By  JP Sweny, Matthew Brown and Rachel Croft

The Transfer from Coface to Bpifrance

After seven decades as France’s export credit agency (ECA), on 31 December 2016, Compagnie Française d’Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur (Coface) transferred its State export credit guarantee activities to Bpifrance Assurance Export S.A.S. (Bpifrance A.E.).

Bpifrance A.E., a subsidiary of the French public investment bank Bpifrance S.A., is now responsible for managing France’s export credit guarantees. The French State will control Bpifrance A.E.’s management, with France’s Minister of Economy appointing key positions. All existing insurance policies and export credit guarantees issued by Coface have been transferred directly to the French State to be managed by Bpifrance A.E. The amending legislation effecting the transfer (Loi n° 2015-1786 du 29 Décembre 2015 de Finances Rectificative pour 2015) stipulates that the transfer does not impact rights and obligations under existing Coface policies or guarantees, or give rise to any termination or compensation rights under any such document or any right to invoke a default or early repayment clause under any facility benefitting from any such policy or guarantee.