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Best Trade Insurer in Asia

23 July 2009

Strengthening the cover

Winner: Zurich Highly commended: AIG In a change from last year, Zurich Surety, Credit and Political Risk (Zurich) has beaten AIG to win the Best Trade Insurer in Asia award. This is the first time that Zurich has won this particular title, and something the company has been keen to capture to complement its global award of Best Insurer in Trade, which it has consistently won in the global awards. AIG moves down into the highly commended slot, while the third position is held jointly by Coface and Euler. A range of other institutions were not far behind these top three with a good number of votes being...


Poll

Will Russia’s recent ban on grain exports result in a significant rise in private risk insurance claims from grain traders unable to fulfil their contracts?

Yes – there will be more claims. The government’s actions allow traders, with PRI cover, to make claims through contract frustration.
8%
No - the majority of Russia’s wheat production, some 70%-80%, is used for domestic consumption so the contracts represent only a small portion of the total wheat market, limiting the amount of potential claims.
23%
No - traders had a week’s notice before the ban allowing them to secure alternative supplies to fulfil contracts stated as optional origin.
23%
Maybe - but claims are likely to be limited to traders dealing in soft wheat whose contracts demand they source wheat only from Russia.
46%

Quote

From a Brazilian perspective a lot of work still needs to be done in getting foreign lenders more comfortable to finance the second-tier players again.

Ian Henderson, Texel Capital - Brazil: Agri-sector bounces back - Trade Finance July/August 2010