BANKING & FINANCE OVERVIEW
( ) in Kissimmee. In contrast, HSBC Bank USA announced as early as March 2020 that it would close eight South Florida branches, including its Fort Lauderdale 1600 S.E. 17th St., which had $82 million in deposits. A key role for banks throughout the past year has been in facilitating the Payment Protection Program (PPP). Bank of America significantly outperformed other banking institutions as it approved more than $1.4 billion in loans for about 202,000 businesses in MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach counties combined. The silver medal went to City National Bank with $1.2 billion in approved PPP loans. Hundreds of banks relied on their strength in numbers to collectively achieve the rollout of $12.4 billion for local businesses via PPP loans. Among the biggest winners were community and regional banks that demonstrated greater flexibility than their national counterparts and were rewarded with growth in their number of new client accounts. PPP Loans The PPP was a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Response and Economic Security (CARES) Act designed by the federal government. It was rolled out as aid for the businesses most impacted by the pandemic and employing 500 people or less. The idea behind it was to provide a lifeline to businesses with depleted cash flows to avoid mass layoffs or furloughing of employees during the COVID-19 storm. Under the auspices of the SBA, the first round of PPP loans by Feb. 16, 2020, totaled 1.66 million loans valued at $342 billion. The second PPP round amounted to 5.2 million loans for $525 billion and the third PPP round counted 7 million loans by February 2021 for $662 billion.
Perspectives: Snowbirds Louis Rheaume President – Desjardins Bank I think this will be a good year as soon as the border opens and people travel. For 18 months people have been in confinement and this will be a crazy year, with an influx of money. Now that the Canadian dollar is better against the US dollar, it will be a good time for Canadians to come and invest. The shortage of nice properties may be a problem because the industry is booming and people from the North are migrating South and exerting pressure on the market. However, people will be eager to come and spend time here.
Despite the incontrovertible need for financial aid, by May 2021, “PPP fatigue” was becoming apparent between the three iterations of PPP rounds, constant changes in the requirements and the forgiveness process. As a result, fewer lenders were expected to participate in the next iteration of the program by endof-year 2020. Moreover, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the American Bankers Association have highlighted chinks in the PPP in the shape of systemic issues, and significant operational and communication challenges — faulty validation checks, the use of 40 different error codes that foster confusion, the loan cap at $35,000 per employee for new applications, to name a few. PPP loan data revealed in December 2020 that small community banks in South Florida were among the most active PPP lenders throughout last year. Comparing
