via ecfs - prodnet. · banks with cfc asset size are in the top 60 in the u.s. 3 ... (as defined by...
TRANSCRIPT
March 24, 2015
VIA ECFS
Ms. Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street SW Washington, DC 20554
Re: Connect America Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90; ETC Annual Reports and Certifications, WC Docket No. 14-58; Rural Broadband Experiments, WC Docket No. 14-259
Dear Ms. Dortch,
On Friday, March 20, Russell Laird, John List, Brad Captain, and Frank Vaughn of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (“CFC”); and Henry Shi and I of this firm, on behalf of CFC, met with Heidi Lankau, Alex Minard, and Ian Forbes of the Wireline Competition Bureau, and with Neil Dellar of the Office of General Counsel.
We discussed CFC’s Petition for Waiver of bank eligibility requirements for rural broadband experiment (“RBE”) projects to permit CFC to issue irrevocable stand-by letters of credit (“LOC”) to provisionally selected bidders. CFC submitted the attached presentation, and reiterated that its history of financial stability, its participation in other federal lending and guarantee programs, and the oversight provided by CFC’s commercial and government-agency counterparties, functionally satisfy the requirement that LOCs be issued by institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. We also emphasized that granting the requested waiver would allow for more efficient use of funds by the winning bidder, who otherwise would be charged substantially higher amounts in fees by commercial banks for LOCs as compared to the fees charged by CFC.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
John T. Nakahata Counsel to CFC
cc: Neil Dellar, Ian Forbes, Heidi Lankau, Alex Minard
Requ
est f
or In
clus
ion
as
Issu
er o
f Let
ters
of C
redi
tM
arch
20,
201
5
2
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Nat
iona
l Rur
al U
tiliti
es C
oope
rativ
e Fi
nanc
e C
orpo
ratio
n (C
FC)
Publ
ic p
urpo
se:
–Pr
ovid
e fin
anci
ng to
supp
lem
ent R
ural
Util
ities
Ser
vice
le
ndin
g to
rura
l util
ities
.N
onpr
ofit,
mem
ber-
owne
d, c
oope
rativ
e in
corp
orat
ed in
the
Dist
rict o
f Col
umbi
a in
196
9–
Excl
usiv
ely
owne
d b
y no
t-for
-pro
fit e
lect
ric c
oope
rativ
es.
–$2
1 bi
llion
in lo
ans a
nd $
368
milli
on in
lette
rs o
f cre
dit
outs
tand
ing
in N
ovem
ber 2
014
Bank
s w
ith C
FC a
sset
size
are
in th
e to
p 60
in th
e U.
S.
3
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
CFC
Mem
bers
Pro
vide
Ele
ctric
ity to
42
Mill
ion
Con
sum
ers i
n 47
Sta
tes
4
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Cor
pora
te G
over
nanc
e23
-mem
ber b
oard
of d
irect
ors
elec
ted
from
mem
bers
hip:
–20
gen
eral
man
ager
s or d
irect
ors f
rom
mem
ber s
yste
ms
–Tw
o re
pres
enta
tives
from
the
ind
ustry
’s tr
ade
asso
ciat
ion,
Nat
iona
l Rur
al E
lect
ric
Coo
pera
tive
Ass
ocia
tion
(NRE
CA
)–
One
at-l
arge
pos
ition
that
mee
ts th
e re
quire
men
ts o
f an
aud
it co
mm
ittee
fina
ncia
l exp
ert
(as d
efin
ed b
y Se
ctio
n 40
7 of
the
Sarb
anes
-Oxle
y A
ct o
f 200
2)N
o m
embe
rs o
f CFC
man
agem
ent h
old
boar
d se
ats.
Elec
ted
mem
bers
ser
ve th
ree-
year
term
s; li
mite
d to
a m
axim
um o
f tw
o co
nsec
utiv
e te
rms.
Regu
larly
mee
ts in
exe
cutiv
e se
ssio
ns; m
anag
emen
t may
not
atte
nd.
Mai
ntai
ns A
udit,
Fin
ance
Adv
isory
, Exe
cutiv
e, L
oan
and
Cor
pora
te R
elat
ions
Com
mitt
ees.
Aud
it C
omm
ittee
con
sists
of n
o le
ss th
an s
even
boa
rd m
embe
rs. M
eetin
gs h
eld
up to
five
tim
es a
yea
r with
ext
erna
l and
inte
rnal
aud
itors
in e
xecu
tive
sess
ion
with
out C
FC
man
agem
ent p
rese
nt.
5
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Rura
l Tel
epho
ne F
inan
ce C
oope
rativ
e (R
TFC
)N
ot-fo
r-pr
ofit
coop
erat
ive
lend
er fo
rmed
in 1
987
–A
ppro
ximat
ely
500
mem
bers
in 4
2 st
ates
and
two
U.S.
terri
torie
s–
Mem
bers
hip
limite
d to
ent
ities
elig
ible
to b
orro
w fr
om
USD
A R
ural
Util
ities
Ser
vice
CFC
man
ages
and
fund
s RT
FC–
RTFC
con
solid
ates
its b
alan
ce sh
eet w
ith C
FC fo
r fin
anci
al re
porti
ng–
$429
milli
on in
loan
s out
stan
din
g as
of N
ovem
ber 2
014
Inde
pend
ent b
oard
of d
irect
ors
elec
ted
by th
e m
embe
rshi
p
6
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
CFC
Fin
anci
ng P
rogr
ams Lo
an P
rogr
ams
Lines
of C
redi
tUn
secu
red
loan
s fo
r wor
king
cap
ital n
eeds
Long
–Ter
m C
oncu
rrent
Fin
anci
ngLo
ng-te
rm s
ecur
ed fi
nanc
ing
of u
p to
35
year
s to
sup
plem
ent R
ural
Ut
ilitie
s Ser
vice
(RUS
) loa
ns
100%
Lon
g–Te
rm F
inan
cing
Secu
red
lend
ing
to m
embe
rs th
at d
o no
t bor
row
from
the
RUS
Lette
rs o
f Cre
dit
Shor
t-ter
m in
stru
men
ts th
at e
nhan
ce th
e cr
edit
of m
embe
r coo
pera
tives
w
ith v
endo
rs a
nd g
over
nmen
t age
ncie
s
Ass
ocia
te F
inan
cing
Lend
ing
to n
ot-fo
r-pro
fit o
r coo
pera
tive
orga
niza
tions
that
are
ow
ned,
op
erat
ed o
r con
trolle
d by
a C
FC m
embe
r and
that
are
pro
vidi
ng n
on-
elec
tric
serv
ices
for t
he b
enef
it of
con
sum
ers
RUS-
Gua
rant
eed
Loan
sFu
ndin
g fo
r ele
ctric
faci
litie
s, w
ith th
e RU
S re
paym
ent g
uara
ntee
hel
ping
to
kee
p in
tere
st ra
tes d
own
Join
t CFC
–RUS
Com
bust
ion
Turb
ine
Fina
ncin
gFu
ndin
g to
mee
t cas
h re
quire
men
ts p
rior t
o pe
rman
ent f
inan
cing
from
RU
S
Cle
an R
enew
able
Ene
rgy
Bond
s (C
REBs
)Bo
nd fi
nanc
ing
for r
enew
able
gen
erat
ion
reso
urce
s
7
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Debt
Fun
ding
Sou
rces
Debt
Instr
umen
tM
atur
ity R
ange
05/3
1/20
14
Am
ount
($00
0s)
%11
/30/
2014
A
mou
nt ($
000s
)%
Dai
ly li
quid
ity fu
ndD
eman
d no
te $
486,
501
2.4%
$
57
6,45
2 2.
7%M
embe
r com
mer
cial
pap
er1
to 2
70 d
ays
$
83
8,07
4 4.
1% $
720,
176
3.4%
Mem
ber s
elec
t not
es30
to 2
70 d
ays
$
54
4,51
0 2.
6% $
627,
148
3.0%
Mem
ber m
ediu
m-t
erm
not
es U
p to
30
year
s $
498,
262
2.4%
$
61
1,41
0 2.
9%M
embe
r cap
ital s
ecur
ities
Up
to 3
5 ye
ars
$
26
7,56
0 1.
3% $
238,
370
1.1%
Mem
bers
hip
cert
ifica
tes
U
p to
100
yea
rs $
644,
944
3.1%
$
64
4,88
1 3.
1%Lo
an a
nd g
uara
ntee
cer
tific
ates
Up to
35
year
s $
699,
724
3.4%
$
66
7,58
9 3.
2%
Tota
l - M
embe
rs $
3,9
79,5
75
19.3
% $
4,0
86,0
26
19.4
%
Gua
rant
eed
Unde
rwrit
er P
rogr
am U
p to
20
year
s $
4,2
99,0
00
20.8
% $
4,2
91,5
00
20.4
%N
otes
pay
able
(Far
mer
Mac
)Up
to 1
6 ye
ars
$
1
,667
,505
8.
1% $
1,5
27,6
43
7.3%
Oth
er
Up to
30
year
s $
52,
535
0.3%
$
5
2,61
1 0.
3%
Tota
l - O
ther
$
6
,019
,040
29
.2%
$
5
,871
,754
27
.9%
Non
-mem
ber d
aily
liqu
idity
fund
Dem
and
note
$
-
0.0%
$
1
0,14
0 0.
0%Ba
nk b
id n
otes
Up to
3 m
onth
s $
20,
000
0.1%
$
-
0.0%
Non
-mem
ber c
omm
erci
al p
aper
1 to
270
day
s $
1,9
93,8
72
9.7%
$
2
,062
,222
9.
8%N
on-m
embe
r sel
ect n
otes
30 to
270
day
s $
4
,100
0.
0% $
7
,703
0.
0%N
on-m
embe
r med
ium
-ter
m n
otes
Up to
30
year
s $
2,2
28,0
41
10.8
% $
2,2
93,5
82
10.9
%C
olla
tera
l tru
st b
onds
Up to
30
year
s $
5,9
80,2
14
29.0
% $
6,2
78,7
39
29.9
%Su
bord
inat
ed d
efer
rabl
e de
btUp
to 3
0 ye
ars
$
40
0,00
0 1.
9% $
400,
000
1.9%
Tota
l - C
apita
l Mar
kets
$
10
,626
,227
51
.5%
$
11
,052
,386
52
.6%
Tota
l Deb
t Out
stand
ing
$
20
,624
,842
10
0.0%
$
21
,010
,166
10
0.0%
53%
from
C
apita
lM
arke
ts
19%
from
M
embe
r-O
wne
rs
20%
from
G
uara
ntee
dUn
derw
riter
Prog
ram
8
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Gov
ernm
ent L
endi
ng P
rogr
ams
Gua
rant
eed
Unde
rwrit
ing
Prog
ram
(GUP
) with
Fed
eral
Fi
nanc
ing
Bank
(FFB
):–
Bond
pur
chas
e ag
reem
ents
with
FFB
of $
4.29
billi
on
outs
tand
ing
as o
f Nov
embe
r 201
4; a
dd
ition
al $
874
milli
on
avai
labl
e as
of N
ovem
ber 2
014
–St
rict a
dhe
renc
e to
Dep
artm
ent o
f Tre
asur
y re
gula
tions
an
d c
oven
ants
in lo
an a
gree
men
ts–
FFB
and
USD
A h
ave
right
to in
spec
t boo
ks, r
ecor
ds a
nd
prem
ises a
nd c
ond
uct a
udits
9
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Gov
ernm
ent L
endi
ng P
rogr
ams
Fede
ral A
gric
ultu
ral M
ortg
age
Cor
pora
tion
(Far
mer
Mac
); C
FC
obta
ins
secu
red
loan
s fro
m F
arm
er M
ac:
–$4
.5 b
illion
tota
l com
mitm
ent a
s of J
anua
ry 2
015
with
$1
.528
billi
on o
utst
and
ing
as o
f Nov
embe
r 201
4–
Farm
er M
ac a
lso b
uys m
embe
r loa
ns fr
om C
FC w
ith C
FC
reta
inin
g se
rvic
ing;
$98
2 m
illion
cur
rent
ly se
rvic
ed b
y C
FC
as o
f Nov
embe
r 201
4•
CFC
mus
t com
ply
with
Far
mer
Mac
regu
latio
ns a
nd c
oven
ants
in
loan
agr
eem
ents
•C
FC fi
les p
erio
dic
fina
ncia
l rep
orts
•Fa
rmer
Mac
act
iviti
es su
bjec
t to
Farm
Cre
dit
Ad
min
istra
tion
over
view
10
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Revo
lvin
g C
redi
t Fac
ilitie
s
2/28
/14
5/31
/14
8/31
/14
11/3
0/14
Requ
irem
ent
In C
ompl
ianc
e?
Ave
rage
TIER
—A
ctua
l (m
inim
um
adju
sted
TIER
ove
r the
six
mos
t re
cent
fisc
al q
uarte
rs)
1.28
1.28
1.31
1.24
1.02
5
Leve
rage
Rat
io—
Act
ual
(max
imum
ratio
of s
enio
r deb
t to
tota
l equ
ity)
5.92
5.79
5.83
5.93
Max
10.
00
($ in
Thou
sand
s)To
tal C
omm
itmen
tLe
tter o
f Cre
dit
Out
stan
ding
Ava
ilabl
eC
omm
itmen
t
Thre
e-ye
ar10
/28/
17 m
atur
ity1,
720,
000
01,
720,
000
Five
-yea
r 10/
28/1
9 m
atur
ity1,
700,
000
1,89
11,
698,
109
Tota
l$3
,420
,000
$1,8
91$3
,418
,109
Com
plia
nce
Ava
ilabi
lity
as o
f 11/
30/2
014
•A
vaila
bilit
y of
ban
k lin
es is
bas
ed o
n st
renu
ous
unde
rwrit
ing
and
revi
ew o
f ope
ratio
ns a
nd fi
nanc
es
•C
redi
t agr
eem
ent c
oven
ant a
nd c
ompl
ianc
e m
onito
red
•Lin
e ba
nks
incl
ude
JPM
orga
n, S
unTr
ust,
PNC
, Key
Ban
k, U
S Ba
nk, R
oyal
Ban
k of
Can
ada,
Roy
al B
ank
of S
cotla
nd, B
ank
of To
kyo-
Mits
ubish
i and
Mizu
ho B
ank
11
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Liqui
dity
Man
agem
ent
CFC
is a
wel
l-kno
wn
seas
oned
issu
er a
nd b
elie
ves i
t has
ade
quat
e ac
cess
to b
oth
long
-ter
m
and
shor
t-te
rm fu
ndin
g op
tions
thro
ugh
vario
us li
quid
ity s
ourc
es.
(1)S
ubje
ct to
mar
ket c
ondi
tions
for d
ebt i
ssue
d by
Far
mer
Mac
.
(2)S
ched
uled
LT
loan
am
ortiz
atio
n an
d ot
her r
epay
men
ts o
ver t
he n
ext 1
2 m
onth
s.
(3) S
hort-
term
deb
t mat
uriti
es in
clud
e lo
ng-te
rm d
ebt m
atur
ities
ove
r the
nex
t 12
mon
ths.
(4) F
igur
es a
s of N
ov. 3
0, 2
014.
12
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Publ
ic R
epor
ting
U.S.
Sec
uriti
es a
nd E
xcha
nge
Com
miss
ion
(SEC
)–
Publ
ic re
porti
ng c
ompa
ny si
nce
1972
subj
ect t
o ap
plic
able
ru
les a
nd re
gula
tions
of t
he S
EC
•A
n iss
uer o
f sec
uriti
es re
gist
ered
und
er th
e ’3
4 A
ct•
Wel
l-Kno
wn
Seas
oned
Issu
er
•Sa
rban
es c
ompl
iant
•C
FC fi
les t
he fo
llow
ing
repo
rts p
erio
dic
ally
with
the
SEC
:–
10-K
–an
nual
ly–
10-Q
–qu
arte
rly–
8-K
–re
porta
ble
even
ts–
Oth
er fi
lings
rela
ted
to p
ublic
deb
t iss
uanc
e, p
ublic
disc
losu
re, i
nsid
er tr
adin
g, e
tc.
•Su
bjec
t to
sam
e SE
C sc
rutin
y an
d re
gula
tion
as a
ny p
arty
with
pu
blic
ly re
gist
ered
secu
ritie
s
13
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Publ
ic R
epor
ting
New
Yor
k St
ock
Exch
ange
(NYS
E)–
CFC
has
pub
licly
liste
d d
ebt o
n N
YSE
–N
YSE
enfo
rces
CFC
’s c
ompl
ianc
e w
ith e
xcha
nge
rule
s an
d fe
der
al se
curit
ies r
equi
rem
ents
thro
ugh
del
istin
g au
thor
ity–
Mon
itors
and
enf
orce
s CFC
’s c
ompl
ianc
e w
ith N
YSE
listin
g st
and
ard
s•
Cor
pora
te g
over
nanc
e st
and
ard
s•
Ind
epen
den
ce te
sts f
or d
irect
ors
•D
isclo
sure
requ
irem
ents
14
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Mon
itorin
g of
CFC
Ratin
g A
genc
ies
–S&
P an
d M
oody
’s–
Con
tinuo
us p
ublic
ratin
gs o
f CFC
cre
dit
and
var
ious
d
ebt i
nstru
men
ts–
Ratin
gs b
ased
on
stan
dar
ds o
f per
form
ance
and
cr
editw
orth
ines
s–
Ratin
gs re
flect
revi
ew o
f fin
anci
al re
ports
, ope
ratio
ns
and
man
agem
ent
–St
able
, fav
orab
le ra
tings
are
crit
ical
to m
aint
aini
ng a
low
co
st o
f fun
ds t
o be
nefit
CFC
mem
bers
15
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
CFC
’s C
urre
nt C
redi
t Rat
ings
CFC
has
ear
ned
“A
” or
bet
ter c
red
it on
seni
or se
cure
d
ratin
gs si
nce
its in
itial
issu
e in
197
2.
CFCDe
btInstrumen
tMoo
dy’sInvestorsS
ervice
Stan
dard
&Po
or’s
CollateralTrustBo
nds(CT
Bs)
A1A
Med
ium
Term
Notes
(MTN
s)A2
A
CommercialPape
r(CP
)P1
A1
Ratin
gOutlook
Stab
leStab
le
16
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Keys
to C
FC’s
Fin
anci
al S
treng
thIm
pecc
able
Cre
dit H
istor
y–
Mor
e th
an $
125
billio
n in
bon
ds a
nd n
otes
issu
ed si
nce
ince
ptio
n; n
ever
miss
ed a
pay
men
t–
Div
ersif
ied
fund
ing
sour
ces:
capi
tal m
arke
ts, f
eder
al p
rogr
ams
and
mem
ber i
nves
tmen
tsC
onse
rvat
ive
Cre
dit C
ultu
re–
No
shar
ehol
der
s, so
no
ince
ntiv
e to
take
risk
s to
incr
ease
pro
fit–
High
-qua
lity
bala
nce
shee
t of u
tility
loan
s–
Hist
oric
ally
low
def
ault
rate
s and
loan
loss
es–
Man
agem
ent i
ncen
tive
com
pens
atio
n tie
d to
cre
dit
ratin
gs
17
Cre
ated
and
Ow
ned
by A
mer
ica’
s E
lect
ric C
oope
rativ
e N
etw
ork
Requ
est f
or In
clus
ion
Allo
win
g C
FC a
nd R
TFC
to is
sue
LOC
s w
ill e
xpan
d FC
C
prog
ram
s to
mor
e po
tent
ial q
ualif
ied
user
s.Re
latio
nshi
ps w
ith R
US, U
SDA
, Tre
asur
y, F
FB a
nd F
arm
er M
ac
mak
e C
FC a
nd R
TFC
wel
l-kno
wn
and
wel
com
e pa
rtici
pant
s in
num
erou
s ru
ral u
tility
gov
ernm
ent f
undi
ng p
rogr
ams.
Trac
k re
cord
in fe
dera
l fun
ding
pro
gram
s is
exem
plar
y.C
FC’s
cre
dit r
atin
gs a
nd a
cces
s to
cap
ital e
xcee
d th
at o
f m
any
qual
ifyin
g ba
nks.
CFC
and
RTF
C h
ave
deca
des
of p
ositi
ve e
xper
ienc
e as
LO
C is
suer
s.
Man
y m
embe
rs d
o no
t hav
e re
latio
nshi
ps w
ith q
ualif
ying
ba
nks
and
will
not
be
able
to o
btai
n LO
Cs.