Finnvera
Finnvera is Finland's state-owned specialised financing company and official export credit agency (ECA). It provides financing for the start, growth and internationalisation of enterprises and guarantees against political or commercial risks associated with the financing of exports. Finnvera is listed as a Berne Union member.
Political risks arise from the economic or political situation in the buyer's country. Commercial risks pertain to the buyer or the buyer's bank. Operations are steered by industrial and ownership policy goals laid down by the State. Finnvera is expected to adhere to the principle of economic self-sustainability. Long-term funding takes place by issuing notes on capital markets.
Mandate and scale
Finnvera strengthens Finnish enterprises by offering loans, domestic guarantees, export credit guarantees and other services associated with the financing of exports. Published group figures as at 31 December 2025 include about 19,300 clients, 370 employees, EUR 2.1 billion of domestic loans and guarantees outstanding, and EUR 23.1 billion of export credit guarantees, export guarantees and special guarantees outstanding. Those figures describe portfolio scale. They are not underwriting standards for a single transaction.
Buyer credit guarantees
A Buyer Credit Guarantee is a security to the lender against credit risk caused by a foreign buyer, the buyer's bank or country. The exporter receives payment in cash for goods sold on credit, while credit risks transfer from the exporter to the lender and further to Finnvera. Coverage of commercial risk can reach 95 percent and coverage of political or sovereign risk can reach 100 percent, decided transaction by transaction.
The guarantee can support medium and long-term arrangements for capital goods exports, including buyer credits for individual transactions, bank-related and project-related credit lines, ship financing, forfaiting and leasing. It can also support short-term exports where the buyer provides a transferable credit instrument such as a bill of exchange or promissory note.
The export transaction must meet the requirement of Finnish interest. The borrower may be the buyer or the buyer's bank. For medium and long-term credits, payment terms follow the OECD Arrangement. The guarantee is an export credit guarantee issued to the lender.
As an official ECA, Finnvera states that it cannot grant guarantees with a risk period of less than two years to listed Western industrial markets, subject to defined European Commission exceptions for that market segment.
Finnvera export credits through FEC
Export credit financing facilitates arrangement of financing for foreign buyers of Finnish capital goods and related services when the export benefits the Finnish economy and Finnish interest is fulfilled. Solutions include fixed or floating rate export and ship credits and interest equalisation for fixed rate credits.
Finnish Export Credit Ltd (FEC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Finnvera, can itself grant smaller export credits with a maximum value of EUR 20 million. For larger credits FEC cooperates with financial institutions under cooperation agreements. Financing may use commercial interest reference rates (CIRR) quoted monthly by the OECD or floating rates, plus a margin.
Buyer-credit structures leave the bank as lender of record with Finnvera cover. Premium on long-term buyer credit guarantees reflects borrower and country creditworthiness, risk period and available security.
Boundaries
Finnvera is not a general corporate lender for every Finnish overseas activity. Domestic loans and guarantees are a separate book from export credit guarantees. Official support for export credits of two years or more is constrained by OECD Arrangement rules on down payment, repayment profile and minimum premium. Short-term marketable risk cover remains subject to EU state aid boundaries for official insurers.
Anti-bribery declarations by the guarantee holder and the exporter, descriptions of origins in the export contract, and environmental assessment rules form part of application packs for medium and long-term business.
Finnvera is therefore Finnish official guarantee and credit capacity for eligible exports, delivered through Finnvera and FEC, documented for lenders and exporters under Finnish interest tests and OECD disciplines, and recognised internationally through Berne Union membership.