BMO BANK

BMO BANK was one of the thousands of SBA-approved lenders that participated in the Paycheck Protection Program. During the program period (April 2020 – May 2021), the lender originated 65,941 PPP loans totaling $10.35B, representing approximately 0.57% of all loans nationwide.

BMO BANK served borrowers across 52 states. The largest concentration of activity was in California, where the lender originated 18,198 loans totaling $3.10B. Other states with significant activity included Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado.

The average loan size for this lender was $156,946. This figure reflects the mix of borrower types — large companies, small businesses, sole proprietors, and non-profits — that applied through this institution. Lenders were responsible for collecting and verifying borrower certifications and submitting loan applications to the SBA's E-Tran system.

Among the largest named borrowers that received loans through BMO BANK were: GHILOTTI CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC. (CA) — $10,000,000; BRIGHT EVENT RENTALS, LLC (CA) — $10,000,000; INTREPID POTASH, INC. (CO) — $10,000,000; and NEXTRAN CORPORATION (FL) — $10,000,000.

PPP lenders were compensated through processing fees paid by the SBA rather than by borrowers. Fees ranged from 1% to 5% of the loan amount depending on loan size. Lenders were not required to take credit risk — the SBA provided a 100% guaranty on each loan. This structure incentivized broad participation but also contributed to documented cases of lender fraud and over-processing of applications.

Borrower names for loans under $150,000 are withheld under FOIA Exemption 6. As a result, the named recipients shown below represent only a fraction of this lender's total portfolio. The full loan count and amount figures include all loans in the SBA's data regardless of disclosure status.