EXIM Bank Reauthorization Letter to Customers and Stakeholders
Washington, D.C. - Below is the letter Fred Hochberg, the chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (EXIM Bank), sent to EXIM Bank customers and stakeholders today to announce the Bank's reauthorization.
December 4, 2015
To Customers and Stakeholders of the Export-Import Bank of the United States:
I'm pleased to report that after overwhelmingly bipartisan votes in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, President Obama signed EXIM Bank's reauthorization into law today.
Beginning today, EXIM will be able to restart the work needed to meet its mission of supporting American jobs and equipping American businesses with the tools necessary to compete for global sales. Importantly, the Bank secured a long-term reauthorization that will be in effect until September 30, 2019.
Exporters and their supply chains are critical to the country's economic health. Export focused businesses bring a host of benefits to their communities and local economies, including generally paying higher wages to their employees than non-export businesses.
All of us at EXIM are ready to receive applications for new transactions. Given the expected volume, the efforts required to get our processes back up and running, and the need to apply our comprehensive due diligence requirements to every transaction, we are asking customers and other EXIM stakeholders to be patient while we resume authorized activities. We expect online application systems and exim.gov to be fully operational no later than Tuesday, December 8, and customers can always reach us at 1-800-565-EXIM.
In addition, while we are accepting and processing applications for all levels of financing, please keep in mind that all transactions totaling more than $10 million dollars require approval by EXIM's Board of Directors. Those transactions will need to await Senate confirmation of members sufficient to reconstitute a quorum.
The EXIM team is as dedicated as ever to America's exporters, empowering them to tackle new markets, and providing a level playing field in a fiercely competitive global economy. We look forward to serving you, taxpayers and the American people for years to come.
Best,
Fred P. Hochberg
Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States
ABOUT EXIM BANK:
EXIM Bank is an independent federal agency that supports and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees and export credit insurance, to promote the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad. Almost ninety percent of its transactions directly serve American small businesses.
In fiscal year 2015, EXIM Bank approved $12.5 billion in total authorizations. These authorizations supported an estimated $17.7 billion in U.S. export sales, as well as approximately 109,000 American jobs in communities across the country.
Small business exporters can learn about how Ex-Im Bank products can empower them to increase foreign sales by clicking here. For more information about EXIM, visit www.exim.gov.