JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) said it has given out more than $30 billion U.S. in loans to over 250,000 businesses as part of the America’s coronavirus aid program for small businesses.
Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon announced the loans in a memo to staff and stakeholders. JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank, approved more than $45 billion in new credit for its clients impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April, Dimon wrote in the memo.
Dimon said the size of the average loan under the U.S. government’s “Paycheck Protection Program” (PPP) was $122,000 and half of the loans went to companies with fewer than five employees.
The U.S. Justice Department has sent subpoenas to big banks seeking records as part of a broader investigation into potential abuse of a $660-billion emergency loan program to help small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dimon, who has been CEO of JPMorgan for more than 10 years, also said the bank’s strategy for returning employees to work on-site will depend on using the latest data and information, as well as workplace sanitation methods.