Looking Back, October

SOP Revisions
The SOP has come a long way in the three decades since its predecessor the National Directive 510 was issued. The 7(a) program has expanded significantly from the 1960s when all loans were made directly by the SBA. Now, thousands of employees at 5,000 participating lenders read and interpret the SOP, making clarity and detail more important than ever.

Although the most recent update of the SOP occurred in 2000, (50-10 4(E)), the last major revision of SOP 50-10 was effective on December 1, 1997. This revision updated the SOP by encorporating policies that were implemented between August 31, 1991 and December 1, 1997. (August 31, 1991 is the effective date of the 50-10 prior to the 1997 revision.) The December 1, 1997 version reflected a major overhaul: processing guidance for 7(a) and 504 loans was combined into a single SOP, and guidance on the Certified Lenders Program and Preferred Lenders Program was consolidated into a single document. Another notable feature of the 1997 revision was the inclusion of a significant number of examples designed to further clarify the concepts discussed in the SOP and to answer questions frequently asked of the SBA.

The SBA is currently working to update the SOP based on the many program  changes in recent years.