The White House and key lawmakers want to allocate $4.5 billion for smaller 7(a) loans that would be made by the Small Business Administration. The financial services industry says the government should collaborate with the private sector rather than compete with it.
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Illinois banks issued 239,000 loans under the federal Paycheck Protection Program worth $29 billion to businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic and collected at least $1.5 billion in fees ultimately paid by taxpayers, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis finds.
Chicago-based BMO Harris Bank got the most money in fees: at least $232 million for handling 34,000 loans that totaled $6 billion that the banking company’s top executive has said contributed heavily to “a good” first quarter of 2021.
BMO Harris’s PPP loans ranged from just $133 to the maximum amount allowed under the program $10 million.
The 360 banks with headquarters in Illinois made loans through the program to businesses in all 50 states and four U.S. territories.
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The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is set to expire at the end of this month and business groups and the lending community are pressing the Biden administration for an extension.
Citing delays that have dogged the program from the start of this latest round and last-minute changes requested by the Biden administration on February 22, the groups have issued a flurry of letters calling for lawmakers to either craft an immediate extension or offer an allowance for applications that were submitted prior to the deadline.
In a March 5 letter to lawmakers, the American Bankers Association (ABA), along with other lending groups, notes serious concerns about the number of PPP loans that are on hold as a result of the Small Business Administration s application system, which unlike in past rounds offers increased fraud and data checks. Many of those holds are destined to remain unresolved past the program s March 31 end date, which the lenders note will b
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UBC experts team up to tackle air pollution with network of sensors
Air pollution is an urgent problem linked to as many as nine million deaths per year worldwide and 14,000 annually in Canada, primarily from related heart and lung diseases. A group of UBC experts are determined to mount a rapid response through research.
The team, known as Rapid Air Improvement Network (RAIN), is planning to use a network of air quality sensors, mobile monitoring and sophisticated analysis instruments to locate and study air pollutants with the detail needed to support fast, effective interventions.
They plan to install an air quality sensor network on the UBC campus this summer, to leverage the university’s traffic, population and operations data which can be quickly tuned to improve air quality. The project will also outfit a mobile monitoring station that will be used further afield, including communities affected by wildfires and other areas in urgent need.