H.R. 7010, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (the “PPP Flexibility Act”), was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 417-1 on May 28, 2020.  The Senate passed H.R. 7010 unanimously by voice vote on June 3, 2020.  President Trump signed the PPP Flexibility Act into law on June 5, 2020, making effective several modifications to the Paycheck Protection Program.

The PPP Flexibility Act causes a number of changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, including:

• An extension of the forgiveness period from eight weeks to twenty-four weeks (optional for existing PPP borrowers), which will also presumably affect the relevant covered period for measuring reductions in employees or salary and wages;
• A requirement for forgiveness to use 60% (rather than 75%) of the PPP loan proceeds on permissible payroll costs;
• An extension of the deadline to re-hire employees for an exemption to the forgiveness limitation to December 31, 2020 (from June 30, 2020);
• An additional statutory exemption for re-hiring employees based on a reduction in level of business activity due to COVID-19 and the government’s response;
• An extension of the payment deferral period until loan forgiveness is granted or a loan forgiveness application is not filed in a timely manner;
• A five-year loan maturity term for all new PPP loans (although existing loans will stay at two years unless borrower and lender mutually agree to extend; and
• Permission for all PPP recipients to take advantage of the CARES Act provision permitting deferred payment of the employer’s share of Social Security taxes due on wages paid through the end of the year.

Our Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP Client Alert on the PPP Flexibility Act goes into further details on each of these changes. We anticipate further regulations and guidance from the Treasury and Small Business Administration shortly, but the PPP Flexibility Act provides a number of choices for PPP borrowers to consider.

We are still working on a few specific pieces of guidance for lenders as they process PPP forgiveness applications,  particularly with regard to minimizing the bank’s liability and with regard to EIDL advances. But in the meantime, I thought I would share some of the thought leadership that we’ve published from a PPP borrower perspective, since I suspect banks will also get a lot of questions from their borrowers as well.

In our view, the Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness Application answered many questions, but certainly not all of them.

The additional Loan Forgiveness And Loan Review regulations answered additional questions (but of course left more questions as well).

Another potential resource is the AICPA Loan Forgiveness Calculator available here. Given the continuing flow of ongoing guidance, the Calculator is updated regulatory. (Note: we have not verified any of the assumptions/calculations made by the AICPA calculator, but believe it can be a useful comparison tool regardless.)

The devastating impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) needs no introduction.  BCLP has consolidated all of its client alerts regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) as one page of resources. On that page, you can also limit by topic area, jurisdiction and areas of practice.

In this post, we have highlighted some of the client alerts that we believe may be of specific importance to our community bank clients.

Back to Work: Georgia’s Reopening Executive Order – Risks and Guidance for Businesses

On April 20, 2020, Governor Brian Kemp signed an Executive Order which initiates the process of reopening businesses within the State of Georgia on April 24, 2020, and issued a subsequent Executive Order on April 23, 2020, providing further guidance on the process for reopening (collectively the “Orders”). These Orders, which are quite limited in scope, only grant a small subset of businesses permission to reopen. They do, however, pre-empt all local and city orders that are more or less restrictive than the state-wide Orders. 

The Orders, while limited, nevertheless shed light on what the process of reopening will look like for additional business sectors going forward. All companies with locations in Georgia would be wise to invest time planning how they may implement screening, sanitation, and social distancing at their workplace to allow for a timely, safe and compliant reopening. 

This alert examines what businesses are permitted to reopen, what restrictions exist for those businesses, and advice and guidance for companies that BCLP anticipates will be affected by similar reopening orders in the future.

As the FFCRA Goes Live, the DOL Continues to Publish Revised and New Guidance for Employers

Although the federal Department of Labor (“DOL”) declared April 1 – 17 to be a temporary period of non-enforcement of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), the DOL was far from idle during that period. Importantly, the DOL provided key revised and new guidance for employers by: (1) issuing technical corrections to the temporary rule; and (2) posting additional informal questions and answers. The new guidance provides much-needed clarity on key issues, especially since the period of non-enforcement is now over. This post examines the new guidance and provides advice for employers to comply with the provisions of the FFCRA.

The devastating impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) needs no introduction.  BCLP has consolidated all of its client alerts regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) as one page of resources. On that page, you can also limit by topic area, jurisdiction and areas of practice.

In this post, we have highlighted some of the client alerts that we believe may be of specific importance to our community bank clients.

U.S. Businesses Challenge Government Orders in Attempt to Continue Operations

Shelter-in-place and social distancing have become the new normal as we try to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.  Many state governments have implemented stay-home or shelter-in-place orders to try to “flatten the curve” and protect citizens’ safety. But as time passes, businesses are also concerned.  Under many such executive orders, a business that is not deemed “essential” or “life-sustaining” may be required to stop in-person operations, and we’re starting to see an uptick in local enforcement, including cease and desist letters and revocation of occupancy permits. Some shuttered businesses have started to bring their claims to court.  This post provides a summary of the prominent claims and factual allegations featured in complaints from business plaintiffs.   

Employer Guidance for Reopening the Workplace

Over the past week, increased discussion of reopening the U.S. economy has raised numerous questions as employers prepare to return their employees to the workplace. While the exact steps to reopen the economy remain uncertain, employers should begin to consider what measures will help ensure a safe, orderly return to business, particularly since President Trump’s White House issued its Opening Up America Again three phased approach for re-opening the economy, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued guidance about returning to work. This alert details the potential measures and related issues BCLP suggests clients consider in preparing to return to work, whether next week, next month, or this summer.

Five Steps to Take Right Now

While banks have remained open as part of critical infrastructure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and many were able to keep branches opened throughout the pandemic, we are expecting many banks to further expand branch openings in the coming weeks. Moreover, many business customers of banks will also be seeking to reopen, with their ability to generate revenue critical to the long-term return of the U.S. economy (and the bank’s asset quality).

The consensus of most business folks, including bankers, is that as the U.S. gradually re-opens, the look and feel of businesses will change dramatically. Before the world can return to its full pre-COVID-19 normal, this interim period between the lifting of shelter in place orders and the broad distribution of vaccines or effective treatments is projected by experts to last at least one, and possibly as long as two years. Colleagues at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner have prepared an alert focusing on public facing businesses which must significantly change their operations to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.

On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Treasury published FAQ #31 for the Paycheck Protection Program, providing a safe harbor for return of funds by May 7, 2020 in cases of insufficient need by recipients of PPP funds by public companies with liquidity alternatives.

With this background, I joined several of my securities law and litigation colleagues to publish guidance for public company Paycheck Protection Program loan recipients.

PPP applications require certification that “[c]urrent economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support ongoing operations.”  To the extent that public companies may have had other reliable, accessible sources of capital markets funding, the borrower’s certification of economic need could be called into question. Public companies are clearly not all in the same sitaution with regard to their ability to obtain other sources of funding, and face a number of difficult decisions.

With assistance from some of my litigation colleagues, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has just published guidance on re-evaluating practices and considering some of the litigation risks that could arise with the Paycheck Protection Program.

Prior to the PPP going live on April 3, banks scrambled to assemble teams and online application in-take and processing protocols to handle the onslaught of applications.  Over 1.6 million small businesses were approved for relief, a small fraction of the total number of small businesses in the U.S. 

For many, the Program ground to a halt on April 16, 2020, a mere 13 days after it opened, when all of the $349 billion in funding was exhausted.  The abrupt and swift depletion of the Program left many small business owners in dismay and frustrated with their banks, and pondering what recourse they might have.  A few quickly filed lawsuits.  More lawsuits no doubt are coming.  

As Congress gets set to appropriate more than $300 billion in additional funding for the Program, and lenders prepare for ramping up their PPP operations for the second round of applications, it is smart to re-evaluate practices and consider some of the litigation risks that could arise. 

On April 9, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced that it is taking additional action to provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy through various programs, including the Main Street Lending Program (“MSLP”).  The Fed intends that the MSLP will ensure credit flow to small and mid-sized businesses by providing support to businesses that were in good financial standing prior to the COVID-19 crisis, on terms and conditions to be set by the Federal Reserve. 

The MSLP consists of two facilities:

• The Main Street New Loan Facility (“MSNLF”) for unsecured term loans originated on or after April 8, 2020; and
• The Main Street Expanded Loan Facility (“MSELF”) for upsize tranches of secured or unsecured term loans originated before April 8, 2020 (provided the upsize is on or after April 8, 2020). 

The devastating impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) needs no introduction.  BCLP has consolidated all of its client alerts regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) as one page of resources. On that page, you can also limit by topic area, jurisdiction and areas of practice.

In this post, we have highlighted some of the client alerts that we believe may be of specific importance to our community bank clients.

Executing U.S. Contracts While Working from Home

Now that many of us are working from home and social distancing, can we still close deals in the US with signed agreements? Are electronically signed contracts really enforceable? Fortunately, most contracts can be entered into electronically without the need to print the agreement and sign it with a pen. This alert discusses the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the Federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, and advises parties how to use readily available services to create legally enforceable contracts with electronic signatures. 

Force Majeure and COVID-19: Considerations for Businesses in the U.S.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many parties are questioning whether their performance of a contract may be excused under a force majeure clause. Force majeure refers to a contractual defense under which a party may be relieved from liability for non-performance if unforeseeable circumstances beyond the party’s control prevent or delay the party from fulfilling its obligations under a contract. This alert outlines the key questions for a force majeure analysis, analyzes the implications of invoking force majeure, and discusses its interaction with insurance coverage.

The devastating impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) needs no introduction.  BCLP has consolidated all of its client alerts regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) as one page of resources. On that page, you can also limit by topic area, jurisdiction and areas of practice.

In this post, we have highlighted some of the client alerts that we believe may be of specific importance to our community bank clients.

Emergency Leave-Sharing Plans for U.S. Employers

In addition to the paid sick leave and family leave U.S. employers must provide under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, some employers are seeking additional ways to support employees affected by COVID-19. This alert reviews IRS guidance and details how employers can implement an emergency leave-sharing plan in response to the crisis.

Unraveling U.S. Retirement Savings – How a Global Pandemic Threatens to Undo Decades of Planning

With the economy in a free-fall and the U.S. government scrambling to create a financial safety net for citizens, giving access to tax-qualified retirement savings was a natural piece of Congress’ plan to loosen the grip on needed funds. Implementing a thoughtful, needs-based, COVID-19 withdrawal/loan policy could protect employees’ financial security for decades to come. This alert covers the options available to plan sponsors to combat the economic impact of COVID-19.