II 
Calendar No. 282 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 597 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
OCTOBER 28, 2015 
Received; read the first time 
OCTOBER 29, 2015 
Read the second time and placed on the calendar 
AN ACT 
To reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Export-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act of 
2015’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—TAXPAYER PROTECTION PROVISIONS AND INCREASED 
ACCOUNTABILITY 
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Sec. 101. Reduction in authorized amount of outstanding loans, guarantees, 
and insurance. 
Sec. 102. Increase in loss reserves. 
Sec. 103. Review of fraud controls. 
Sec. 104. Office of Ethics. 
Sec. 105. Chief Risk Officer. 
Sec. 106. Risk Management Committee. 
Sec. 107. Independent audit of bank portfolio. 
Sec. 108. Pilot program for reinsurance. 
TITLE II—PROMOTION OF SMALL BUSINESS EXPORTS 
Sec. 201. Increase in small business lending requirements. 
Sec. 202. Report on programs for small and medium-sized businesses. 
TITLE III—MODERNIZATION OF OPERATIONS 
Sec. 301. Electronic payments and documents. 
Sec. 302. Reauthorization of information technology updating. 
TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS 
Sec. 401. Extension of authority. 
Sec. 402. Certain updated loan terms and amounts. 
TITLE V—OTHER MATTERS 
Sec. 501. Prohibition on discrimination based on industry. 
Sec. 502. Negotiations to end export credit financing. 
Sec. 503. Study of financing for information and communications technology 
systems. 
TITLE 
I—TAXPAYER 
PROTEC-
TION PROVISIONS AND IN-
CREASED ACCOUNTABILITY 
SEC. 101. REDUCTION IN AUTHORIZED AMOUNT OF OUT-
STANDING LOANS, GUARANTEES, AND INSUR-
ANCE. 
Section 6(a) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 
(12 U.S.C. 635e(a)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (4); and 
(2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
following: 
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‘‘(2) APPLICABLE AMOUNT DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘applicable amount’, for each of 
fiscal 
years 
2015 
through 
2019, 
means 
$135,000,000,000. 
‘‘(3) FREEZING OF LENDING CAP IF DEFAULT 
RATE
IS
PERCENT
OR
MORE.—If the rate cal-
culated under section 8(g)(1) is 2 percent or more 
for a quarter, the Bank may not exceed the amount 
of loans, guarantees, and insurance outstanding on 
the last day of that quarter until the rate calculated 
under section 8(g)(1) is less than 2 percent.’’. 
SEC. 102. INCREASE IN LOSS RESERVES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of the Export-Import 
Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635e) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(b) RESERVE
REQUIREMENT.—The Bank shall 
build to and hold in reserve, to protect against future 
losses, an amount that is not less than 5 percent of the 
aggregate amount of disbursed and outstanding loans, 
guarantees, and insurance of the Bank.’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 103. REVIEW OF FRAUD CONTROLS. 
Section 17(b) of the Export-Import Bank Reauthor-
ization Act of 2012 (12 U.S.C. 635a–6(b)) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) REVIEW OF FRAUD CONTROLS.—Not later than 
4 years after the date of the enactment of the Export- 
Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2015, 
and every 4 years thereafter, the Comptroller General of 
the United States shall— 
‘‘(1) review the adequacy of the design and ef-
fectiveness of the controls used by the Export-Im-
port Bank of the United States to prevent, detect, 
and investigate fraudulent applications for loans and 
guarantees and the compliance by the Bank with the 
controls, including by auditing a sample of Bank 
transactions; and 
‘‘(2) submit a written report regarding the find-
ings of the review and providing such recommenda-
tions with respect to the controls described in para-
graph (1) as the Comptroller General deems appro-
priate to— 
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‘‘(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Ap-
propriations of the Senate; and 
‘‘(B) the Committee on Financial Services 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
House of Representatives.’’. 
SEC. 104. OFFICE OF ETHICS. 
Section 3 of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 
(12 U.S.C. 635a) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(k) OFFICE OF ETHICS.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an 
Office of Ethics within the Bank, which shall oversee 
all ethics issues within the Bank. 
‘‘(2) HEAD OF OFFICE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The head of the Of-
fice of Ethics shall be the Chief Ethics Officer, 
who shall report to the Board of Directors. 
‘‘(B) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of the Ex-
port-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization 
Act of 2015, the Chief Ethics Officer shall be— 
‘‘(i) appointed by the President of the 
Bank from among persons— 
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‘‘(I) with a background in law 
who have experience in the fields of 
law and ethics; and 
‘‘(II) who are not serving in a po-
sition requiring appointment by the 
President of the United States before 
being appointed to be Chief Ethics 
Officer; and 
‘‘(ii) approved by the Board. 
‘‘(C) DESIGNATED AGENCY ETHICS OFFI-
CIAL.—The Chief Ethics Officer shall serve as 
the designated agency ethics official for the 
Bank pursuant to the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 101 et seq.). 
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Office of Ethics has juris-
diction over all employees of, and ethics matters re-
lating to, the Bank. With respect to employees of the 
Bank, the Office of Ethics shall— 
‘‘(A) recommend administrative actions to 
establish or enforce standards of official con-
duct; 
‘‘(B) refer to the Office of the Inspector 
General of the Bank alleged violations of— 
‘‘(i) the standards of ethical conduct 
applicable to employees of the Bank under 
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parts 2635 and 6201 of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations; 
‘‘(ii) the standards of ethical conduct 
established by the Chief Ethics Officer; 
and 
‘‘(iii) any other laws, rules, or regula-
tions governing the performance of official 
duties or the discharge of official respon-
sibilities that are applicable to employees 
of the Bank; 
‘‘(C) report to appropriate Federal or 
State authorities substantial evidence of a viola-
tion of any law applicable to the performance of 
official duties that may have been disclosed to 
the Office of Ethics; and 
‘‘(D) render advisory opinions regarding 
the propriety of any current or proposed con-
duct of an employee or contractor of the Bank, 
and issue general guidance on such matters as 
necessary.’’. 
SEC. 105. CHIEF RISK OFFICER. 
Section 3 of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 
(12 U.S.C. 635a), as amended by section 104, is further 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(l) CHIEF RISK OFFICER.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be a Chief Risk 
Officer of the Bank, who shall— 
‘‘(A) oversee all issues relating to risk 
within the Bank; and 
‘‘(B) report to the President of the Bank. 
‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of the Export-Im-
port Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2015, 
the Chief Risk Officer shall be— 
‘‘(A) appointed by the President of the 
Bank from among persons— 
‘‘(i) with a demonstrated ability in the 
general management of, and knowledge of 
and extensive practical experience in, fi-
nancial risk evaluation practices in large 
governmental or business entities; and 
‘‘(ii) who are not serving in a position 
requiring appointment by the President of 
the United States before being appointed 
to be Chief Risk Officer; and 
‘‘(B) approved by the Board. 
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The duties of the Chief Risk Of-
ficer are— 
‘‘(A) to be responsible for all matters re-
lated to managing and mitigating all risk to 
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which the Bank is exposed, including the pro-
grams and operations of the Bank; 
‘‘(B) to establish policies and processes for 
risk oversight, the monitoring of management 
compliance with risk limits, and the manage-
ment of risk exposures and risk controls across 
the Bank; 
‘‘(C) to be responsible for the planning and 
execution of all Bank risk management activi-
ties, including policies, reporting, and systems 
to achieve strategic risk objectives; 
‘‘(D) to develop an integrated risk manage-
ment 
program 
that 
includes 
identifying, 
prioritizing, measuring, monitoring, and man-
aging internal control and operating risks and 
other identified risks; 
‘‘(E) to ensure that the process for risk as-
sessment and underwriting for individual trans-
actions considers how each such transaction 
considers the effect of the transaction on the 
concentration of exposure in the overall port-
folio of the Bank, taking into account fees, 
collateralization, and historic default rates; and 
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‘‘(F) to review the adequacy of the use by 
the Bank of qualitative metrics to assess the 
risk of default under various scenarios.’’. 
SEC. 106. RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Export-Import 
Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635a), as amended by sec-
tions 104 and 105, is further amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(m) RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 
management committee to be known as the ‘Risk 
Management Committee’. 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the 
Risk Management Committee shall be the members 
of the Board of Directors, with the President and 
First Vice President of the Bank serving as ex offi-
cio members. 
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The duties of the Risk Manage-
ment Committee shall be— 
‘‘(A) to oversee, in conjunction with the 
Office of the Chief Financial Officer of the 
Bank— 
‘‘(i) periodic stress testing on the en-
tire Bank portfolio, reflecting different 
market, industry, and macroeconomic sce-
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narios, and consistent with common prac-
tices of commercial and multilateral devel-
opment banks; and 
‘‘(ii) the monitoring of industry, geo-
graphic, and obligor exposure levels; and 
‘‘(B) to review all required reports on the 
default rate of the Bank before submission to 
Congress under section 8(g).’’. 
(b) TERMINATION OF AUDIT COMMITTEE.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the 
United States shall revise the bylaws of the Bank to termi-
nate the Audit Committee established by section 7 of the 
bylaws. 
SEC. 107. INDEPENDENT AUDIT OF BANK PORTFOLIO. 
(a) AUDIT.—The Inspector General of the Export- 
Import Bank of the United States shall conduct an audit 
or evaluation of the portfolio risk management procedures 
of the Bank, including a review of the implementation by 
the Bank of the duties assigned to the Chief Risk Officer 
under section 3(l) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, 
as amended by section 105. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than 
every 3 years thereafter, the Inspector General shall sub-
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mit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial 
Services of the House of Representatives a written report 
containing all findings and determinations made in car-
rying out subsection (a). 
SEC. 108. PILOT PROGRAM FOR REINSURANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provision of 
the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635 et 
seq.), the Export-Import Bank of the United States (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘Bank’’) may establish a 
pilot program under which the Bank may enter into con-
tracts and other arrangements to share risks associated 
with the provision of guarantees, insurance, or credit, or 
the participation in the extension of credit, by the Bank 
under that Act. 
(b) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF RISK-SHARING.— 
(1) PER
CONTRACT
OR
OTHER
ARRANGE-
MENT.—The aggregate amount of liability the Bank 
may transfer through risk-sharing pursuant to a 
contract or other arrangement entered into under 
subsection (a) may not exceed $1,000,000,000. 
(2) PER YEAR.—The aggregate amount of li-
ability the Bank may transfer through risk-sharing 
during a fiscal year pursuant to contracts or other 
arrangements entered into under subsection (a) dur-
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ing 
that 
fiscal 
year 
may 
not 
exceed 
$10,000,000,000. 
(c) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there-
after through 2019, the Bank shall submit to Congress 
a written report that contains a detailed analysis of the 
use of the pilot program carried out under subsection (a) 
during the year preceding the submission of the report. 
(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to affect, impede, or revoke any 
authority of the Bank. 
(e) TERMINATION.—The pilot program carried out 
under subsection (a) shall terminate on September 30, 
2019. 
TITLE II—PROMOTION OF 
SMALL BUSINESS EXPORTS 
SEC. 201. INCREASE IN SMALL BUSINESS LENDING RE-
QUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(b)(1)(E)(v) of the Ex-
port-Import 
Bank 
Act 
of 
1945 
(12 
U.S.C. 
635(b)(1)(E)(v)) is amended by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ and 
inserting ‘‘25 percent’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2016 
and each fiscal year thereafter. 
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