On August 23, SBA published an Interim Final Rule (IFR), Business Loan Program Temporary Changes; Paycheck Protection Program-Extension of Lender (89 FR 68090) that extends, to 10 years, the period during which ALL lenders that participated in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) are required to retain PPP records. The provisions of the IFR took effect on August 22.
The IFR harmonizes the PPP lender records retention requirements with the PPP and Bank Fraud Enforcement Harmonization Act of 2022 which was signed into law on August 5, 2022 (Pub. L. 117-166). That law extended the statute of limitations for criminal charges and civil enforcement actions for alleged PPP borrower fraud to 10 years after the offense was committed. The IFR also makes SBA’s records retention requirements consistent for ALL SBA lenders, regardless of how they are regulated or supervised.
Per the IFR, the 10-year records retention requirement applies to all documents relating to PPP applications and loans, including: “PPP loan applications that were withdrawn, approved, denied or cancelled, and all other PPP lender loan records for PPP loans with an outstanding balance, PPP loans that have been forgiven, and PPP loans that are in repayment or have been paid in full by the borrower as of the effective date of this rule”. Please see the IFR for complete information and a PPP chronology. Comments on the IFR must be received on or before September 23, 2024.
