ORIENTAL BANK

ORIENTAL 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 9,029 PPP loans totaling $455.6M, representing approximately 0.08% of all loans nationwide.

ORIENTAL BANK served borrowers across 6 states. The largest concentration of activity was in Puerto Rico, where the lender originated 8,801 loans totaling $438.4M. Other states with significant activity included U.S. Virgin Islands, North Carolina, Pennsylvania.

The average loan size for this lender was $50,455. 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 ORIENTAL BANK were: CARIBBEAN TEMPORARY SERVICES LLC (PR) — $10,000,000; GFR MEDIA (PR) — $6,394,500; BALLESTER HERMANOS INC. (PR) — $4,508,200; and PHYSICIAN HMO INC (PR) — $3,882,200.

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.