Canada banks approve $2bn of business loans

Bloomberg

Canada’s five biggest banks approved about 69,000 in loans on the opening day of the federal government’s relief program for small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.
That totals $2 billion if every client took the full amount allowed under the Canada Emergency Business Account, which offers government-guaranteed loans of as much as C$40,000 that are interest-free through 2022. The government announced the C$25 billion plan on March 27, and lenders started accepting applications on Saturday.
Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by
assets, had 19,500 applications, according to spokesman AJ Goodman. That would equal about C$780 million if every client asked for the full amount. Toronto-Dominion Bank completed more than 25,000 loans, which could equal C$1 billion.
Bank of Nova Scotia said it had processed 7,500 loans amounting to more than C$300 million, while Bank of Montreal said it processed applications from over 6,000 clients for more than C$250 million in the first day.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce had done about 10,775 loan applications totaling C$431 million.
“It’s clear that there is an urgent need for this new source of funding,” CIBC personal and business banking group head Laura Dottori-Attanasio said in an emailed statement. “Every entrepreneur who banks with us wants to see their business through this challenging time.”