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PH FedACTion: Financial Regulatory Updates

Daily Financial Regulation Update -- Monday, October 5, 2020

October 05, 2020

FedACTion Task Force

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Major Developments

U.S. Small Business Administration

SBA Proposes Small Business Size Standard Revisions in Eight Industrial Sectors to Increase Small Business Eligibility for Contracting and Loan Programs

October 2, 2020

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is seeking public comments on two proposed rules that would revise the small business size standards for businesses in eight North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) sectors to increase small business eligibility for the SBA’s loan and contracting programs. The proposed revisions reflect changes in the industry and federal marketplace conditions and the SBA’s policy position under the current economic situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, the SBA is retaining current size standards where data suggests that size standards should be lowered.

The NAICS sectors reviewed in the first proposed rule (85 FR 62239) are:

  • Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting;

  • Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction;

  • Utilities; and

  • Construction.

The NAICS sectors reviewed in the second proposed rule (85 FR 62372) are:

  • Transportation and Warehousing;

  • Information;

  • Finance and Insurance; and

  • Real Estate and Rental and Leasing.

The SBA proposes to increase size standards for 113 industries in those sectors. The SBA estimates that more than 50,000 additional firms in these eight sectors will become eligible for SBA’s programs under the revised size standards, if adopted. The revised asset-based size standards would allow about 280 additional financial institutions to qualify as small.

Congress

Click here to view the full text of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), Enacted March 27, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the Paycheck Protection Program Increase Act of 2020, Enacted April 24, 2020.

Click here to view the full text of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, Enacted June 5, 2020.

Click here to view a running list of proposed legislation from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, House Committee on Financial Services, and House Committee on Small Business.