Berne Union

The Berne Union, also known as The International Union of Credit & Investment Insurers, is an international non-profit association and community for the global export credit and investment insurance industry.

Berne Union
TypeInternational Trade Association
IndustryInsurance
Founded1934, Berne, Switzerland
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Key people
Beatriz Reguero, President; Christina Westholm-Schroder, Vice-President; Vinco David, Secretary General
Websitehttp://www.berneunion.org

The association provides a forum for professional exchange among members, as well as promoting constructive engagement in collaborative projects with external stakeholders from across the wider trade finance industry, including banks and financiers, regulators and policy setters, traders, academics and other associations. Its mission is to actively facilitate cross-border trade by supporting international acceptance of sound principles in export credit and foreign investment.[1]

Membership

As of January 2017, the Berne Union represents 84 member companies from 73 countries worldwide.[2] These include government-backed official export credit agencies, private credit and political risk insurers and multilateral institutions. In 2016, Berne Union members collectively provided payment risk protection to banks, exporters and investors amounting to US$1.87 trillion.[3] This total business volume represents cover of approximately 11% of total world cross border trade for goods and services, as recorded by WTO figures.[4]

Since the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008, Berne Union members have paid claims of approximately US$40 billion.[5]

History

The Berne union was founded in 1934 by private and state export credit insurers from France, Italy, Spain and the UK.[6] The first meeting was held in Berne, Switzerland – which is where the name Berne Union comes from. While Berne is still the legal domicile of the Union, it has not met there since 1939.

Notable milestones include:

  • An expanded mandate in 1974, to include members who insure foreign investments
  • Creation of the 'Prague Club'[7] in 1993, designed to support new and maturing export credit agencies and insurers setting up and developing export credit and investment insurance schemes
  • In 1999, the export credit members formed two committees, focusing on short term and medium/long term export credit business

As of 2017, the modern Berne Union is structured around four committees, representing these two export credit groups (short term and medium/long term) along with an investment insurance committee and the so-called Prague Club Committee (PC), which was formally integrated in May 2016, having been a legally separate, but closely associated entity prior to this.[8]

Governance

The Berne Union is led by the President, Vice President and a Management Committee, with each elected position held for a term of two years. The Management Committee are supported by a permanent Secretariat, led by the Secretary General and based in London, in the United Kingdom.[9]

The Current President is Ms Beatriz Reguero, Chief Operating Officer of State Account Business CESCE - the Spanish Export Credit Agency. She was elected in October 2018, at the association's Annual General Meeting in Paris for a term of two years.[10]

Current Vice President, Ms Christina Westholm-Schroder, Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriter Sovereign Risk Insurance, based in Bermuda - was elected in September 2019.[11]

Mr Vinco David was appointed Secretary General of the Berne Union in November 2016, with effect from March 2017.[12]

Activities

Members of the Berne Union meet twice per year for the Spring General Meeting (in April/May) and the Annual General Meeting (in October / November). Throughout the year a further 5-6 meetings take place on specialist topics such as: claims and recoveries, country risk, project finance, reinsurance, data reporting etc.

Current Berne Union Members

References
  1. Directorate, OECD Statistics. "OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms - Berne Union Definition". stats.oecd.org. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  2. "Berne Union - Members".
  3. "Statistics | Berne Union". www.berneunion.org. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  4. "WTO | International Trade Statistics 2015". www.wto.org. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
  5. "ICC Global Trade Finance Survey 2016" (PDF).
  6. Stephens, Malcolm (1999). The Changing Role of Export Credit Agencies. International Monetary Fund. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-55775-801-9.
  7. "Berne Union Prague Club | Berne Union". www.berneunion.org. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  8. "Berne Union and Prague Club to merge | Global Trade Review (GTR)". Global Trade Review (GTR). 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
  9. "The Berne Union: Who's Who 2016_N". TXF - Trade & Export Finance. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  10. "Beatriz Reguero appointed Berne Union President | The Diplomat in Spain" (in Spanish).
  11. https://www.berneunion.org/Articles/Details/479/New-Vice-President-Elected. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "Vinco David to join Berne Union as secretary general | Trade and Forfaiting Review". www.tfreview.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
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