UKEF announces export refinancing facility

• In its efforts to increase exports and reduce the country's trade deficit, the British government has announced that export credit notes guaranteed by ~UK Export Finance^ (UKEF) will now be able to be used as collateral with the Bank of England. This move is expected to result in a reduction of cost of UKEF financings of between 5 and 10 basis points. This comes after UKEF announced in March an increase of its lending facility to GBP 3 billion and cut interest rates on it by a third. The new policy also aims to increase the use of capital markets in the financing of UK exports.
• Also in the UK, ratification by that country of the Cape Town Treaty is continuing to move forward. A ratification of the treaty would allow ~British airlines^ to use ECA financing for the purchase of aircraft.
• UK education providers have won four contracts worth GBP 850 million for the development 12 technical and vocational training colleges in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The contracts will be financed in part by UKEF.
• ~Hoegh LNG^ closed on a USD 309 million export credit facility backed by ~K-Sure^ for the construction of an FSRU that will be chartered to Indonesia's ~PT Perusahaan Gas Negara^. ~BTMU^ and ~Standard Chartered^ acted as joint structuring agents. ~Hyundai Heavy Industries^ is building the unit, which will begin commercial operations in June of this year.
• Trade finance published a review of the ECA bond guarantee market. The article argues that with the increase of liquidity from traditional financing sources, the popularity of this modality may be waning, but that long-term, capital market export finance solutions could revolutionize the industry
• Annette Maresh was named Vice President of the Trade Finance Division at ~US Ex-Im Bank^. Congratulations on the well-deserved appointment.
• Andre Gazal, ~CA-CIB^'s global head of export finance, gives an insightful interview to Trade Finance magazine.
• ~Fisterra Energy^ and ~Blackstone Energy Partners^ announced financial closing on the project finance of ~Ventika^, Mexico's largest wind farm. The USD 650 million project is comprised of two 126 MW wind farms in Nuevo León.

CC Solutions has teamed with TXF to provide a training course on the back of US Ex-Im Bank's annual conference.The course will take place on Wednesday, April 23rd between 9.30 and 1.30 PM, and will give participants knowledge of:

• Core financing products offered by ECAs worldwide.
• How to calculate ECA eligibility.
• ECA approval processes and timelines.
• Disbursement management of ECA financings.
• Multi-tranche transactions and inter-creditor issues.

The course will be interactive and all participants will receive comprehensive course materials for long-term reference. For more information and to register visit the course's homepage.