Borrowing operations

Each small business investment company shall have authority to borrow money and to issue its securities, promissory notes, or other obligations under such general conditions and subject to such limitations and regulations as the Administration may prescribe. To encourage the formation and growth of small business investment companies the Administration is authorized when authorized in appropriation Acts, to purchase, or to guarantee the timely payment of all principal and interest as scheduled on, debentures or participating securities issued by such companies. Such purchases or guarantees may be made by the Administration on such terms and conditions as it deems appropriate, pursuant to regulations issued by the Administration. The full faith and credit of the United States is pledged to the payment of all amounts which may be required to be paid under any guarantee under this subsection. Debentures purchased or guaranteed by the Administration under this subsection shall be subordinate to any other debenture bonds, promissory notes, or other debts and obligations of such companies, unless the Administration in its exercise of reasonable investment prudence and in considering the financial soundness of such company determines otherwise. Such debentures may be issued for a term of not to exceed fifteen years and shall bear interest at a rate not less than a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury taking into consideration the current average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States with remaining periods to maturity comparable to the average maturities on such debentures, adjusted to the nearest one-eighth of 1 percent, plus, for debentures obligated after September 30, 2001, an additional charge, in an amount established annually by the Administration, as necessary to reduce to zero the cost (as defined in section 661a of title 2) to the Administration of purchasing and guaranteeing debentures under this chapter, which amount may not exceed 1.38 percent per year, and which shall be paid to and retained by the Administration. The debentures or participating securities shall also contain such other terms as the Administration may fix, and shall be subject to the following restrictions and limitations: The maximum amount of outstanding leverage made available to any one company licensed under section 681(c) of this title may not exceed the lesser of— The maximum amount of outstanding leverage made available to two or more companies licensed under section 681(c) of this title that are commonly controlled (as determined by the Administrator) and not under capital impairment may not exceed— Except as provided in clause (iii), in calculating the outstanding leverage of a company or companies for the purposes of subparagraphs (A) and (B), the Administrator shall not include the amount of the cost basis of any investment made by the company or companies in— The Administrator— The Administrator shall require each licensee, as a condition of approval of an application for leverage, to certify in writing that not less than 25 percent of the aggregate dollar amount of financings of that licensee shall be provided to smaller enterprises. Before approving any application for leverage submitted by a licensee under this chapter, the Administrator— Notwithstanding any other provision of law— the Administrator may allow the issuer of any preferred stock sold to the Administration before November 1, 1989 to redeem or repurchase such stock, upon the payment to the Administration of an amount less than the par value of such stock, for a repurchase price determined by the Administrator after consideration of all relevant factors, including— In order to encourage small business investment companies to provide equity capital to small businesses, the Administration is authorized to guarantee the payment of the redemption price and prioritized payments on participating securities issued by such companies which are licensed pursuant to section 681(c) of this title, and a trust or a pool acting on behalf of the Administration is authorized to purchase such securities. Such guarantees and purchases shall be made on such terms and conditions as the Administration shall establish by regulation. For purposes of this section, (A) the term “participating securities” includes preferred stock, a preferred limited partnership interest or a similar instrument, including debentures under the terms of which interest is payable only to the extent of earnings and (B) the term “prioritized payments” includes dividends on stock, interest on qualifying debentures, or priority returns on preferred limited partnership interests which are paid only to the extent of earnings. Participating securities guaranteed under this subsection shall be subject to the following restrictions and limitations, in addition to such other restrictions and limitations as the Administration may determine: After making any distributions as provided in paragraph (8), a company with participating securities outstanding may distribute the balance of income to its investors, specifically including the Administration, in the per centums specified in paragraph (11), if there are no accumulated and unpaid prioritized payments and if all amounts due the Administration pursuant to paragraph (11) have been paid in full, subject to the following conditions: A company which issues participating securities shall agree to allocate to the Administration a share of its profits determined by the relationship of its private capital to the amount of participating securities guaranteed by the Administration in accordance with the following: If the total amount of participating securities is more than 100 per centum but not greater than 200 per centum of private capital, the company shall allocate to the Administration a per centum share computed as follows: Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph— The computation of amounts due the Administration under participating securities shall be subject to the following terms and conditions: With respect to leverage granted by the Administration to a licensee, the Administration shall collect from the licensee a nonrefundable fee in an amount equal to 3 percent of the face amount of leverage granted to the licensee in the following manner: 1 percent upon the date on which the Administration enters into any commitment for such leverage with the licensee, and the balance of 2 percent (or 3 percent if no commitment has been entered into by the Administration) on the date on which the leverage is drawn by the licensee. All fees, interest, and profits received and retained by the Administration under this section shall be included in the calculations made by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to offset the cost (as that term is defined in section 661a of title 2) to the Administration of purchasing and guaranteeing debentures and participating securities under this chapter. In addition to any other authority under this chapter, a small business investment company licensed in the first fiscal year after December 19, 2007, or any fiscal year thereafter may issue Energy Saving debentures.