12 U.S.C. § 635a : US Code - Section 635A: Management of Bank

Search 12 U.S.C. § 635a : US Code - Section 635A: Management of Bank

(a) Establishment as independent agency
The Export-Import Bank of the United States shall constitute an
independent agency of the United States and neither the Bank nor
any of its functions, powers, or duties shall be transferred to or
consolidated with any other department, agency, or corporation of
the Government unless the Congress shall otherwise by law provide.
(b) President and First Vice President of the Bank; appointment;
duties
There shall be a President of the Export-Import Bank of the
United States, who shall be appointed by the President of the
United States by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and
who shall serve as chief executive officer of the Bank. There shall
be a First Vice President of the Bank, who shall be appointed by
the President of the United States by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, who shall serve as President of the Bank
during the absence or disability of or in the event of a vacancy in
the office of President of the Bank, and who shall at other times
perform such functions as the President of the Bank may from time
to time prescribe.
(c) Board of Directors; composition; oath; terms; duties; quorum;
bylaws
(1) There shall be a Board of Directors of the Bank consisting of
the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, who
shall serve as Chairman, the First Vice President who shall serve
as Vice Chairman, and three additional persons appointed by the
President of the United States by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate.
(2) Of the five members of the Board, not more than three shall
be members of any one political party.
(3) Omitted
(4) Before entering upon his duties, each of the directors shall
take an oath faithfully to discharge the duties of his office.
(5) The directors, in addition to their duties as members of the
Board, shall perform such additional duties and may hold such other
offices in the administration of the Bank as the President of the
Bank may from time to time prescribe.
(6) A quorum of the Board of Directors shall consist of at least
three members.
(7) The Board of Directors shall adopt, and may from time to time
amend, such bylaws as are necessary for the proper management and
functioning of the Bank, and shall, in such bylaws, designate the
vice presidents and other officers of the Bank and prescribe their
duties.
(8)(A) The terms of the directors, including the President and
the First Vice President of the Bank, appointed under this section
shall be four years, except that -
(i) during their terms of office, the directors shall serve at
the pleasure of the President of the United States;
(ii) the term of any director appointed after November 30,
1983, to serve before January 20, 1985, shall expire on January
20, 1985;
(iii) of the directors first appointed to serve beginning on or
after January 21, 1985, two directors (other than the President
and First Vice President of the Bank) shall be appointed for
terms of two years, as designated by the President of the United
States at the time of their appointment; and
(iv) any director first appointed to serve for a term beginning
on any date after January 21, 1985, shall serve only for the
remainder of the period for which such director would have been
appointed if such director's term had begun on January 21, 1985.
If such term would have expired before the date on which such
director's term actually begins, the term of such director shall
be the four-year period, or remainder thereof, as if such
director had been preceded by a director whose term had begun on
January 21, 1985.
(B) Of the five members of the Board appointed by the President,
not less than one such member shall be selected from among the
small business community and shall represent the interests of small
business.
(C) Any person chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only
for the unexpired term of the director whom such person succeeds.
(D) Any director whose term has expired may be reappointed.
(E) Any director whose term has expired may continue to serve on
the Board of Directors until the earlier of -
(i) the date on which such director's successor is qualified;
or
(ii) the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date such
director's term expires.
(9) At the request of any 2 members of the Board of Directors,
the Chairman of the Board shall place an item pertaining to the
policies or procedures of the Bank on the agenda for discussion by
the Board. Within 30 days after the date such a request is made,
the Chairman shall hold a meeting of the Board at which the item
shall be discussed.
(d) Advisory Committee; appointment; composition; meetings; advice
to Bank; report to Congress
(1)(A) There is established an Advisory Committee to consist of
17 members who shall be appointed by the Board of Directors on the
recommendation of the President of the Bank.
(B) Such members shall be broadly representative of environment,
production, commerce, finance, agriculture, labor, services, and
State government.
(2)(A) Not less than three members appointed to the Advisory
Committee shall be representative of the small business community.
(B) Not less than 2 members appointed to the Advisory Committee
shall be representative of the labor community, except that no 2
representatives of the labor community shall be selected from the
same labor union.
(C) Not less than 2 members appointed to the Advisory Committee
shall be representative of the environmental nongovernmental
organization community, except that no 2 of the members shall be
from the same environmental organization.
(3) The Advisory Committee shall meet at least once each quarter.
(4) The Advisory Committee shall advise the Bank on its programs,
and shall submit, with the report specified in section 635(b)(1)(A)
of this title, its own comments to the Congress on the extent to
which the Bank is meeting its mandate to provide competitive
financing to expand United States exports, and any suggestions for
improvements in this regard.
(e) Conflicting personal interests
(1) No director, officer, attorney, agent, or employee of the
Bank shall in any manner, directly or indirectly, participate in
the deliberation upon or the determination of any question
affecting such individual's personal interests, or the interests of
any corporation, partnership or association in which such
individual is directly or indirectly personally interested.
(2) The General Counsel of the Bank shall ensure that the
directors, officers, and employees of the Bank have available
appropriate legal counsel for advice on, and oversight of, issues
relating to personnel matters and other administrative law matters
by designating an attorney to serve as Assistant General Counsel
for Administration, whose duties, under the supervision of the
General Counsel, shall be concerned solely or primarily with such
issues.
(f) Small Business Division
(1) Establishment
There is established a Small Business Division (in this
subsection referred to as the "Division") within the Bank in
order to -
(A) carry out the provisions of subparagraphs (E) and (I) of
section 635(b)(1) of this title relating to outreach, feedback,
product improvement, and transaction advocacy for small
business concerns (as defined in section 632(a) of title 15);
(B) advise and seek feedback from small business concerns on
the opportunities and benefits for small business concerns in
the financing products offered by the Bank, with particular
emphasis on conducting outreach, enhancing the tailoring of
products to small business needs and increasing loans to small
business concerns;
(C) maintain liaison with the Small Business Administration
and other departments and agencies in matters affecting small
business concerns; and
(D) provide oversight of the development, implementation, and
operation of technology improvements to strengthen small
business outreach, including the technology improvement
required by section 635(b)(1)(E)(x) of this title.
(2) Management
The President of the Bank shall appoint an officer, who shall
rank not lower than senior vice president and whose sole
executive function shall be to manage the Division. The officer
shall -
(A) have substantial recent experience in financing exports
by small business concerns; and
(B) advise the Board, particularly the director appointed
under subsection (c)(8)(B) to represent the interests of small
business, on matters of interest to, and concern for, small
business.
(g) Small business specialists
(1) Dedicated personnel
The President of the Bank shall ensure that each operating
division within the Bank has staff that specializes in processing
transactions that primarily benefit small business concerns (as
defined in section 632(a) of title 15).
(2) Responsibilities
The small business specialists shall be involved in all aspects
of processing applications for loans, guarantees, and insurance
to support exports by small business concerns, including the
approval or disapproval, or staff recommendations of approval or
disapproval, as applicable, of such applications. In carrying out
these responsibilities, the small business specialists shall
consider the unique business requirements of small businesses and
shall develop exporter performance criteria tailored to small
business exporters.
(3) Approval authority
In an effort to maximize the speed and efficiency with which
the Bank processes transactions primarily benefitting small
business concerns, the small business specialists shall be
authorized to approve applications for working capital loans and
guarantees, and insurance in accordance with policies and
procedures established by the Board. It is the sense of Congress
that the policies and procedures should not prohibit, where
appropriate, small business specialists from approving
applications for working capital loans and guarantees, and for
insurance, in support of exports which have a value of less than
$10,000,000.
(4) Identification
The Bank shall prominently identify the small business
specialists on its website and in promotional material.
(5) Employee evaluations
The evaluation of staff designated by the President of the Bank
under paragraph (1), including annual reviews of performance of
duties related to transactions in support of exports by small
business concerns, and any resulting recommendations for salary
adjustments, promotions, and other personnel actions, shall
address the criteria established pursuant to subsection
(h)(2)(B)(iii) and shall be conducted by the manager of the
relevant operating division following consultation with the
officer appointed to manage the Small Business Division pursuant
to subsection (f)(2).
(6) Staff recommendations
Staff recommendations of denial or withdrawal for medium-term
applications, exporter held multi-buyer policies, single buyer
policies, and working capital applications processed by the Bank
shall be transmitted to the officer appointed to manage the Small
Business Division pursuant to subsection (f)(2) not later than 2
business days before a final decision.
(7) Rule of interpretation
Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prevent the
delegation to the Division of any authority necessary to carry
out subparagraphs (E) and (I) of section 635(b)(1) of this title.
(h) Small Business Committee
(1) Establishment
There is established a management committee to be known as the
"Small Business Committee".
(2) Purpose and duties
(A) Purpose
The purpose of the Small Business Committee shall be to
coordinate the Bank's initiatives and policies with respect to
small business concerns (as defined in section 632(a) of title
15), including the timely processing and underwriting of
transactions involving direct exports by small business
concerns, and the development and coordination of efforts to
implement new or enhanced Bank products and services pertaining
to small business concerns.
(B) Duties
The duties of the Small Business Committee shall be
determined by the President of the Bank and shall include the
following:
(i) Assisting in the development of the Bank's small
business strategic plans, including the Bank's plans for
carrying out section 635(b)(1)(E) (v) and (x) of this title,
and measuring and reporting in writing to the President of
the Bank, at least once a year, on the Bank's progress in
achieving the goals set forth in the plans.
(ii) Evaluating and reporting in writing to the President
of the Bank, at least once a year, with respect to -
(I) the performance of each operating division of the
Bank in serving small business concerns;
(II) the impact of processing and underwriting standards
on transactions involving direct exports by small business
concerns; and
(III) the adequacy of the staffing and resources of the
Small Business Division.
(iii) Establishing criteria for evaluating the performance
of staff designated by the President of the Bank under
subsection (g)(1).
(iv) Coordinating the provision of services with other
United States Government departments and agencies to small
business concerns.
(3) Composition
(A) Chairperson
The Chairperson of the Small Business Committee shall be the
officer appointed to manage the Small Business Division
pursuant to subsection (f)(2). The Chairperson shall have the
authority to call meetings of the Small Business Committee, set
the agenda for Committee meetings, and request policy
recommendations from the Committee's members.
(B) Other members
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the
President of the Bank shall determine the composition of the
Small Business Committee, and shall appoint or remove the
members of the Small Business Committee. In making such
appointments, the President of the Bank shall ensure that the
Small Business Committee is comprised of -
(i) the senior managing officers responsible for
underwriting and processing transactions; and
(ii) other officers and employees of the Bank with
responsibility for outreach to small business concerns and
underwriting and processing transactions that involve small
business concerns.
(4) Reporting
The Chairperson shall provide to the President of the Bank
minutes of each meeting of the Small Business Committee,
including any recommendations by the Committee or its individual
members.
(i) Office of financing for socially and economically disadvantaged
small business concerns and small business concerns owned by
women
(1) Establishment
The President of the Bank shall establish in the Small Business
Division an office whose sole functions shall be to continue and
enhance the outreach activities of the Bank with respect to, and
increase the total amount of loans, guarantees, and insurance
provided by the Bank to support exports by, socially and
economically disadvantaged small business concerns (as defined in
section 637(a)(4) of title 15) and small business concerns owned
by women.
(2) Management
The office shall be managed by a Bank officer of appropriate
rank who shall report to the Bank officer designated under
subsection (f)(2).
(3) Staffing
To the maximum extent practicable, the President of the Bank
shall ensure that qualified minority and women applicants are
considered when filling any position in the office.