ABI Blog Exchange

The unfolding of the COVID-19 virus episode has been the weirdest experience in my lifetime. I remember the courthouse bombing by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City and commercial jets hitting the Twin Towers on 9/11, but those were one day events.

The corona virus is different because it continues from day to day and all of us are potential victims. You see young people dying on breathing machines and you realize your family is not safe.

At first the virus seemed like just a bad version of the flu and I dismissed it, but as I kept reading news reports I realized this was different and it was heading our way.  Then it became apparent that all my staff would soon be working from home.

Our attorneys have always been able to work from home, but not the paralegals. I scrambled to purchase computers and then raced to my tech vendor set them up. Thankfully we got the job done just before daycare services closed so all our staff can work from home.

What should German organisations be doing to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on their business, staff, supply chains, etc

Here is an overview of the key legal issues for businesses in Germany to consider, together with some practical steps for businesses to take.

Tribal leaders and federal officials this week will begin the task of implementing the economic relief programs of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (or “Act”) passed by Congress on March 27, 2020.  The U.S. Department of the Interior will host the first consultations  with Tribes to discuss funding formulas and eligibility rules of the $8 billion Tribal Stabilization Fund through a teleconference on Thursday, April 2, and on Thursday, April 9.   The Tribal Stabilization Fund is one of three initiatives in the Act that Tribes and their business entities may use to mitigate the downturn of their economic enterprises. Highlights of the three programs and how they might help your Tribe and Tribal businesses follow:

U.S. Department of Treasury Tribal Stabilization Fund[1]:

• Sets aside $8 billion of the Coronavirus Relief Fund for payments to Tribal governments for increased expenditures of the Tribal government or a tribally controlled entity of the Tribal government;
• Payments may be used to cover costs that (i) are necessary expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency; (ii) were not accounted for in the most recently approved budget of the Tribal government or tribally controlled entity; and (iii) were incurred from March 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020.

In supporting the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, lenders have a chance to restore public trust damaged in the last financial crisis. But they face tough decisions on dividend cuts, executive pay, furloughs and deeper changes to their business model in the process.

Lenders and government guarantors can use loan technology to bring immediate relief to business owners, former OCC official Jo Ann Barefoot says.

SBA loans could pour billions into bank coffers; Fed bailed out government-backed market, others may suffer.

After budget cuts and a strategic transition, the interagency body conceived by Dodd-Frank to identify systemic threats has largely been silent as the pandemic roils the economy.

The Treasury Department and Small Business Administration are responsible for distributing $350 billion in coming months.