Atradius Dutch State Business (Atradius DSB)
Atradius Dutch State Business is the official Dutch export credit agency (ECA). It issues export credit insurance and guarantees on behalf of and for the account of the State of the Netherlands, covering defined commercial and political risks for Dutch exporters. Atradius Dutch State Business is part of the Atradius Group but is operationally separate from Atradius private credit insurance written on the group's own balance sheet, reflecting its public character.
The Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs hold policy responsibility for the export credit insurance instruments. All premiums, claims payments and collection proceeds are for the account and risk of the Dutch State. Atradius Dutch State Business receives a fixed annual fee from the state for its work as executor rather than operating on a for-profit basis.
Mandate and history
The legal predecessor Nederlandsche Credietverzekeringsmaatschappij was established in Amsterdam in 1925. In 1932 the state began acting as reinsurer, guaranteeing non-marketable risks on Dutch export credits. From 2008 the Dutch State became the direct insurer, and Atradius Dutch State Business has worked as executor for the state since then.
Atradius Dutch State Business is listed as a Berne Union member. Its published materials describe a specialist team administering insurance and financing solutions for exporters of capital goods, international contractors, banks and investors.
Products for exporters, banks and investors
Published product families include an exporter's policy covering political and commercial non-payment risk on capital goods and services, contractor insurance for international projects, buyer credit insurance for banks and financiers, investment insurance, foreign exchange risk insurance and financial lease insurance. The Dutch Good Growth Fund and Dutch Trade and Investment Fund route export credit insurance and financing to defined developing and other markets.
An export credit guarantee or insurance policy under this mandate can support buyer credit lending to foreign buyers of Dutch exports, or supplier credit style receivables risk where the exporter extends payment terms. Policy documentation sets the insured percentage, covered political and commercial risks, exclusions, waiting periods, and premium and claims cooperation terms.
Eligibility and complementarity
The organisation states that the export credit insurance facility is designed not to distort the private market. Where a commercial insurer can cover a risk, public export credit insurance is in principle not available. The state periodically determines which risks, by country, duration and transaction size, are not commercially insurable and may qualify for public cover. That complementarity test distinguishes Atradius Dutch State Business cover from private Atradius policies.
Country policy materials classify destinations and publish cover indicators, ceilings and utilisation information used in underwriting. Environmental, social and compliance assessments form part of the public executor framework described on the organisation's own site.
Atradius Dutch State Business and the OECD Arrangement
The Netherlands participates in the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits through the European Union as Participant. Officially supported export credits with repayment terms of two years or more fall under Arrangement disciplines on repayment terms and minimum premium benchmarks. Short-term marketable risks remain outside Atradius Dutch State Business's ordinary scope, in line with EU rules that reserve public short-term cover for non-marketable risks.
Invest International offers export financing for Dutch exporters and can combine this with cover from Atradius Dutch State Business on qualifying transactions. Commercial banks remain the primary arrangers and lenders on most transactions; state-account insurance is intended to reduce the credit risk banks carry on those loans.
Atradius Dutch State Business is the Netherlands' state-account export credit executor within the Atradius Group, complementary to private credit insurance and operating within OECD Arrangement and EU export credit rules.