On April 2, 2020, six days after the CARES Act was enacted, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released an interim final rule (the “Interim Final Rule”) implementing the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). For an overview of the PPP sections of the CARES Act, see our previous alert, which is available here.

Read our discussion of the key provisions of the Interim Final Rule, along with a brief discussion of the revised Borrower Application Form and related guidance from the Treasury Department and the SBA, here. Significantly, the Interim Final Rule states that the SBA also intends to promptly issue additional guidance regarding the applicability of its affiliation rules to PPP loans.^[1]

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – the third phase of Congress’s response to COVID-19, which was enacted on March 27, 2020 – includes a Paycheck Protection Program. The proposed program would, among other things, expand the scope of the Small Business Administration’s available 7(a) loans during a “covered period” beginning on February 15, 2020 and ending on June 30, 2020. (The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides 7(a) loan guarantees for certain loans made by participating lending institutions to qualifying small businesses.) Certain key elements of the Paycheck Protection Program are described here, followed by a discussion of various other SBA loan resources. The final version of the bill reflects substantial changes from the version introduced into the Senate on March 19, 2020.