PayPal Holdings (PYPL) said the fintech company was one of the first non-banking institutions to get the approval to provide lending to small businesses under the U.S. government’s $350 billion emergency rescue program.After receiving approval by the U.S. Small Business Administration to take part in the Paycheck Protection Plan, PayPal can now directly join the program without having to partner with a traditional bank.The U.S. government’s $350 billion relief package allows ailing small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic to apply for government-guaranteed loans with participating lenders. Those loans will be forgiven if they are largely used to cover payroll costs.“There is an urgent need to help every qualified business access the funding needed to ensure that as many workers as possible keep their benefits and paychecks. This is a race to save jobs in the present and for the future," said Dan Schulman, PayPal’s President and CEO. "We are eager to deploy our capital and expertise to do our part in helping small businesses survive this challenging period.”Last...
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. became the world’s epicenter for the coronavirus as deaths passed Italy, while the number of cases in Spain fell even as fatalities inched higher. Germany reported the fewest cases in five days.China said more than half of the country’s 99 new cases were passengers on a plane that flew to Shanghai from Russia. Singapore threatened immediate fines on people who flout social-distancing rules and Indonesia imposed tighter measures on the outskirts of Jakarta, while Iran plans to lift a ban on travel between provinces.U.K. banks are stepping up loans to help businesses with the economic fallout from the pandemic, and the Trump administration said it’s on track to roll out the diagnostics needed to determine when normal activities can resume.Key DevelopmentsCoronavirus Tracker: Global cases exceed 1.78 million; deaths top 109,000U.S. deaths reach 20,600China reports 99 new cases from April 11, 97 of which are importedU.S. testing capacity...
(Bloomberg) -- A global deal to cut oil supply and stem a historic price rout hung in the balance on Sunday as negotiators raced to find an agreement with just hours to go until the market opens.Diplomatic wrangling between Mexico and Saudi Arabia entered a fourth day as neither side was willing to concede, even after President Donald Trump intervened with a compromise and U.S. senators applied pressure to longtime ally Saudi Arabia.Negotiators have hours to spare before the oil market opens and traders pass judgment on the deal -- or the failure to reach one. The market is already collapsing under the weight of a glut that amounts to about a third of global demand after the coronavirus locked down the global economy and Saudi Arabia and Russia flooded the market in a price war.In another sign a deal was some way off, Saudi Arabia delayed again its monthly price-setting...
