President signs into law historic economic aid package with small business grants totaling US$350 Billion

To respond to the coronavirus health crisis and the enormous economic downturn caused by the pandemic, late Friday afternoon the President signed into law the CARES Act, a US$2.2 trillion stimulus package, including critical relief for small businesses. The Senate passed the Act late Wednesday night by a 96-0 vote and the House of Representatives approved it by a voice vote without changes early on Friday afternoon after over three hours of debate.

Select Updates

• New regulations implementing the statute will be provided shortly by the SBA and will clarify certain issues
• Note that the SBA website is not yet set up to accept applications for these grants.  Interested companies should avoid confusion with existing loan program applications.

We have had a substantial response to our first two client alerts on this topic, sent on Monday March 23 and Thursday March 26. To listen to the recording of this briefing call, please click here.

Password for viewing recording:  Briefing1

In view of the demand, we are hosting the second in our series of briefing calls on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. ET to discuss the latest developments and provide an overview of how access to the program is evolving, along with best practices to maximize your benefits under the law. Please RSVP here.

Like so many who have already reached out to us with inquiries, given the fast pace of developments we encourage you contact John Cleary or a member of the team to set up a one-on-one 15 minute briefing call to discuss your situation, using their contact information below.

We can also assist with your needs in key global markets.