Government Offices, Great George Street | |
Department overview | |
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Formed | 1919 |
Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
Headquarters | 1 Horse Guards Road Westminster, London |
Minister responsible | |
Department executive |
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Child Department |
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Website | ukexportfinance |
Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to make new provision as to the functions exercisable by the Secretary of State through the Export Credits Guarantee Department; and make provision as to the delegation of any such functions and the transfer of property, rights and liabilities attributable to the exercise of any such functions. |
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Citation | 1991 c. 67 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 22 October 1991 |
Text of the Export and Investment Guarantees Act 1991 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), branded as UK Export Finance (UKEF), is the export credit agency and a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom.
In 1920, UKEF had a maximum total exposure of just £26 million. Today, its maximum commitment stands at £50 billion.
ECGD derives its powers from the Export and Investment Guarantees Act 1991 (c. 67) and undertakes its activities in accordance with specific consent from HM Treasury. ECGD was established in 1919 to promote UK exports, lost during the submarine blockade of World War I.
In recent years we have supported business in the aerospace, automotive, construction, healthcare, industrial processing, oil and gas, petrochemical, water treatment, and satellite sectors.
— UK Export Finance, GOV.uk [1]
ECGD's aim is to benefit the UK economy by helping exporters of UK goods and services to win business, and UK firms to invest overseas by providing guarantees, insurance and reinsurance against loss, taking into account HM Government's wider international policy agenda. ECGD is required by the HM Government to operate slightly better than break even, by charging premiums from exporters at levels that match the perceived risks and costs in each case.
The largest part of ECGD's activities involves underwriting long-term loans to support the sale of capital goods, principally for the export of aircraft, bridges, machinery, and services; it helps UK companies take part in major overseas projects such as the construction of oil and gas pipelines and the upgrading of hospitals, airports, and power stations. Support can be given for contracts as low as £1,000, but some of the projects ECGD backs go well beyond the £1 billion mark.
As part of its risk management process, ECGD has to make a judgement on the ability of a country to meet its debt obligations. The department uses a "productive expenditure" test, undertaken in consultation with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, that makes sure that the countries defined as heavily indebted poor countries and those exclusively dependent on International Development Association financing only get official export credits from the UK for projects that help social and economic development without creating a new unsustainable debt burden. ECGD continues to check that the proposed borrowing is sustainable.
ECGD's short term credit business was sold to Dutch insurer NCM Group in 1991, later becoming part of Atradius in 2004. [2]
The ECGD has been the subject of criticism by UK-based NGOs; The Corner House has claimed that the ECGD has in effect provided public subsidy for bribery; Campaign Against Arms Trade has argued that the ECGD provides excessive levels of support for arms sales; Jubilee Debt Campaign has argued that the cancellation of debts owed to the ECGD should not be counted towards UK Official Development Assistance figures; World Wide Fund for Nature argues that excessive greenhouse gases are emitted from ECGD-supported projects and that this is inconsistent with wider UK environmental policy.
In recent years, the ECGD has been heavily criticised for prioritising investment in fossil fuels over renewable energy. A Catholic Agency For Overseas Development report showed that from 2010 to 2017, an estimated 97% of ECGD energy-related support went to fossil fuel development, principally oil and gas exploration and production in upper-middle-income countries. Just 3% went to renewables. [3] The Guardian reported that in the 2018–2019 financial year alone, ECGD committed nearly £2 billion in support to fossil fuel projects across the world. [4] A Parliamentary inquiry called on ECGD to stop funding fossil fuel projects by the end of 2021, citing that the scale of fossil fuel support violated the UK's obligations under the Paris Agreement. [5]
While in the early years of the decade, the proportion of ECGD's business in support of weapons exports ranged from 30% to 50%, this has now declined to under 1% in 2009–10.
ECGD seeks advice on arms sales from the United Kingdom Export Control Organisation (ECO), part of the Department for Business and Trade. All applications are assessed, on a case-by-case basis, against the consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing criteria.
The ECO's advice is not always followed by the government, though. In February 2016, the head of the Export Control Organisation, Edward Bell, advised Business Secretary Sajid Javid that Britain should suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia. This advice was not followed by the business secretary and prime minister. [6]
ECGD aims to:
It does this through the public information it provides and the declarations in its application forms; it has some powers to make inquiries but these are limited. CGD does not have a formal investigative capacity.
Key aspects of ECGD's anti-bribery and corruption procedures are to:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions companies and projects that achieve the policy aims of the European Union through loans, equity and guarantees.
The Export–Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the official export credit agency (ECA) of the United States federal government. Operating as a wholly owned federal government corporation, the bank "assists in financing and facilitating U.S. exports of goods and services", particularly when private sector lenders are unable or unwilling to provide financing. Its current chairman and president, Reta Jo Lewis, was confirmed by the Senate on February 9, 2022.
A letter of credit (LC), also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking (LoU), is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an exporter of goods. Letters of credit are used extensively in the financing of international trade, when the reliability of contracting parties cannot be readily and easily determined. Its economic effect is to introduce a bank as an underwriter that assumes the counterparty risk of the buyer paying the seller for goods.
An export credit agency or investment insurance agency is a private or quasi-governmental institution that acts as an intermediary between national governments and exporters to issue export insurance solutions and guarantees for financing. The financing can take the form of credits or credit insurance and guarantees or both, depending on the mandate the ECA has been given by its government. ECAs can also offer credit or cover on their own account. This does not differ from normal banking activities. Some agencies are government-sponsored, others private, and others a combination of the two.
Compagnie Française d'Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur (Coface) is a credit insurer that operates worldwide' in addition to offering debt collection services, factoring and business information, and bonds.
Country risk refers to the risk of investing or lending in a country, arising from possible changes in the business environment that may adversely affect operating profits or the value of assets in the country. For example, financial factors such as currency controls, devaluation or regulatory changes, or stability factors such as mass riots, civil war and other potential events contribute to companies' operational risks. This term is also sometimes referred to as political risk; however, country risk is a more general term that generally refers only to risks influencing all companies operating within or involved with a particular country.
Export Development Canada is Canada's export credit agency and a Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Canada. Its mandate is to support and develop trade between Canada and other countries, and help Canada's competitiveness in the international marketplace.
Global Witness is an international NGO established on November 15 1993 that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. The organisation has offices in London and Washington, D.C.
Trade credit insurance, business credit insurance, export credit insurance, or credit insurance is a type of insurance policy and a risk management product offered by private insurance companies and governmental export credit agencies to business entities wishing to protect their accounts receivable from loss due to credit risks such as protracted default, insolvency or bankruptcy. This insurance product is a type of property and casualty insurance, and should not be confused with such products as credit life or credit disability insurance, which individuals obtain to protect against the risk of loss of income needed to pay debts. Trade credit insurance can include a component of political risk insurance which is offered by the same insurers to insure the risk of non-payment by foreign buyers due to currency issues, political unrest, expropriation etc.
A Hermes cover is an export credit guarantee (ECG) by the German Federal Government.
ECGC Limited is a government owned export credit agency of India. It is under the ownership of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, and is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It provides export credit insurance support to Indian exporters and banks. Its topmost official is designated as Chairman and Managing Director, who is a central government civil servant under Indian Trade Service (ITS) cadre.
The Export–Import Bank of China is a policy bank of China under the State Council. Established in 1994, the bank was chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, economy, and foreign aid to other developing countries, and provide policy financial support so as to promote the export of Chinese products and services.
The Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation was established in 1966 under the Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation Ordinance. It was created by statute with the aim of encouraging and supporting export trade by providing Hong Kong exporters with insurance protection against non-payment risks arising from commercial and political events. Its contingent liability under contracts of insurance is guaranteed by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, with the statutory maximum liability currently standing at $55 billion. The corporation is required to operate in accordance with the requirements laid down in the Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation Ordinance and to pursue a policy directed towards securing revenue sufficient to meet all expenditure properly chargeable to its revenue account. It is a 'public body' under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. HKECIC staff are not permitted to accept any advantages from HKECIC customers. Anybody offering any advantages to HKECIC staff in connection with official business commits an offence.
Trade finance is a phrase used to describe different strategies that are employed to make international trade easier. It signifies financing for trade, and it concerns both domestic and international trade transactions. A trade transaction requires a seller of goods and services as well as a buyer. Various intermediaries such as banks and financial institutions can facilitate these transactions by financing the trade. Trade finance manifests itself in the form of letters of credit (LOC), guarantees, or insurance, and is usually provided by intermediaries.
Offsets are compensatory trade agreements, reciprocal trade agreements, between an exporting foreign company, or possibly a government acting as intermediary, and an importing entity. Offset agreements often involve trade in military goods and services and are alternatively called: industrial compensations, industrial cooperation, offsets, industrial and regional benefits, balances, juste retour or equilibrium, to define mechanisms more complex than counter-trade. Counter-trade can also be considered one of the many forms of defense offset, to compensate a purchasing country. The incentive for the exporter results from the conditioning of the core transaction to the acceptance of the offset obligation.
The Philippine Guarantee Corporation is the Philippines export credit agency providing trade finance. It is setup as a government-owned and controlled corporation attached to the Philippines Department of Finance. Formerly known as the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency or PhilEXIM, it is the principal agency for State Guarantee Finance of the Philippines. The primary objective is to perform development financing roles through the provision of credit guarantees in support of trade and investments, exports, infrastructure, energy, tourism, agricultural business, modernization, housing, micro-enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises and other priority sectors of the economy, with the end in view of facilitating and promoting socio-economic and regional development.
China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, commonly known as Sinosure, is a major Chinese state owned enterprise (SOE) under the administration of Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China serving as the provider of export credit insurance, in particular coverage for the export of high-value added goods in China.
Fossil fuel subsidies are energy subsidies on fossil fuels. They may be tax breaks on consumption, such as a lower sales tax on natural gas for residential heating; or subsidies on production, such as tax breaks on exploration for oil. Or they may be free or cheap negative externalities; such as air pollution or climate change due to burning gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Some fossil fuel subsidies are via electricity generation, such as subsidies for coal-fired power stations.
The Export–Import Bank of Thailand is a state-owned bank headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand.
EXIM Bank of Pakistan or Export Import Bank of Pakistan is a Development Finance Institution owned by the Government of Pakistan to stimulate the growth and diversification of the country's exports and assist in the implementation of import substitution plans.