• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.533-551
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• 2008

Export Credit Agency(ECA) plays a role of importance in international trade and investment flows. The first ECA, the Export Credits Guarantee Department(ECGD) of the United kingdom, was established in 1919. Its original purpose was to encourage and support exports that would not otherwise have taken. Similar motivations led to the establishment, most of those in operation today. Their traditional role is to support and encourage exports and outward investment by insuring international trade and investment transactions, and in some cases by providing trade finance directly. ECA come in all shapes and sizes, and there in no such thing as a typical ECA model. Most of them insure both political and commercial risks on exports and until the last decade. They operated as government entities or on the account of their government, and many of them have changed and are still changing. This study focuses and analyzes the changes of those four major countries' ECAs, which are the U.S.A.(EXIM), France(COFACE), Japan(JBIC), and Canada(EDC).

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.48
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• pp.127-155
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• 2010

The international transactions of capital goods such as industrial plant exports, overseas constructions, and shipbuilding exports, are so huge that tremendous amount of funds are required, and that most of the loans are long-term credits of over five years. In the export of huge capital goods, financing is more crucial than technology itself. Some of the importing countries are developing ones that are politically and economically unstable. Therefore the financing mechanism for these transactions is conclusive in winning these projects. Global financial market instability caused by US sub-prime mortgage financial crisis expanded all over the world, and the international transactions have been decreased due to global credit crisis. This indicates how much influential the financing market is in international transactions. The financing schemes are classified into supplier credit and buyer credit by who provides the financing. A supplier credit is a credit extended by an exporter(seller) to an importer(buyer) as part of an export contract. Cover for this transaction may be extended by an export credit agency('ECA') to the exporter. In a sales contract a seller shall provide fund required to manufacture goods, and in a construction contract a contractor shall provide fund required to complete a construction. A buyer credit is an arrangement in which an exporter enters into a contract with an importer, which is financed by means of a loan agreement A Comparative Study on a Supplier Credit and a Buyer Credit in International Transactions of Capital Goods 155 where the borrower is the importer. In a sales contract a buyer shall provide fund required to manufacture and procure the goods, and in a construction contract an owner shall provide fund required to complete a construction. Therefore an exporter is paid on progressive payment method. A supplier credit and a buyer credit have their own advantages and disadvantages in the respect of the parties respectively. These two financing methods are selectively used considering financing conditions such as funding cost, importer's and/or exporter's financial conditions, importing country's political risk.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.46
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• pp.133-158
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• 2010

Independent guarantee is a creation of the need from the both sides, i.e. the applicant (principal debtor) and the beneficiary (creditor). The former used to have to deposit cash in favor of the beneficiary in case of his default, which laid a burden on his liquidity while the latter still wanted to have the equivalent to cash. Independent guarantee satisfied the both parties by freeing the applicant of a deposit and maintaining the beneficiary's right at the same time. The fact that independent guarantee has three payment mechanisms is not widely known to the public. They are (i) payment on first demand, (ii) payment upon submission of third-party documents, (iii) payment upon submission of an arbitral or court decision. From the applicant's point of view, the order in his favor is (iii), followed by (ii) and (i). As there shouldn't be a case where one party is at a disadvantage against the other, useful insight is being sought for the benefit of the applicant. First, the applicant can offer his intention to provide a payment mechanism (ii) or (iii) rather than (i) if he must deliver it. Second, if the beneficiary still wants to have (i) and the applicant is in a position not to reject it, the latter should thoroughly check any provisions that may work against him later. Third, the applicant could use counterbalancing provisions in underlying contract to cope with protective clauses in the guarantees. Forth, the applicant should review the beneficiary's sincerity to prevent unfair calling risks. The applicant may use an ECA(Export Credit Agency) in his country to which he can transfer not only unfair calling risks, but also political risks. On the other hand, a bank needs to keep the following advice in mind. The foremost important thing for the bank not to forget is that it provides a guarantee as a service provider, not as a responsible party for the feasibility of the project, etc. Credit risk of the applicant should require the greatest attention when issuing a guarantee: the bank should look into the possibility that it can procure immediate reimbursement from its customers after payment to the beneficiary. Second, the applicant's ability to complete the project should be reviewed by checking its track records, techniques and reputation, etc. Third, the bank may also use an ECA to cover the beneficiary's unfair calling risks as well as political risks. In the case of Korea, as Korea Export Insurance Corporation(KEIC) can cover all the risks mentioned above, the bank could use its service called 'Export Bond Insurance.' What's better for the bank is that ECA cover can enhance the bank's asset quality by putting it zero on its risk weighted asset.