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The Coface group has obtained a licence to deliver insurance products in Poland. It will be opening a domestic and export credit insurance branch there in the near future via its Austrian subsidiary ЦKV Coface. The new branch will permit Coface to provide Polish subsidiaries of international groups with local service in the Polish language and currency.
This will strengthen Coface Group's presence in a market it knows well thanks notably to Coface Intercredit Poland, its subsidiary specialising in company information and receivables management.
09/07/2003
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Leading business finance firm Bibby Factors Scotland, part of Bibby Financial Services, the largest independent factoring organisation in the UK, has appointed Kate Doswell as a new business development manager. In her new role she will be responsible for sourcing and developing new business opportunities and working with key business advisors throughout the South and West of Scotland. Bibby Factors Scotland specialise in improving SME cash flow via factoring.
09/07/2003
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GERLING NCM, a global leader in credit management and receivables, looks forward to a better outlook as an independent company. Its new owners, Swiss Re and Deutsche Bank, which are recapitalising the company, support independent growth now that a triple challenge on the economy, ownership and merger has been successfully addressed.
That was reaffirmed today by Bernd Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of GERLING NCM, which ranks number two in the world credit insurance market with a 25% market share. It has total revenues of Ђ1.3 billion and protects trade worth around Ђ350 billion.
08/07/2003
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Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), the country’s largest state-owned bank and leader in the Romanian factoring market, recorded in the first six months of 2003 a stunning success in factoring business. The bank recorded a 180% increase to US$36 million, in factoring volumes compared with the same period in 2002. This figure is 70% of the total factoring volume for the whole of 2002 and a fifth of the total 2002 Romanian factoring volume.
The bank joined Factors Chain International (FCI) in 1999 and offers export factoring and domestic factoring.
08/07/2003
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The Mexican Foreign Trade Bank (Bancomext) invested 19.92 billion pesos (US$1.91 billion) to support export-related activities between January and May, which represents a 24% increase of its annual programme. Of the total spending, 17.97 billion pesos (US$1.72 billion) were used for credit and 1.95 billion pesos (US$186.85 million) were earmarked for guarantees and insurance.
08/07/2003
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With the backing of the Economy Secretariat, Nacional Financiera (Nafin) and the commercial banking sector, the Secretariat of Tourism (Sectur) launched a diverse programme to finance small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) working in tourism. Each bank will develop its own programme through Sectur.
08/07/2003
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A warning shot has been fired across the bows of Telstra for failing to co-operate with the industry watchdog over debt collection.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has given Telstra four days to respond to concerns over its credit management practices or face a public roasting. The TIO told Telstra of its concerns three weeks ago amid a flurry of complaints. Credit related complaints to the ombudsman nearly doubled in the March quarter, after Telstra's sale of $300 million worth of bad debt to collection company Alliance Factoring last year.
08/07/2003
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With top corporates demanding low rates on loans and margins nowadays being wafer-thin, new generation UTI Bank is planning to diversify its business. They are cautiously making an attempt to dispense credit to the small-scale and agricultural sectors.
Another recent entrant in the small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) business is the HDFC Bank through supply chain financing with a portfolio of over Rs 2,000 crore. Traditionally, most foreign and private sector banks have stayed away from the SME segment due to the high-level of non-performing loans (NPAs) in the sector.
08/07/2003
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Some P10 billion will be lent in wholesale and retail lending to small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) during the second half of 2003. "There is a deluge of applications and we are confident that we will reach the P10 billion mark," Small Business Corp (SB Corp) chair, Zorayda Amelia C. Alonzo, said during the opening of the Philippine Business Trade Fair last week.
Alonzo said the SB Corp and its partners, comprised of other government financial institutions, lent some P6.5 billion in wholesale and retail loans for SMEs in the first five months this year.
08/07/2003
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The deadline for registering on the FDA Diploma, developed in association with the Institute of Financial Services (IFS), is fast approaching.
The Diploma is a professionally recognised qualification for senior managers (client managers/account managers) who are wishing to obtain a recognised qualification within the industry.
07/07/2003
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Coface Scrl has just been accredited with ISO 9001 certification, version 2000, for the provision of economic, financial and commercial information deriving from its database on metropolitan French companies. The certification is effective for three years and monitored via semi-annual audits.
In addition, Coface's Information Systems Department has obtained a three-year renewal of its ISO 9001 certification (version 2000).
07/07/2003
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The government will supplement the loan programme of its Europe Plan with new programmes to aid small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), prime minister Peter Medgyessy announced in a speech made at the inauguration of the new Danube bridge at Szekszard.
The government will introduce a "Four-Step Loan Programme" from 15 July, Medgyessy said. Under the programme, HUF 6 billion will be set aside, available as development loans for small enterprises, while SMEs will also be able to apply for short-term, state-subsidised working capital loans of maximum HUF 5 million.
07/07/2003
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Growth of activity within the UK private sector services economy was maintained in June, according to the latest CIPS/Reuters survey of the sector. Moreover, in a continuation of its recent upward trend, the seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index rose for a third successive month to post a level of 54.5, up strongly from May’s 51.9 and its highest reading since November 2002.
The Report on Services covers transport & communication, financial intermediation, business services, personal services, computing & IT and hotels & restaurants.
04/07/2003
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The UK government’s Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) is backing Bombardier Aerospace for the first time on several multi-million dollar contracts to supply aircraft to two US regional airlines.
ECGD has provided export credit guarantee support on two bank loans worth over US$200 million to Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Comair who will be using the finance to purchase 12 aircraft from Bombardier.
04/07/2003
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The UK has become the first country in Europe to launch an equity fund designed specifically to meet the investment needs of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the recycling sector. The Ј5.5m (Ђ7.7m) fund, called The Recycling Fund, has been established by Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) and is managed by Impax Asset Management.
04/07/2003
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