Prerequisites for granting export credit and bill of exchange financing

• The maximum export credit is EUR 20 million.
• There is no minimum amount, but arranging the credit always requires, for example, hiring a local law firm and, in some cases, setting up a security and an analysis of the social and environmental impacts prepared by an external consultant, so it is not suitable  for very small deals. We estimate that most loans are likely to exceed EUR 2 million.
• The maximum credit amount is 85% of the value of goods and services imported from third countries to the buyer’s country related to the Finnish exporter’s trade agreement. In addition, local costs of up to 40% or 50% of the value of the aforementioned goods and services imported from Finland and third countries can be included in the credit amount, provided that they are part of the delivery contract and are the responsibility of the exporter.
• The part of the advance payment (at least 15% of the value of the goods and services imported from Finland and third countries related to the export transaction) must be paid to the exporter in accordance with the OECD’s terms and at least by the time the credit is withdrawn.

• The maximum amount of bill of exchange financing is EUR 2 million.
• There is no set minimum, but arranging the financing always requires e.g. hiring a local law firm, so we estimate that most bill of exchange financing will amount to more than EUR 200,000.
• The maximum financing amount is 85% of the value of goods and services imported from third countries to the buyer’s country related to the Finnish exporter’s trade agreement.
• The part of the advance payment (at least 15% of the value of the goods and services imported from Finland and third countries related to the export transaction) must be paid to the exporter in accordance with the OECD’s terms, i.e. typically before delivery.

Loans can be granted in euros (EUR) and dollars (USD). As a rule, bill of exchange financing is primarily conducted in euros (EUR).

The export credit and bill of exchange financing are suitable for the export of capital goods (e.g. machinery, equipment, production line and related services) where the buyer is the end user.

Export credit to the buyer or bill of exchange financing is not suitable for intra-group trade (selling to a subsidiary).

Domestic interest is directly realised if the Finnish content (costs and purchases from Finland and the profit margin) related to the export project is significant. The Finnish content is considered significant if it accounts for more than 27% of the export project value including local costs or 33% of the export credit amount.

If an export transaction does not meet the requirement for Finnish content, we will ask the exporter to provide further information. Read more about Finnvera as a provider of export financing

• Finnvera's country policy excludes certain countries because the country risks are too high. In addition, Finnvera complies with the sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States.
• In some countries, a license from the banking supervision or similar authority of the country concerned is required to grant credit, and Finnvera or Finnish Export Credit does not have such a license. In addition, some countries may be subject to other factors that restrict credit granting.
• Bill of exchange legislation is national legislation, and bills of exchange are not always considered debt obligations in every country.
• Finnvera will clarify these issues when the exporter makes an inquiry to a country for which the above information does not yet exist. It is estimated that the clarification of the information will typically take about a couple of weeks.

Know Your Customer (KYC) is an obligation associated with measures for preventing money laundering and terrorism financing provided in anti-money laundering regulation. It refers to financial institutions’ and other similar actors’ duty to identify and know their customers and have knowledge of the nature and extent of the customer’s operations. The KYC obligation also applies to the Finnvera Group through the Financial Supervisory Authority’s regulation. This duty is underlined by Finnvera’s role as a public provider of financing and the company’s obligation to operate responsibly.

The statutory identification of a business customer requires all the necessary documents to demonstrate the existence, identification information, business, management, and ownership of the company. In addition, copies of the identity documents of the actual beneficiaries and the customer's representatives are required. In addition, a foreign customer is always required to provide a bank reference letter, indicating a currently valid bank relationship and account contact details.

Finnvera complies with international principles and recommendations related to corporate responsibility, and Finnvera has its own Environmental and social risk management policy. Certain basic information is requested in the export credit application so that Finnvera can assess the potential level of environmental and social risks related to the transaction, and decide the level of assessment needed.

Read more about ES risk management in Finnvera’s export financing operations

As a rule, the buyer must have established cash flows and the ability to repay the credit must be realistic according to Finnvera's assessment. Finnvera usually requires, among other things, the audited financial statements of the borrower and the borrower's group for the previous three financial years. Finnvera will request other information on a case-by-case basis.