New York (AFP)

The coronavirus pandemic, which threatens the global economy of recession, offers the opportunity to wealthy American banks, saved from bankruptcy in 2008 with public funds, to restore their image by helping businesses, businesses and households in difficulty. .

"The banks will try to present themselves in their best light, they who had been blamed in 2008 for the subprime crisis," said Gregori Volokhine, at Meeschaert Financial Services, stressing that this time they had no responsibility for the crisis. .

They can, for example, suspend mortgage payments, as well as all payments due at very short notice.

In Seattle, a northwest metropolis transformed into a ghost town, the regional bank WaFd has already set up a $ 16.4 billion assistance program to support small businesses.

It offers loans of up to $ 200,000 without interest and has also reduced the criteria for granting loans of less than $ 30,000. Local businesses just have to prove that they have been operating for two years and that their turnover has dropped by at least 10% because of the coronavirus.

"We want to provide small business owners with a safety net to help them get through this crisis," said Brent Beardall, the owner of WaFd.

The eight largest American banks have suspended their share buyback programs, indirect means of pampering their shareholders, to devote this money to credit lines granted to individuals and companies affected by the new coronavirus.

"The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for the world and the global economy and the big American banks have an indisputable capacity and a commitment to support their customers, households and the nation," their lobby acknowledged Sunday. the Financial Services Forum (FSF).

According to the FSF, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon and State Street have raised more than $ 914 billion in the past decade.

They plan to use this money "to provide maximum support to individuals, small businesses and the economy as a whole".

- Cleaned up accounts -

The closure of schools and businesses across the United States will result in many job losses, the inability of small businesses and households to honor their monthly payments. The future of certain societies is directly threatened.

Big companies are not spared: Boeing, the biggest American exporter, which was already affected by the 737 MAX crisis, rushed last week to draw on the $ 14 billion line of credit granted to it banks in February.

These loan promises are the only safety net that so many businesses and industries rely on to survive, experts say.

"American banks have a lot of cash to meet corporate demand," said Jesse Rosenthal, an expert at CreditSights.

JPMorgan Chase, strong with a striking force of 108 billion dollars, according to CreditSights, assures that it will not drop its customers, "even if the circumstances worsened".

In addition to loans, firms have adopted a series of other measures, such as the elimination of numerous fees and commissions and the extension of monthly payments. They say they are ready to go further if the regulatory authorities relaxed their rules on capital and so-called toxic loans.

The central role that banks can play in this period was underlined Sunday by the Federal Reserve (Fed), which encouraged them to support the economy and praised their good health.

The big banks in the United States are financially much more solid and had more equity than after the 2009 recession, according to the last stress tests of June, which took into account a catastrophic scenario.

But according to experts, that does not mean that the banks will save businesses. "It is up to the federal government to take measures to prevent people from ending up on the streets because they cannot pay their rent," warns Volokhine.

© 2020 AFP