By Godson Umejiego, Correspondent  US

Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Kimberly A. Reed, along with hundreds of EXIM employees, have  congratulated  EXIM’s Senior Vice President of Policy Analysis and International Relations (OPAIR), James C. Cruse (Jim), on his 50 years of service at EXIM. Cruse first joined EXIM in 1970 as a country economist and became the Senior Vice President of OPAIR in 2002.

“Jim Cruse is one of the most well-known and respected leaders in the field of official export credit finance both in the United States and around the world. EXIM is an 86-year old institution and Jim has been an integral part of this agency’s history and accomplishments for fifty of those years,” said EXIM

Chairman Kimberly Reed. “Jim has served his nation with excellence, honor, and distinction, and is to be commended for his exceptional contributions as a champion for U.S. exporters and jobs. The entire EXIM team looks forward to continuing to work with and learn from Jim as he continues serves the American people here at EXIM.”

Since joining EXIM, Cruse has had a variety of assignments and contributed to many of the policy and programme developments which lie at the core of today’s EXIM.  He is known as the “father” of EXIM’s annual Report to the US Congress on Global Export Credit Competition, which was first mandated by Congress in 1971 and is now in its 53rd edition. He was lauded at a 2019 US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Development hearing on EXIM’s reauthorization.

Cruse’s accomplishments also include the following:

• The mid-1970’s inter-agency crafting of a logical role for export credit agencies after the collapse of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system;
• The mid-1980’s development of a revamped program structure in response to the Latin American debt crisis and the retreat of commercial banks from export finance;
• The early 1990’s creation of a securitized guarantee;
• Over 30 years of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) negotiations, including the 2009 Buyer Premia Agreement and the 2011 Aircraft Sector Understanding;
• EXIM’s policy and programme response to the 2008 financial crises and the ensuing Basel III regulation;
• The 2019 historic seven-year reauthorization of EXIM; and

• Key reforms and transformations important to supporting US  jobs, protecting the taxpayer, and keeping America strong for years to come. In a virtual celebration of Jim’s 50th anniversary at EXIM, his colleagues hailed him as a true leader, irreplaceable, and a perfect example of a civil servant.