Export Credit Agency (ECA)

ECA mechanisms typically include direct lending, buyer and supplier credits, guarantees, and political risk insurance. We advise clients on selecting appropriate instruments and aligning them with project structures, cash flow profiles, and jurisdictional constraints.
 

Our lawyers assess eligibility under relevant ECA programs, review policy conditions, and assist in negotiating coverage terms that support bankability and compliance with international frameworks such as the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits.

Beyond financial support, ECAs pursue national policy goals—ranging from job creation to sustainability and climate-aligned investment. We help clients navigate evolving ECA mandates and understand how ESG, human rights, and anti-corruption requirements influence eligibility and due diligence standards.
 

Our team works with both exporters and borrowers to ensure that ECA-backed transactions align with public policy priorities while maintaining commercial feasibility.

We assist clients in structuring financing frameworks that satisfy ECA eligibility requirements, including national content thresholds, environmental review standards, and creditworthiness criteria.
Our team evaluates transaction alignment with OECD, Berne Union, and WTO rules governing official export support. We also assist in preparing project information memoranda, term sheets, and government-to-government communications that facilitate approval processes.

Effective risk allocation is essential in ECA financing. We draft and negotiate facility agreements, insurance policies, and guarantee contracts that clearly define obligations among lenders, guarantors, and borrowers.
 

Our lawyers help identify and mitigate exposure to sovereign, regulatory, and operational risks, ensuring that contractual provisions comply with both ECA policy and local law. We also advise on intercreditor arrangements in transactions combining ECA, commercial, and development finance.

ECAs impose strict compliance conditions related to anti-bribery, sanctions, environmental, and social governance. We assist clients in establishing internal controls, certification processes, and audit mechanisms to meet these standards.
 

Our team also provides guidance on export control laws, embargo regulations, and dual-use goods licensing to ensure that projects receiving ECA support remain compliant throughout their lifecycle.

In buyer credit transactions, ECAs provide guarantees or insurance to commercial lenders financing the purchase of goods and services by foreign buyers. Supplier credits, by contrast, allow exporters to extend credit directly to buyers with ECA cover.
 

We assist clients in structuring and documenting these facilities, ensuring that repayment schedules, interest rate mechanisms, and guarantee terms meet both ECA policy and local banking regulations.

Some ECAs—such as U.S. EXIM and KEXIM—offer direct loans to foreign buyers or co-financing arrangements with multilateral development banks.
 

We advise on combining ECA financing with project finance structures, coordinating between multiple funding sources, and ensuring that cross-default, security, and step-in rights are harmonized across lending agreements.
 

Our lawyers also support clients in negotiating government support agreements, including sovereign guarantees and stabilization clauses in host countries.

Political instability remains one of the key challenges in cross-border investment. We help clients obtain ECA-backed political risk insurance covering expropriation, currency inconvertibility, breach of contract, and war-related risks.
 

Our team assists in claim preparation, policy interpretation, and recovery strategies, ensuring that insured parties receive timely and fair settlements consistent with policy terms.

We assist developers and lenders in structuring ECA-backed financing for renewable and conventional energy projects, transmission networks, and infrastructure facilities.
 

Our lawyers advise on integrating ECA funding with other instruments such as green bonds or sustainability-linked loans. We also address issues relating to export eligibility, local content, and cross-border environmental review.

The aviation and transport sectors frequently rely on ECA-backed leasing and financing programs. We advise airlines, aircraft lessors, and logistics operators on transactions supported by agencies such as U.S. EXIM, UKEF, and Bpifrance.
 

Our services include reviewing aircraft financing structures, export license compliance, and residual value risk management under international aviation conventions.

ECA financing has become an important tool for technology exporters and industrial manufacturers entering new markets.
 

We assist clients in structuring sales contracts, technology transfer agreements, and after-sales service frameworks consistent with ECA rules. Our lawyers also provide strategic guidance on intellectual property protection and data transfer compliance in export-driven transactions.

We advise clients on the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, which governs minimum interest rates, repayment terms, and country classifications.
 

We also assist in ensuring compliance with WTO subsidy disciplines and transparency requirements under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM).
Our lawyers analyze whether particular financing terms could be viewed as export subsidies and develop mitigation strategies to avoid trade disputes.

Many ECAs adhere to international sustainability frameworks, including the Equator Principles and IFC Performance Standards. We help clients conduct environmental and social due diligence (ESDD) and prepare action plans that meet both lender and regulatory expectations.
 

We also coordinate with technical consultants and ESG advisors to ensure consistent reporting and monitoring throughout the financing term.

ECA and MDB collaboration is increasingly common in complex infrastructure and energy projects.
 

We advise clients on structuring blended finance arrangements that combine ECA guarantees with development finance institution (DFI) participation. Our lawyers also coordinate documentation standards, cross-default provisions, and policy compliance requirements to maintain coherence between multiple financing entities.

We assist lenders and insurers in enforcing payment obligations under loan agreements and guarantees. Our lawyers prepare claims submissions, negotiate settlements, and coordinate with ECAs to ensure timely reimbursement or policy payouts.
We also help borrowers and sponsors engage with ECAs to seek restructuring, deferral, or consent amendments where external conditions affect project viability.

Our dispute resolution team represents clients in arbitration and litigation arising from ECA-financed transactions. We handle cases involving breach of payment obligations, misrepresentation, or policy interpretation.
 

We also advise clients on choice-of-law, sovereign immunity, and enforcement issues under the New York Convention and related bilateral investment treaties.

Our lawyers work with corporate strategy teams to assess how ECA financing fits into capital allocation, sustainability, and trade growth objectives.
We also assist in preparing internal policy manuals and training programs to ensure consistent compliance with ECA standards across subsidiaries and joint ventures.

Once financing is in place, ongoing monitoring becomes essential. We help clients track covenant compliance, reporting obligations, and exposure limits under ECA and lender requirements.
Our team also advises on secondary market transactions, including refinancing, assignment, and portfolio sales involving ECA-covered debt.