African American Industry Leaders In Banking, Finance and Economics Emerge To Offer Solutions

USA - English

• USA - English

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- African-American industry leaders from various parts of the United States have proposed a bold effort to leverage up to $10 billion in capital from the U.S. Treasury to rescue African-American businesses and minority banks hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic. Over one trillion dollars of spending and buying power is attributed yearly to the African American community in the United States. According to global GDP rankings for 2020, if the African-American community in the U.S. alone were a nation it would rank 17th of the top 20 world economies.

The effort is being led by former U.S. Department of the Treasury Sr. Policy Advisor C. Earl Peek, CPA, along with Wall Street and minority bank veterans. "I believe the U.S. Treasury can greatly assist entities for diverse asset managers, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Depository Institutions," said Peek. Between the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve, more than $1trillion planned for capital deployment and critical equity and debt products need to be managed by those closest to the communities intended to be positively impacted.

"Talks are already underway to establish a National Business Loan Fund that would have certain equity and debt features used in conjunction with other Treasury programs that created more than $15 billion in loans, guarantees, and equity in venture capital funds," said Peek, who was a voting member in those funds while serving as an presidential appointee with the U.S. Treasury. Trump Administration officials at the U.S. Department of Treasury have been in general support of the policy memo C. Earl Peek has proposed to structure and execution of the proposed fund under the Secretary's authority under the CARES and HEROES Act.

Mr. Peek stated- "We applaud the Donald Trump Administration on its outreach efforts to fund HBCU's and support of Opportunity Zones throughout the U.S. This shows a commitment to reach underserved areas and a national fund would go further to assist hurting businesses." Reports by major foundations such as Pew, Kauffman, and McKinsey highlight the tremendous impact Covid-19 has had on African American businesses and communities.

More recently, direct engagement has been sought at the White House through Mr. Jared Kushner, Sr. White House Advisor to the President of the U.S. Mr. Peek concluded "Mr. Kushner can prove to be a valuable ally as we move to close the gap on gaining the necessary support to bring this project home before the November election."

SOURCE The National Minority Loan Fund