News

Washington, DC - September 12, 2002 - Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Vice Chairman Eduardo Aguirre today announced three major organizational changes designed to enable Ex-Im Bank to become more market focused and customer driven while enhancing risk management.

As part of the new organizational structure, Aguirre announced the creation of three new divisions: i) a unified Export Finance group devoted to managing transaction relationships across all Ex-Im Bank financing products, ii) an independent Credit and Risk Management group to provide consistent credit standards and oversight, and iii) a Communications group encompassing existing public affairs and marketing functions. These changes will be effective October 1, 2002.

In making the announcement, Aguirre said, We need to raise the bar in reaching our customers and serving their needs. This kind of market-driven, results-oriented program answers the challenge put forth by President Bush in his vision for management reform. Many of our customers find our current product-based structure unnecessarily complex and confusing. These changes will provide customers with a streamlined process regardless of which product is being sought. And with our new Credit and Risk Management group, the credit standards customers must satisfy will be consistent across product types as well. Small businesses will particularly benefit from this increased consistency and ease of access.

The first change announced is the creation of an Export Finance group, to be responsible for transaction and customer relationship oversight and business development. Jeffrey Miller, currently Group Vice President of Structured and Trade Finance will be the Export Finance group's Senior Vice President.

The Export Finance group will have the breadth of resources to deliver all of our products globally: pre-export finance, short, medium, and long-term loans and guarantees and all our insurance products. It will also develop business domestically and internationally. This group will manage deal flow through the pipeline, from development to disbursement. It also will specially emphasize the growth of Ex-Im Bank's small business portfolio and enhance our responsiveness to small business customers, Aguirre said.

The second major change is the creation of a Credit and Risk Management group, to be headed by a Senior Vice President to be named. This organization will provide stewardship for risk management, including credit standards and underwriting, credit review and compliance, country risk and economic analysis, and engineering and environmental analysis.

As we focus on increasing our transaction volume and closing deals more quickly, particularly for small businesses, we must also strengthen our management of risk-on both a transaction and portfolio basis. This independent division will provide consistency in evaluating reasonable assurance of repayment and the prudent use of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, Aguirre said.

The third major change is the combination of existing public affairs and marketing divisions into a Communications group, led by a Senior Vice President to be announced soon.

The Communications group will help us better target our information to relevant customers, stakeholders, financial markets, and industries, Aguirre said.

I'm very excited to implement this plan as we continue to provide the excellent service I and our external stakeholders expect from Ex-Im Bank, Aguirre said.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal government agency that helps finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets, by providing loans, guarantees, and export credit insurance. In fiscal year 2001, Ex-Im Bank authorized financing to support $12.5 billion of U.S. exports worldwide.