Commercial lending

The central bank and other agencies have come under pressure to be transparent about their use of funds authorized by the recent pandemic rescue law.

The Distressed Credit Opportunities Fund III money pool, dubbed Disco III, will target leveraged loans, high-yield bonds and collateralized loan obligations.

The program, created in response to the 2008 financial crisis, generated $19 billion in small-business loans. It could be used as a viable path out of the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of just seeking out distressed situations, the Dislocation Opportunities Fund has a wide mandate to buy corporate and asset-backed debt.

The fund will be similar to the first iteration, which gathered $2.4 billion last year and focused on lending to family- and entrepreneur-owned businesses.

The Small Business Administration stopped approving loans when the Paycheck Protection Program hit its cap.

Legislation announced Wednesday would allow credit unions to make coronavirus relief loans to businesses without fear of bumping up against the member business lending cap.

Analysts and ratings companies are sounding alarms as a number of BDCs rush to shore up finances, or throw lifelines to their heavily indebted borrowers.

By helping borrowers now, banks hope customers can quickly catch up on payments once the coronavirus pandemic ends. If they can’t, interest income will remain low and charge-offs could pile up if the crisis drags on.

The Fed's actions are designed to ensure the flow of credit to midsize businesses and state and local governments hit hard by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.