Goldman’s action has put pressure on other financial institutions to do the same or risk being judged in far worse shape by investors. The administration feared that details on healthier banks would inevitably leak out, leaving weaker banks exposed to speculation and damaging market rumors, possibly making any further bailouts more costly.

"There were two things I liked: the help for the securitization markets, and the President's call to make the banks report how much lending they are doing," said Keith Ashmus, a Cleveland-based attorney and chairman of the National Small Business Assn. "We are seeing business after business with a history of promptly paying their bills just get their credit lines canceled."

Given the weak state of the economy, however, it is not clear how many small businesses want to borrow money at this time. A survey of small business owners conducted last month for Discover Financial Services found that 23 percent said they would be very likely to apply for an SBA loan if they became easier to get. Another 17 percent said it was somewhat likely they would apply for an SBA loan. The survey found, however, that 90 percent of small businesses had never applied for an SBA loan.

“Given the increasingly uncertain economic outlook, we have concluded that further augmenting our capital at this point is a prudent step, especially if the current recession proves to be longer and more severe than previously expected,” Wells said in a news release.