WASHINGTON – Given the amount of interest received, the Small Business Administration has extended the comment period on its proposed lender risk rating system. The new comment period deadline is July 15. The agency has proposed a system that would help assess the risk of each active 7(a) lender and certified development company's SBA loan operations and loan portfolios. Under the system, SBA would assign each lender a composite rating based on certain portfolio performance factors, which may be overridden in some cases due to lender specific factors that may be indicative of a higher or lower level of risk, the agency said. CUNA is also seeking comment from CUs and has moved its deadline to June 30 to reflect SBA's new date. "Having tools, such as the proposal would provide, to assess the risk associated with 7(a) lending is undoubtedly positive from the agency's point of view but CUNA will be reviewing the proposal in detail to ensure it would not have a negative, disproportionate impact on credit unions," said Mary Dunn, CUNA associate general counsel.