In a joint letter to Senate leadership yesterday, ABA and the Independent Community Bankers of America provided feedback on the Small Business Lending Oversight Act of 2016, a bill that would enhance the oversight of the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) loan program. The associations expressed their commitment to working with both House and Senate leadership as the bill moves forward to ensure that 7(a) loans remain accessible to small businesses and cost-effective for the financial institutions offering them.
“We want to ensure that community banks, many of whom provide a limited number of 7(a) loans to customers, are able to continue to offer these loans in a cost efficient way to their customers,” the groups wrote. “It would be harmful to entrepreneurs if any lender exited the program due to an imbalanced or overly restrictive cost and fee structure.”
