SBA To Publicly Release Information Regarding PPP Loan Recipients

The U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”), the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the U.S. Senate Small Business Committee agreed to release additional data regarding the loans made pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). The agreement was met, after reversing earlier guidance, to “ensure that the interests of both transparency and protections for small businesses are served.” It is anticipated that these disclosures will be made as early as this week.

PPP loan recipients that received loans of $150,000 or greater will have the following information released:

• Business name;
• Business type;
• Address;
• Zip code;
• North American Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) code;
• Demographic data;
• Non-profit information;
• Jobs supported; and
• Loan amount ranges.

The SBA will not release precise loan dollar amounts, but will indicate one of five loan ranges in which the amount fell:

• $150,000-350,000
• $350,000-1 million
• $1-2 million
• $2-5 million
• $5-10 million

According to the Trump administration, approximately 75 percent of PPP loan recipients borrowed more than $150,000.  For the minority of businesses that received PPP loans below the $150,000 threshold, business names will not be released.

In addition to the above disclosures, the PPP loan application does warn applicants that “subject to certain exceptions,” company names, loan amounts, and other information are public information that will be released upon request under the federal Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). In response to FOIA requests made by numerous news organizations in April, the SBA posted on its website: “The agency recognizes the need to balance the interests of transparency with the privacy and confidentiality issues release of loan information raises.  In the near future, we will be able to turn our efforts to providing loan-specific data to the public, but hope that all understand the need for the Agency to focus its efforts on fulfilling the urgent needs of small businesses.”

The Business and Corporate attorneys at Dvorak Law Group have the knowledge and experience to efficiently assist our clients with various business matters, including matters pertaining to the Paycheck Protection Program. Please contact Dvorak Law Group for specific questions and recommendations regarding your business.