Element Strengthens Board Governance

Former US Ambassador to Canada, Gordon Giffin joins Element Board of Directors

TORONTO, May 6, 2013 /CNW/ - Element Financial Corporation (TSX:EFN) ("Element" or "the Company"), one of North America's leading independent equipment finance companies, today announced several changes to the Company's board of directors aimed at bringing increased independence and a broader regional perspective to the work of the board and its committees.

In this regard, Element is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Gordon D. Giffin, former US ambassador to Canada, to the Company's board of directors.  Ambassador Giffin will sit as an independent member of the board.

"As Element continues to expand its reach across the Canada/US border to provide vendor financing solutions to North American equipment manufacturers and their customer, we will benefit from having the perspective of a seasoned diplomat of Ambassador Giffin's experience on our board of directors," said Steven Hudson, Element's Chairman and CEO.

"Element Financial is very well positioned to enable businesses on both sides of the border to acquire the capital equipment they need to make meaningful and sustained contributions to the expansion of the North American economy," said Ambassador Giffin. "I'm looking forward to supporting the Company's continued success and growth."

In addition to Ambassador Giffin's appointment, the Company also announced that Dr. Steven Small, in addition to his role as Lead Director, has been appointed as Vice Chairman of the board of directors. Dr. Small has also been appointed to serve on the Audit Committee in addition to continuing to serve on the Credit Committee. As well as these changes, Mr. Paul Stoyan has been appointed as Chair of the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee and Mr. Harold Bridge has been appointed to the Credit Committee in addition to continuing to serve as Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Leslie E. Martin and Mr. Bruce Smith are not standing for re-election and will retire from the board of directors at the Company's May 28^th Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Mr. Smith will continue to provide strong leadership and operational direction to Element as the Company's Chief Operating Officer and Canadian President.

"As one of the founding shareholders of Element, I want to pay a special tribute to Les Martin for the extraordinary contribution that he has made to the development of this Company," said Mr. Hudson.  "I am personally very grateful for the no-nonsense advice and insightful perspective that he always brought to our board meetings as we transformed Element from a small private company to a TSX-listed enterprise with a growing North American market presence," added Mr. Hudson.

Subject to their election at the upcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Element's board of directors will be comprised of nine directors, eight of whom meet the criteria required to be designated as independent directors as defined under the Corporate Governance Guidelines published by the Canadian Securities Administrators.

About Gordon Giffin

Ambassador Giffin is the Chair of the Public Policy and International department of the international law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge. His practice is focused on international transactions and trade matters, government procurement, energy regulatory and policy matters, and federal and state regulatory matters and public policy. He served as the nineteenth U.S. Ambassador to Canada from August 1997 to April 2001. Born in 1949 in Springfield, Massachusetts, Gordon Giffin moved to Canada in 1950 and lived in Montreal and Toronto for 17 years, attending Valois Park Elementary School in Pointe Claire and Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke. He earned a B.A. from Duke University in 1971 and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia in 1974.

About Element Financial Corporation

With total assets of approximately $1.5 billion, Element Financial Corporation is one of North America's leading independent equipment finance companies.  Element operates across North America in three verticals of the equipment finance market - Element Capital provides large ticket equipment leasing, Element Finance serves the mid-ticket equipment finance market and Element Fleet provides vehicle fleet leasing and management solutions through the Company's TLS Fleet Management division.

Forward Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding the use of proceeds from the issuance.  Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of Element's management.  In some cases the forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements.  The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release, including the use of proceeds from the issuance, may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Element, including risks regarding the equipment finance industry, economic factors and many other factors beyond the control of Element.  No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed.  Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information.  Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information.  Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Element undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE: Element Financial Corporation

John Sadler
Senior Vice President
Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations 
[phone] ext. 313 
[email protected]

Michel Béland
Chief Financial Officer
[phone] ext. 225
[email protected]