New York SBDC Research Network

Operating your business as a legally formed entity, such as a corporation or a limited liability company, means that you have an obligation to keep the entity in good standing by filing the required annual reports and paying any required taxes and fees. Failing to do so not only jeopardizes your ability to expand into other states, but you may forfeit your limited liability protection as well. Learn More

The report , authored by James Wilcox: State and national data for banks and credit unions for 1986-2010 show credit unions may have provided extra business lending in response to reductions in bank lending. The research summary can be found HERE . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Victoria Williams at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

The report [PDF] , authored by Joe Peek, finds that liquidity of bank assets became a factor in the financial crisis, as healthier banks tended to shy away from small C&I and small CRE loans. The research summary can be found here [PDF] . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Victoria Williams at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

Check out Fitch's latest Credit Outlook , published last week.

Goodbye Credit Card Rate Hikes? The good news: The Federal Reserve passed new rules to improve disclosure and prohibit unfair interest rate hikes among card companies in December 2008. Specifically, the new rules will: --Require that consumers receive a reasonable amount of time to make their card payments --Forbid the use of payment allocation methods that unfairly maximize interest charges --Provide consumers protection from unexpected interest charges, including increases in the rate during the first year after account opening and increases in the rate charged on pre-existing credit card balances. --and more The bad news: the new rules don’t go into effect until July 1, 2010. In the meantime, go to this page to find credit card-related statistics -- including statistics on credit card debt, credit card delinquencies, credit scores, credit card interest rates, bankruptcies and more -- compiled by the CreditCards.com staff.

Here's the text to a recent interview (" Main Street Spared ?") by Reuters with William Dunkelberg, the chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Businesses (as well as chairman of a small commercial bank serving southern New Jersey). He doesn't see recent developments on Wall Street, as well those with AIG, as having any immediate effect on small business owners in the U.S. Some of the reader comments at the bottom of the page don't agree with him. What are your clients saying?