May 18, 2020 | Late Friday evening, May 15, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA), in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, published its long-awaited Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Forgiveness Application, as well as detailed instructions and worksheets to assist borrowers in filling out the application. A copy of the application and instructions can be found here. The SBA also announced that it will issue further guidance and regulations in the near future to further assist borrowers in...

Published April 17, 2020 | Updated May 19, 2020 ALG's Financial Regulation team has compiled an overview of the various statements compiled by the Central Bank of Ireland, the European Banking Authority, the European Central Bank and the European Securities and Markets Authority related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These statements outline regulators' expectations of regulated financial services providers in an uncertain economic and regulatory landscape. VIEW FULL PUBLICATION HERE Compliments of A&L Goodbody - a member of the EACCNY.

On May 12, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Federal Reserve) announced additional information and FAQs on its Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). The goal of the TALF is to help consumers and businesses access affordable credit during and in the aftermath of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by lending to holders of recently generated asset-backed securities (ABS) collateralized by certain types of consumer and business loans. The Federal Reserve will make up to $100 billion...

May 19, 2020 | The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented shock to the European and global economies. Mitigating the economic impact on households, businesses, and the financial system is the priority. But it is also necessary to plan a response that will ensure rapid and sustained recovery. This crisis could exacerbate weaknesses in the European economy that stem from long-term underinvestment in areas critical for the continent’s future competitiveness. At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, some EU countries had still not fully...

May 18, 2020 | But SBA Creates Safe Harbor for Applications Made Prior to May 5 • A new Interim Final Rule from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) solidifies Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) counting rules, stating that all employees, foreign and domestic, of a business and its affiliates (absent an exception) count for purposes of size limitations. • The SBA will not deem a business that applied for a PPP loan prior to May 5, 2020, ineligible based on the exclusion...

May 15, 2020 | As the global economy is buffeted by the fallout from the COVID-19 crisis, predictions of what it means for the future abound. Some argue that the regulation of global trade, including its institutions, requires a paradigm shift. Others contend that change must be carefully measured and neither disregard the benevolent intentions of liberalized trade, nor abandon hard-earned benefits. As a country that depends on international trade for our prosperity, the stakes for Canada are alarmingly high. In...

How are governments responding to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic? This summary discusses the government initiatives for employers and workforces (the people), as well as the government financial support initiatives for businesses (finance and funding) throughout Europe. On People: What support have governments offered for employers, employees and the self-employed? On Finance and Funding: Governments across the world have offered financial assistance to help businesses cope with the economic effects of COVID-19. This might be in the form of loans, grants,...