ECA business: compliance and audit for officially supported export finance.
Export credit agencies (ECAs) cover major projects and long-term export finance – and require complete evidence covering anti-bribery, sanctions, money laundering, environmental and social standards and compliance with the cover conditions. This intersection is where we specialise: we review, structure and document ECA transactions so that they are robustly evidenced for application, audit and claim.
When to bring us in
- A cover application requires extensive, evidenced due diligence on the buyer, the project and all parties.
- Agents, intermediaries and commissions call for particularly careful anti-bribery review.
- A transaction runs for many years – and new sanctions touch disbursements, repayments or parties.
- The project has environmental or social impact and has to be categorised and monitored under the OECD Common Approaches.
- Internal audit or the ECA reviews whether the cover conditions were met.
- Several ECAs, reinsurers and banks are involved – with different requirements for the same evidence.
For every side of trade finance.
Banks and ECA desks
Structuring and managing ECA-covered buyer and supplier credits, forfaiting and guarantees.
Exporters and EPC contractors
Applications for export credit cover, project business, agents and intermediaries, ongoing evidence duties.
Export credit agencies and insurers
Independent review of compliance programmes, due diligence standards and individual transactions.
Compliance across the whole life cycle
ECA transactions often run for ten years or more. Every phase has its own checkpoints – and every gap can become a problem in a claim.
- 01
Application
- Due diligence on buyer, project and parties
- Disclose and review agents and commissions
- Country risk and export control of the goods
- 02
Cover and contracts
- Reflect cover conditions in loan and supply contracts
- Sanctions and information clauses
- Conditions from the environmental and social review
- 03
Disbursement
- Screen every payee
- Delivery evidence against the scope of cover
- Price and quantity plausibility (TBML)
- 04
Loan life
- Ongoing sanctions and list monitoring
- Amendments and notification duties
- Environmental and social monitoring
- 05
Claim
- Complete evidence dossier
- Documented compliance per phase
- Handling sanctions-related payment obstacles
What we do for you
- 01
ECA compliance due diligence
Buyer, guarantor, project parties and beneficial owners: sanctions, PEP, adverse media and ownership – documented the way ECAs and lending banks expect.
- 02
Anti-bribery in ECA business
Review of agents, intermediaries and commissions under the OECD Recommendation on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits – including declarations, disclosure and evidence.
- 03
Sanctions and export control over the loan life
Screening at application, disbursement, repayment and amendment, and a clear process for new sanctions during the life of the credit.
- 04
Environmental and social review
Categorisation under the OECD Common Approaches (A, B, C), alignment with the IFC Performance Standards and monitoring requirements – coordination and quality assurance, with specialist consultants where needed.
- 05
Audit of cover compliance
Independent review of your ECA processes and individual transactions: compliance with the cover conditions, completeness of documentation, controls – and robust evidence for a claim.
- 06
ECA compliance programme
Policy, processes, controls and training for the ECA desk, sales and project teams – aligned with the requirements of the ECAs involved.
The starting point: ECA compliance check
We review a planned or running ECA transaction – or your ECA process as a whole – against the OECD standards and the cover conditions of the ECAs involved.
- Findings report with a rating per checkpoint
- Prioritised actions with owners
- Closing session with your decision-makers
- Confidential, with a clearly agreed scope
Deliverables that last
- Due diligence dossier per transaction
- Anti-bribery review of agents and commissions
- Loan-life monitoring plan for sanctions and export control
- Cover compliance audit report with action plan
- ECA compliance manual
- Training materials and records
Our tools for this
One access point for country risk, regulatory change and reviews – the results of our advice keep running here day to day.
Country risk for buyer and project countries: FATF lists, EU high-risk countries, sanctions regimes and export controls – every classification with source and date for the file.
Screens everyone involved in an ECA structure – parties, beneficial owners, vessels, goods and routes – for sanctions, TBML and evasion, with evidence per hit.
Sanctions, enforcement and standard-setters every morning – so changes during the loan life are not missed.
- OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits
- OECD Recommendation on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits (2019)
- OECD Common Approaches on environmental and social due diligence
- OECD Recommendation on Sustainable Lending Practices
- IFC Performance Standards
- ECA cover conditions, e.g. the German Federal Government’s export credit guarantees (Hermes cover)
- EU sanctions law and Dual-Use Regulation (EU) 2021/821; for financing banks also Directive (EU) 2015/849 as amended, the AMLR and national AML law
Frequently asked questions
Who is the ECA advisory for?
For banks structuring and managing ECA-covered buyer or supplier credits; for exporters and EPC contractors applying for cover; and for export credit agencies and insurers who want an independent review of their compliance programmes.
Which ECA requirements do you cover?
Our starting point is the common OECD standards that govern the export credit agencies of OECD countries. The individual cover conditions build on them – for example those of Germany’s federal export credit guarantees, OeKB in Austria, SERV in Switzerland or UK Export Finance. We map the differences into your processes.
Why are sanctions particularly sensitive in ECA business?
Because of the long tenors. A transaction that was permissible at signing can be affected by new sanctions years later – at disbursement, repayment or in a claim. Loan-life monitoring therefore belongs in the control framework.
Are you an audit firm?
No. Our audits are independent reviews of compliance programmes, processes and individual transactions. Statutory audits and audit opinions are not part of our services.
Other practice areas
ECA business: let’s talk about your case.
In a demo we show you TFI TradeCore on your products, countries and use cases – and discuss where advisory or an audit gives you the most leverage. No obligation, confidential, and with specialists in trade finance.
or write to info@tradefinance-intelligence.com