SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, B.Ch5.A.1 — Eligibility and Eligible Uses of Proceeds for Export Express

SOP 50 10 8.1 B.Ch5.A.1

Effective 2026-10-01 · publisher's stamp for this provision

1. Eligibility and Eligible Uses of Proceeds for Export Express In addition to the core requirements identified in Section A, eligibility for Export Express is limited to businesses that have been in operation, although not necessarily as Exporters, for at least 12 full months. However, Applicants that have been in operation for less than 12 months are eligible if both of the following conditions are met:  The Applicant’s key personnel have clearly demonstrated Export Transaction expertise and substantial previous successful business experience; and  The Lender processes the Export Express loan using conventional commercial loan underwriting procedures and does not rely solely on credit scoring or credit matrices to approve the loan. Non-bank Lenders that do not have a conventional loan portfolio must submit their underwriting procedures to the Office of Credit Risk Management for written approval prior to making an Export Express loan. Evidence of compliance with both of these requirements must be retained by the Lender in its file. a. Export Express loans must be used for an export development activity, which includes the following: i. Translation of product brochures or catalogues for use in markets outside the United States; ii. Obtaining a general line of credit for Export Transaction purposes (as a normal course of business, the Borrower may use portions of the line of credit for domestic purposes, as long as no less than 70% of the line of credit will be used for export purposes); iii. Performing a service contract from buyers located outside the United States; iv. Obtaining transaction-specific financing associated with completing Export Transaction orders; v. Acquiring, constructing, renovating, modernizing, improving, or expanding a production facility or equipment to be used in the United States in the production of goods or services for Export Transactions; vi. Providing term loans and other financing to enable a small business concern, including an export trading company and an export management company, to develop a market outside the United States vii. A 7(a) loan may not be used to refinance a debt owed to a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) or a New Markets Venture Capital Company 13 CFR § 120.130(b). viii. The payment of trade payables is not considered to be debt refinancing. b. Debt Refinancing: See Appendix 14: 7(a) Debt Refinancing Requirements Para. B.6. c. Loan proceeds may not be used to: i. Finance operations outside of the United States, except for the marketing and/or distribution of products/services exported from the United States; or ii. Refinance existing SBA-guaranteed loans except as permitted under Appendix 14: 7(a) Debt Refinancing Requirements Para. B.6. iii. Fund a Change of Ownership transaction. Please see Appendix 15 for rules on Change of Ownership financing. d. When an Export Express loan finances specific export transactions (including indirect exports) under Paragraph 1.a.i.v. or vi. above, the Lender must determine if U.S. companies are authorized to conduct business with the Parties and the country(ies) to which the goods or services will be shipped. Lenders must check Ex-Im Bank’s Country Limitation Schedule, which can be found on Ex-Im Bank’s website at www.exim.gov/tools-for-exporters/country-limitation-schedule or is available from SBA’s Office of International Trade. The Lender also must check the Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions lists, which can be found at sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/. i. For federally-regulated Lenders, compliance with the procedures required by the Lender’s Federal Financial Institution Regulator will constitute compliance with the above referenced OFAC requirement. ii. For SBA Supervised Lenders, Lender must check the OFAC sanctions lists prior to first disbursement of funds on each specific export transaction. A loan may not be made to a business that directly or indirectly exports to a foreign country which is listed as a prohibited country (Note # 7 on the Country Limitation Schedule), or if the transaction would be prohibited under any of the sanctions programs administered by OFAC. e. Documentation required: SBA requires the Lender to obtain information from the Borrower pertaining to the use of proceeds and its projected impact on the Borrower’s export sales and retain that documentation in its loan file. The Applicant must provide documentation regarding the following items (this may be in the form of a general business plan, an attachment to the loan application or on a Lender-developed questionnaire): i. Estimated total export sales the loan will support; ii. A brief description of the business’ product or service which will be exported; iii. An explanation of how the loan proceeds will enable the business to enter a new export market or expand in an existing export market; iv. The countries to which the business will export; and v. An estimate of the Borrower’s export sales for the 12 month period following the date of the loan application.

Source: SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, B.Ch5.A.1 — Eligibility and Eligible Uses of Proceeds for Export Express · source URL · snapshot 0fb0c4692cf52938