Federal Disaster Areas Affected By Recent Wildfires And Hurricanes Benefit
By Godson Umejiego, Correspondent USA
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has announced that it is extending measures to assist US exporters and financial institutions located in states that may be declared federal disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) due to the effects of recent hurricanes or wildfires.
EXIM’s assistance is in accord with the agency’s general policy of offering help to customers in all areas of the United States that are declared federal disaster areas by FEMA, including those in areas recently affected by wildfires in Western states as well as Hurricanes Sally, Laura, and Isaias.
“We at EXIM are concerned about our customers and everyone who may be impacted by these destructive fires and storms. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and we want them to focus on their safety and other immediate needs at this time,” said EXIM President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed. “We want our customers — especially those who are small business owners — and their lenders to be able to address their pressing concerns and without worry about meeting EXIM’s deadlines. To this end, we are extending the periods of our working capital facilities and the deadlines of insurance policies and claims filings in the affected areas. We hope that these measures will be beneficial during the recovery period.”
EXIM is offering assistance measures in the affected areas for an initial period of six months to allow businesses and financial institutions that participate in EXIM’s programmes to return to their business concerns when appropriate and without penalty due to missed deadlines or other timeliness issues. These measures will work in tandem with EXIM’s COVID-19 (coronavirus) relief measures for US exporters and financial institutions.
Highlights of the disaster relief measures include:
- Working Capital Guarantee Programme
EXIM is offering automatic extension for working capital loan facilities that mature between the start date of the declared disaster by FEMA and 180 days later. The extension applies to both the loan facility and the related loan facility fee, which may be waived in extraordinary circumstances. Claim-filing deadlines involving EXIM-backed working capital loans in the affected areas are automatically extended for up to 180 days upon request to pay the related loan facility fee.
The agency is also offering waiver of program requirements with which parties cannot reasonably comply under the circumstances, waiver of defaults for nonpayment of interest up to 180 days, and waiver of provisions relating to both defaults and replenishment of collateral for over-advances resulting from losses of inventory or sales.
Short- and Medium-Term Insurance Programmes
EXIM is offering automatic policy renewal for short-term insurance policies that terminate during the incident period of the declared disaster, as defined by FEMA. Short-term insurance shipment reporting and premium payment deadlines for all shipments made during the incident period will be automatically extended up to 180 days from the start of the declared disaster. EXIM is offering flexibilities for medium-term insurance policies that terminate during the incident period of the declared disaster and for shipment reporting and payment deadlines.
EXIM will provide an automatic extension of up to 180 days beyond the claim filing period if the claim filing deadline specified in the insurance policy or guarantee occurs during the incident period of the declared disaster, as defined by FEMA, as well as flexibility in claims analysis and the documentation necessary to file the claim.
