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About ELFA Home

Read the 2009 Annual Report

ELFA Members: Also see Your ELFA



The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is the trade association representing financial services companies and manufacturers in the $650 billion U.S. equipment finance sector. ELFA members are the driving force behind the growth in the commercial equipment finance market and contribute to capital formation in the U.S. and abroad. Overall, business investment in equipment and software accounts for 8.0 percent of the GDP; the commercial equipment finance sector contributes about 4.5 percent to the GDP.

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ELFA Members

ELFA has more than 600 members including:

  • Broker and packagers
  • Investment banks
  • Service providers
  • Independent leasing and finance companies
  • Captive finance companies
  • Commercial banks
  • Diversified financial services companies

ELFA members include many of the nation's largest financial services companies and manufacturers as well as regional and community banks and independent medium and small finance companies throughout the country.

ELFA membership also includes a number of multinational financial and manufacturing companies operating in the U.S.

ELFA members' clients range from Fortune 100 companies to small and medium sized enterprises to governments and non-profits.

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ELFA Advocacy

  • Federal Government Relations: ELFA serves as the advocate for the equipment finance industry to the federal government. The federal advocacy efforts are intended to achieve and maintain a legislative and regulatory regime that provides certainty and transparency for equipment financing transactions by preserving the tax, financial and business principles that underlie the equipment finance industry.

    The focal points for ELFA's advocacy efforts at the federal level are the Congress, executive branch regulators and industry stakeholders. With the Congress, the advocacy programs are oriented primarily toward the tax writing committees and the financial services committees in the House and the Senate, which directly impact the ability of the industry to compete.

  • State Government Relations: Industry is experiencing a continuing trend of legislation at the state level that would impose consumer like regulation on commercial equipment finance transactions. ELFA State Government Affairs staff and member company volunteers engage state legislators and regulators to preserve the existing commercial law structure afforded the industry under the Uniform Commercial Code. ELFA is also involved in state legislative activities related to documentation, environmental waste, liability and taxation.

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ELFA Legal

ELFA's Legal Department, Legal Committee and Legal Subcommittees engage in a broad range of substantive activities to support and promote the industry's legal, legislative and regulatory activities, including advocacy, research and other core value areas. Legal, legislative and regulatory matters include providing analyses of federal and state judicial rulings, proposed legislative language and state and federal regulatory actions. Additionally, ELFA prepares and submits briefs and comment letters on behalf of the Association. ELFA offers online legal and asset management resources, including a searchable database of case law, insurance and vicarious liability surveys and other related reference material.

Please visit http://www.elfaonline.org/ind/topics/legal/

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ELFA International

U.S. and multi-national financial institutions and manufacturers finance equipment throughout the world. ELFA engages with U.S. and international financial and development agencies including the U.S. Departments of State, Treasury and Commerce, the Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the World Bank and its International Finance Corporation. ELFA also engages with U.S. and international standard setting bodies such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board.

Please visit http://www.elfaonline.org/ind/topics/international/

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ELFA Research

ELFA is the premier source for statistics, benchmarking and analyses covering the equipment finance sector. Vital analyses and statistics such as the annual Survey of Equipment Finance Activity, compensation surveys, the Monthly Leasing and Finance Index 25 (MLFI-25) and others help members assess their business and benchmark among the industry.

Please visit http://www.elfaonline.org/ind/research/

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