Denver, Colorado - July 29, 2010
Ernie Panasci, a member of the Jones & Keller banking and financial services group in the Denver Tech Center office, testified before the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, July 29, 2010. Mr. Panasci testified before the full committee on "Alternatives for Promoting Liquidity in the Commercial Real Estate Markets, Supporting Small Businesses and Increasing Job Growth" in support of Representative Ed Perlmutter's and Representative Dan Coffman's commercial real estate amortization bill (H.R.5816).
H.R. 5816, would increase credit availability to small businesses by allowing banks to amortize, or write-down, losses over a six to ten year period, depending on how much a bank increases their small business lending after amortizing the losses. "The revitalization of the American economy is tied directly to the availability of credit for small business...passage of H.R. 5816 and the inclusion of the temporary amortization authority will contribute significantly to increase lending by financial institutions and the recovery of small businesses," testified Panasci.
Panasci also testified that "enabling eligible institutions to amortize loan losses as outlined in H.R. 5297 will significantly enhance banks' ability to increase small business lending because of the positive impact it would have on banks' capital."
