TXF Americas 2024: Structured Trade & Export Finance

We brought you access to the hottest deals in Structured Trade & Export Finance across the Americas!

Key Takeaways from the event:

1. The financial restrictions from banks around ESGs are challenging for borrowers, but today even fossil fuel companies understand that they need to transition to cleaner energy.

2. The energy transition is pressing, but conflicting definitions of what constitutes a ‘transition project’ could hamstring efforts to move away from fossil fuels. Whichever way we look at it, it’s going to take all hands if we’re going to meet net 0 targets.

3. Credit committees don’t like new technologies! ECAs and DFIs haven’t yet found a way to effectively underwrite technology risk – if the public agencies are struggling with this, then private ones will find it even harder.

4. ECAs are continuing to innovate, offering untied products tied, for example, to job creation or investment rather than traditional exports.

5. There is an increasing need for ECAs to offer local currency financing, as the local banking market is proving competitive. Mexico, for example, used to boast 80% external funding, but is increasingly turning to the stabilising local market.

6. For the first time, the US is providing exciting opportunities for ECA finance in the renewables space. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the increased activity of Asian agencies means that the US renewables market is one to watch for ECA backed financing in the coming years.

7. Pricing of insurance is a huge challenge for the US renewables market. We will have to fix this if we want to increase renewables development in the country.