The Washington-based trade association, which reports economic activity for the more than $1 trillion equipment finance sector, also said that credit approvals for U.S. companies were at 74% in November this year. The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, ELFA's non-profit affiliate, said its confidence index for December reached a fresh three-year high, indicating that executives expect continued strength in lending volumes and further improvements in financial conditions. The ELFA CapEx Finance Index of leasing and finance activity is based on a 25-member survey which includes Bank of America (BAC.N),as well as the financing units of Caterpillar (CAT.N), Dell Technologies (DELL.N), Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE), Canon (7751.T),and Volvo AB (VOLVb.ST). Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai