T he Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank or the Bank) operates under a renewable general statutory charter (Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended), extended through September 30, 2019, by the Export-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2015 (Division E of P.L. 114-94 , a surface transportation authorization measure). Enacted on December 4, 2015, this act generally lowered Ex-Im Bank's statutory lending authority ("exposure cap" for outstanding portfolio) to $135 billion for each of FY2015-FY2019, and made reforms in a number of areas, including to Ex-Im Bank's policies or operations in risk management, fraud controls, and ethics, as well as to the U.S. approach to international negotiations on export credit financing. This report addresses frequently asked questions about Ex-Im Bank, grouped in the following categories: (1) congressional interest; (2) organizational structure and management; (3) market context and programs; (4) statutory requirements and policies; (5) international context; (6) activity; (7) risk management, fraud control, and ethics; (8) budget and appropriations; (9) sunset in authority; and (10) historical and current approaches to reauthorization. See Appendix A for a summary of selected key CRS resources related to Ex-Im Bank. Ex-Im Bank, a wholly owned U.S. government corporation, is the official export credit agency (ECA) of the United States. Its mission is to assist in financing and facilitating U.S. exports of goods and services and, in doing so, to contribute to U.S. employment. On a demand-driven basis, it seeks to finance exports that the private sector is unwilling or unable to undertake alone at terms commercially viable for exporters; and/or to counter government-backed financing offered by foreign countries through their ECAs. Ex-Im Bank's main financial products are direct loans, loan guarantees, working capital finance, and export credit insurance. Its activities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Congress sets statutory requirements for Ex-Im Bank's activities. Ex-Im Bank also abides by international disciplines for government-backed ECA activity under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits (the "Arrangement"). Ex-Im Bank, established by the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended (P.L. 79-173; 12 U.S.C. Section 635 et seq. ), has its origins in two predecessor banks, created as part of the Roosevelt Administration's New Deal response to the Great Depression. The first Export-Import Bank was established on February 2, 1934 (Executive Order No. 6581), to assist in financing U.S. trade with the Soviet Union. The Second Export-Import Bank was created on March 9, 1934 (Executive Order No. 6638), originally to assist in financing U.S. trade with Cuba. Its operations were subsequently expanded to include trade financing to all other countries except the Soviet Union. Both the first and second Bank had limited two-year charters. At the end of the two-year period, the Second Export-Import Bank's charter was allowed to lapse, with its functions transferred to the first Bank. The charter for the first Bank was extended and, in 1945, it was superseded by the present Ex-Im Bank. In the immediate post-war period, Ex-Im Bank participated in reconstruction efforts and was viewed as part of the growing U.S. aid efforts. In the 1950s, it responded to requests from U.S. exporters by shifting away from aid-related activities to offering export credit financing for exports of goods and by confronting the competition U.S. exporters faced in the form of officially financed, government-supported export credits. In the early 1960s, it further attempted to meet the needs of U.S. exporters by offering export credit guarantees to insure against political and exchange rate risk. In the 1970s, Ex-Im Bank funded large scale infrastructure projects in numerous developing countries. By the early 1980s, small projects and capital goods and services constituted an increasingly larger share of Ex-Im Bank's business. Presently, Ex-Im Bank provides direct loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance as a part of U.S. export promotion efforts to contribute to U.S. employment, though its activities also may have foreign policy implications (see " Market Context and Ex-Im Bank Programs " section). Congress has a number of statutory responsibilities with respect to Ex-Im Bank. Congress provides authority for Ex-Im Bank's functions through its statutory charter, the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended (P.L. 79-173; 12 U.S.C. Section 635 et seq. ), for a period of time that it chooses. While Congress does not approve individual Ex-Im Bank transactions, it sets general statutory parameters for the agency's activities. Congress also provides an annual appropriation for the Bank, and conducts oversight of its activities. In addition, the Senate approves nominations by the President of the United States to the positions of Ex-Im Bank's President, First Vice President, and Board of Directors. The committees to which legislation that would amend Ex-Im Bank's statutory charter has been referred previously are the House Committee on Financial Services and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. In general, the Bank has been funded each fiscal year through provisions in the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. Debate over Ex-Im Bank is rooted in underlying differences in views over the appropriate role of the U.S. government in export promotion. Those in favor of Ex-Im Bank assert that it supports U.S. exports and jobs by addressing shortfalls in private sector financing and helping U.S. exporters compete against foreign companies backed by their governments' ECAs. Critics assert that it crowds out private sector activity, picks winners and losers through its support, operates as a form of "corporate welfare," and poses a risk to taxpayers. While debate over Ex-Im Bank has been long-standing, Congress has renewed Ex-Im Bank's authority many times, including on a bipartisan basis and under both Republican and Democratic administrations (see text box for recent history and Appendix C for more detailed history). The reauthorization debates in the 114 th Congress focused on the role of the U.S. government in supporting exports; the changing export finance landscape, including the growth of ECA activity by emerging market ECAs; and Ex-Im Bank's financial soundness and risk management, among other policy issues. Ex-Im Bank is headquartered in Washington, DC. It also maintains regional export finance centers in 12 U.S. cities, which conduct outreach and provide assistance focused exclusively on U.S. small businesses. Ex-Im Bank is led by a Board of Directors, which consists of the President of the Bank (who is also the chairman of the Board), First Vice President (who is also the Vice Chairman), and three additional directors. The Board authorizes the Bank's transactions either directly or through delegated authority. All Board members are appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. Under Ex-Im Bank's charter, not more than three members of the five-person Board can be of any one political party. Ex-Im Bank also has an Advisory Committee, which is required by its charter to consist of 17 members appointed by the Board of Directors on the recommendation of the President of the Bank. Under its charter, the Advisory Committee's members are required to be "broadly representative of environment, production, commerce, finance, agriculture, labor, services, State government, and the textile industry," subject to certain limits. In addition, Ex-Im Bank has a Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee, which is directed to promote the expansion of the Bank's financial commitments in that region. The Export-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2015 extended the Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee's termination date to September 30, 2019 (Sec. 54001(c) of P.L. 114-94 ). A quorum of the Board of Directors consists of at least three members. With currently two members, the Board lacks a quorum (at least three members) to transact business. Without a quorum, it cannot approve transactions above $10 million. Nominations of members to the Board would be subject to Senate approval. In FY2015, Ex-Im Bank had 420 full-time equivalents (FTEs) for its programs and 25 FTEs for its Office of Inspector General (OIG). Export finance, which is used to cover the time between an export order being placed and payment being made, is a means of facilitating international trade. Financing can play a role, for instance, when exporters may need to protect against the higher risk of payment default by an unknown buyer situated in a foreign legal system; because export orders often require more working capital, relative to sales, than domestic orders and exporters may wait an average of three to five months between shipment and payment; or buyers require funds from a financial institution to purchase goods and services. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), no comprehensive source exists for measuring the size and composition of trade finance markets. The World Trade Organization (WTO), based on its assumption that the largest share of global trade transactions are not paid in cash and involve some form of finance, estimates that the market for trade finance (in its broadest definition) exceeds $10 trillion annually. Export finance is available through both the public and private sector, including through: Export credit agencies (ECAs) , which are government-backed entities.