SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank has loaned a total of $28 million to two U.S. companies that are producing environmental benefits in Panama and India. Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank provided a $25 million working capital credit facility to The Robbins Company of Solon, Ohio, a manufacturer of underground construction machinery that will help build an irrigation tunnel beneath a wildlife refuge in India. The underground tunnel will be built in lieu of a pipeline through the Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and will provide water to more than 500 villages in a drought-stricken region. The loan was backed by Ex-Im Bank, which awarded Robbins its 2007 Small Business Environmental Exporter of the Year award. Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank also secured a $3 million, government-backed loan for Anchorage, Alaska-based aquatic engineering firm Gunderboom, Inc. to recover hardwoods from forests that were flooded to build the Panama Canal. The underwater recovery project will produce approximately 400 million board feet of lumber while protecting the aquatic ecosystem. "Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank is proud to support the export of goods and services that protect our environment," said Sanjiv Sanghvi, president and chief executive officer of the Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank. "We believe this is an area of great opportunity for U.S.-based companies." Ex-Im Bank's Working Capital Guarantee Program is an asset-based lending program for U.S. exporters that guarantees single working capital loans or revolving lines of credit based on inventory and accounts receivable related to exports. Ex-Im Bank's working capital guarantees are available through an extensive network of delegated-authority lenders, such as Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank, that can commit Ex-Im Bank's guarantee at the time the loan is processed. Ex-Im Bank, the official export credit agency of the United States, is in its 73rd year of assisting in the financing of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export-credit insurance and direct loans. For more information, visit http://www.exim.gov/. Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank -- named one of "The Major Trade Banks" by World Trade magazine -- is the only U.S.-chartered bank dedicated exclusively to global trade. As a premier provider of international financial services, Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank is committed to developing relationships with U.S. companies engaged in global commerce and to providing them with customized finance and trade solutions. Together, Wells Fargo and HSBC have nearly 300 years of strength and expertise in world banking delivered to you through the Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank and a network of 10,000 offices in over 80 countries and territories. DATASOURCE: Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank CONTACT: Susan Stanley of Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank, +1-415-947-3994

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