bank holding company. instead, we defer to the appropriate state insurance authorities. however, we do review, at the bank or holding company level, the appropriateness of risk management and internal controls over a banking organization ’ s insurance and annuity sales activities, and assess the level of risk arising from such activities. to improve our own understanding of the issues developing in the insurance industry, we also have established resource centers at the board and at the federal reserve bank of boston to monitor developments in the insurance industry. observations regarding the proposed “ push - out ” provisions before concluding, i ’ d like to touch on the securities side of the business. the glb act removed the blanket exemption from the definition of broker and dealer under the federal securities laws for so many years enjoyed by banks. in that exemption ’ s place, the glb act provides specific exemptions that permit banks to continue to conduct securities activities that are part of providing traditional banking products and services, including trust and fiduciary, custody and safekeeping and other specified traditional banking products and services. the sec recently decided to invite public comment on rules that implement these exemptions. i believe that it is instructive to remember the context in which congress adopted this change. importantly, the replacement of the general exemption for banks with more - targeted exemptions was not in response to problems at banks providing trust and fiduciary or other traditional banking products and services. in fact, congress recognized that banks have provided these services, and i quote, “ without any problems for years. ” moreover, congress recognized that banks have the expertise and customer relationships that make them uniquely qualified to provide these products and services. in particular, congress expressed its expectation that the glb act would not disturb traditional bank trust activities. congress concluded that the trust and fiduciary laws and oversight by federal and state banking agencies provide sufficient consumer protection. the federal reserve board concurs with the judgment of congress. we have expressed concern in the past that the rules proposed by the sec would significantly disrupt - and might force discontinuation of - major lines of business for banks as well as longstanding relationships with bank customers. i believe that such consequences would be wholly unwarranted given the long - standing customer protections provided under federal and state banking and fiduciary laws. the members of the sec have indicated their interest in engaging in a dialogue with the banking agencies and the banking industry about the effects of their recently proposed rules. we will

the federal reserve has published all of the legal documents that borrowers and lenders will need to sign under the program and lender registration began on june 15. loan participations will be purchased soon. additionally, the federal reserve recently sought feedback on a proposal to expand the main street program to include loans made to small and medium - sized nonprofit organizations, such as hospitals and universities. nonprofits provide vital services around the country, and the program would likewise offer them support. while businesses in certain sectors that were particularly hard hit by the pandemic have reported continued difficulty in accessing credit, the small business administration ’ s paycheck protection program ( ppp ), which draws from existing bank lines, has apparently met the immediate credit needs of many small businesses. in the months ahead, main street loans may prove a valuable resource for firms that were in sound financial condition prior to the pandemic. to bolster the effectiveness of the small business administration ’ s ppp, on april 16, the federal reserve launched the paycheck protection program liquidity facility. the facility supplies liquidity to lenders backed by their ppp loans to small businesses and has the capacity to lend up to the full amount of the ppp. as of last week, the facility held over $ 65 billion in outstanding term loans to participating financial institutions. the most recent monthly survey from the national federation of independent business released in may indicates that small businesses have been able to meet their funding needs in recent months largely due to the ppp. 2 to help state and local governments better manage cash flow pressures in order to continue to serve households and businesses in their communities, the federal reserve, together with the treasury department, established the municipal liquidity facility ( mlf ). the mlf is backed by $ 35 billion of cares act equity and has the capacity to purchase up to $ 500 billion of short - term debt directly from u. s. states, counties, cities, and certain multistate entities. the facility became operational on may 26, and, to date, the mlf has purchased $ 1. 2 billion worth of short - term municipal debt. with the mlf and other facilities in place as a backstop to the private market, many parts of the municipal bond market have significantly recovered from the unprecedented stress experienced earlier this year. municipal bond yields have declined considerably, issuance has been robust over the past two months, and market conditions have improved. 3 the tools that the federal reserve is using