(1) The corporation may charge fees to help defray the operating expenses of its programs. The amount of fees shall be determined by the board.

(2) The total of loans, guarantees, direct loan originations for sale and insured export transactions outstanding shall not be more than five times the balance of the account. The board may elect to require a higher reserve.

(3)(a) The board shall adopt terms and limits for loans, guarantees, and direct loan originations, but a loan guarantee or a direct loan origination shall not exceed 90 percent of the transaction contract.

(b) In providing assistance, the board shall be guided by the statewide economic development plan adopted by the department.

(c) The board shall explore the possibility of organizing Florida financial institutions and international bank syndicates for the purpose of offering nonrecourse postexport financing to Florida exporters.

(4) The board shall ensure that program participants graduate from the program to private financing and that no applicant receives more than $500,000 of assistance over any 5-year period. On a case-by-case basis, the board may exempt applicants from this limitation if the applicant demonstrates that he or she cannot secure financing from traditional lending sources. The term “applicant,” as used in this subsection, means any individual corporate officer or business owner regardless of whether the business name changes from application to application.

History.—s. 50, ch. 93-187; s. 224, ch. 95-148; s. 70, ch. 96-320; s. 179, ch. 2011-142; s. 15, ch. 2017-5.