the opening of lender registration for the Main Street Lending Program. The Main Street Lending Program is administered by the Boston Fed and was established pursuant to the CARES Act to support small and medium-sized businesses (covered by a Buckley Special Alert). Recently, the Federal Reserve expanded the program to extend five-year loans with principal payments deferred for two years and interest payments deferred for one year. Additionally, the Fed (i) lowered the minimum loan size for certain loans to $250,000 from $500,000; and (ii) raised the purchase rate to 95 percent of each eligible loan (covered by InfoBytes here).

According to the announcement, lenders must register for the program using the lender portal. The program will begin purchasing loans soon, and, once purchases begin, all the necessary documents will be submitted through the portal. The Boston Fed encourages lenders to begin making program loans immediately.