Ground breaking swap agreement between Atradius and EKF

Amsterdam 3 August, 2006 - For the first time the Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF), the Danish Export Credit Agency (ECA) and the Dutch ECA Atradius Dutch State Business (Atradius) have signed an agreement to swap country exposure. This agreement enables Atradius to free up capacity for new business on Indonesia and EKF to free up capacity for new business on Vietnam and Jamaica.

Most ECAs have ceilings for their exposure on all countries in order to mitigate concentration risks and to balance their portfolios. This agreement will enable Danish and Dutch exporters to pursue new business opportunities.

Atradius has exchanged Euro 50 million sovereign exposure on Indonesia for the equivalent risk on Vietnam and Jamaica with EKF.

One of the companies benefiting from the ground breaking agreement is Damen Shipyards, a Dutch market leader in specialised ships. Damen Shipyards will now be able to further expand its exports to Indonesia.

Also benefiting from the swap is Pihl & Søn A/S, a Danish contractor of infrastructure projects such as harbours, bridges, tunnels, roads and airports. Pihl & Son A/S along with other Danish companies is involved in contracts in e.g. Jamaica.

“Our swap agreement with Atradius enables us to mitigate risk concentrations and thereby frees up capacity for the benefit of Danish exporters. We hope that the swap will set a precedent among ECAs and thus help create a new market for portfolio swaps. This may prove to be a very important instrument to balance risk and release funds to the benefit of exporters.” says Lars Kolte, Managing Director EKF.

Johan Schrijver, the Director of Atradius Dutch State Business, has said: “This innovative swap enables Atradius to improve the service we provide to Dutch exporters. There is a huge demand for cover to Indonesia. We are now exploring other portfolio management solutions as well, in order to free up additional capacity for new business to this market. I am confident that these efforts will help us meet the demand of our customers.”

For more information:
About Atradius 
Christine Gerryn
Director Corporate Communications
Keizersgracht 281
1016 ED Amsterdam
Tel.: +31 (0)20 553 2260
Fax: +31 (0)20 553 2212

Further information:
Atrdius:
Corporate Communications
John Blackwell
Tel.: 0031 20 553 2003
Mobile: 0031 6 5354 6659
Email: Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.

EKF:
Managing Director, Eksport Kredit Fonden,
Lars V. Kolte,
Tel.: 0045 20 19 45 03
www.ekf.dk