A firm which is leading a commercial talking with a foreign counterpart, for the sell of equipments or complete plants, is often requested to accept a payment (totally or partially) deferred within a certain numbers of years after the completion of the supply itself.

The credit against the buyer could be represented by paper instruments, for their nature transferable and negotiable, such as the "promissory notes" or the "bills of exchange".

The discount of these papers, i.e. their sell to an institution who draw a net value against their endorsement, could be structured in two different ways: keeping the exporter obliged together with the first debtor ("with recourse" discount), or releasing him from the risk of non-payment of the debtor ("without recourse" discount).

CIS ESTERO helps the exporting firms and the foreign buyers who are negotiating a commercial contract, through the indication of the Countries where it is possible to arrange such a kind of financing facility, and at which terms and conditions (duration, amount, financing costs, needed guarantees), in order to easily manage the financial aspect of the contract, once finalized the talking.

The without recourse (or "a forfait") discount cannot be easily arranged towards certain Countries, or over certain amounts and duration of repayment, because the international financial markets don't accept to take a risk which could be considered too high.

In some of these cases, the exporter could ask SACE - Istituto per i Servizi Assicurativi per i Crediti all'Esportazione - one of the many insurance policies that it's possible to obtain under the provision of the Law n.143/98. The main and most important coverage issued by SACE, is the risk of non payment on the part of the foreign buyer of goods and services of Italian origin.

Being a public body, influenced by political directives as well as strict economic rules, sometimes it's possible to obtain from SACE an insurance policy, covering a risk against a "difficult" Country, with a long duration or for a big amount (those which cannot be easily managed through the "a forfait" discount)

Moreover, the guarantee of SACE is strictly needed in all the cases of "structured financing", i.e. the transactions which are assisted by any kind of collateral guarantee ("Countertrade", "Buy-Back", "Escrow-Account") or based on a Feasibility Study covering the whole life of the project, including the amortization period ("Project Financing", "B.O.T.").

CIS ESTERO helps the exporters and the financial institutions, who wants to obtain a SACE guarantee, through its long experience in the drawing up of the necessary documentation and until the issuing of the relevant insurance policies.