The Small Business Administration announced that it has canceled 80% of the $ 791 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans it began providing in 2020 to businesses across the country to help them survive the downturn. pandemic.

Nearly 3,000 registered investment advisers, brokers and industry vendors have taken out PPP loans, according to the Treasury Department.

The latest SBA forgiveness report stated the following:

• 81% of all PPP loan recipients submitted forgiveness requests.
• 80% of all PPP loans have been fully or partially canceled.
• Forgiveness was requested for 85% of the total loan value of all PPP loans.
• 83% of the total value of the PPP loan has been canceled, in whole or in part.

In 2020, around 95% of PPP loan applicants submitted forgiveness requests and 93% of 2020 PPP loans, worth a total of $ 520 billion, were fully or partially forgiven. Overall, some 94% of the value of 2020 PPP loans were canceled, the SBA reported.

In 2021, 68% of loans with a total value of about $ 270 billion were canceled, the SBA said.

The last deadline for requesting PPP assistance passed in May and there is little indication that Congress will pass additional PPP legislation.

The PPP program was designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their employees on the payroll, but given the significant recovery in the stock market, most fee-based consulting firms have seen only drops in revenue to short term.

The government is now focusing on investigating fraudulent activity surrounding PPP loans. Some $ 36 million in PPP loans received by RIAs allegedly violated loan limits, according to a recent study, which found that nearly a quarter of SEC-registered investment advisers eligible for PPP funds – 2,999 over 12,643 – received loans totaling over $ 590 million.

According to the report, advisers received much larger loans than payroll needs, and advisers who abused the program were also “much more likely” to disclose a history of fraud and / or regulatory misconduct, according to the report. The report.