Meridian Finance Group Awarded Ex-Im Bank Broker of the Year
Washington, D.C. - Meridian Finance Group, a trade finance company headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., received the Broker of the Year award from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). The award was presented at the Bank's 38th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.
Meridian Finance Group has done a terrific job of reaching small-business exporters and helping these companies expand their international sales, said Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im Bank. Meridian currently brokers nearly 400 Ex-Im Bank insurance policies, and many of these are for small businesses that began using Ex-Im Bank services thanks to Meridian's efforts. Meridian is a reliable partner that is dedicated to helping small businesses succeed, and Ex-Im Bank looks forward to continuing our strong partnership in the years ahead.
While most of Meridian's insurance business is underwritten in the private sector, we're particularly proud of the work we do with Ex-Im Bank to support U.S. exports, said Meridian's President Gary Mendell. Exporting is one of the bright spots in our nation's economy right now, so we need to reach out and help even more U.S. exporters begin taking advantage of Ex-Im Bank programs.
Meridian Finance Group provides credit, insurance, and financial services in support of international trade. In addition to export-credit insurance, Meridian works actively with other Ex-Im Bank programs: supporting banks using Ex-Im Bank L/C insurance, collaborating with medium-term and working capital lenders, and generating the most submissions to date for Global Credit Express loans. This is Meridian's 20th year in business and the third time they have received Ex-Im's Broker of the Year award.
Ex-Im Bank's 2013 Annual Conference will feature prominent members of the business and government community including Vice President Joe Biden, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, former National Security Advisor General James Jones, Xerox Corporation CEO Ursula Burns, and Citibank Chairman Michael O'Neill. A full listing of speakers, panelists, and moderators is available on Ex-Im's website: www.exim.gov
About Ex-Im Bank
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years (from Fiscal Year 2008), Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved nearly $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012 - an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6.1 billion directly supporting small-business export sales - also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $50 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 255,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.