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BPL Global has become the first broker to have placed a credit and political risk insurance (CPRI) policy on PPL, the London insurance market’s electronic placing platform.

PPL is an electronic placing platform which enables brokers and insurers to quote, negotiate, bind and endorse business digitally. It was designed to allow participants in the London Market to place risks electronically in order to support face-to-face negotiations while removing paper from the process and thus creating a digital information flow and audit trail.

Sian Aspinall, Managing Director of BPL Global, comments: “We pride ourselves on being an innovator in our specialist line of business, so we’re pleased to be the first broker to have placed a CPRI risk via PPL. It’s an important step in the digitalisation of the London market and will help drive further efficiency, speed and accuracy, which will ultimately be of benefit to our clients.”

The policy was placed with XL Catlin.

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BPL Global is delighted to announce the publication of its inaugural Market Insight report, marking 35 years as the leading credit and political risk insurance (CPRI) broker.

Based on market statistics and BPL Global’s own portfolio, the report provides an analysis of the CPRI market’s capabilities, current worldwide risk exposures and a claims update, focusing in particular on claims activity since the global financial crisis. In addition to this, the report highlights how the market and the CPRI product has responded to key global events and changing client needs.

Sian Aspinall, Managing Director, BPL Global, comments: “Our report shines a spotlight on the fact that appetite for the CPRI class is on an upwards trajectory – both in terms of capacity and tenors. Furthermore, analysis of market data clearly shows that it is adapting its capabilities to match natural return on investment for areas such as project finance structures, providing coverage for up to 25 years. Also notable is the jump in capacity for non-trade related credit insurance to over US$1.5bn per risk – an area previously constrained by Lloyd’s regulatory requirements.”

To download a copy of the full report, please click here.

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In the most recent edition of GTR’s series about inspirational women in trade finance, Sanne Wass talks to Sian Aspinall, BPL Global’s Managing Director, about her career success and how the industry can best tackle any gender bias.

Having worked within credit and political risk insurance for almost 30 years – starting as a political risk broker at Investment Insurance International, before working for the likes of Zurich and AIG – she carved out an impressive reputation within an industry renowned for its macho culture.

As a mother of two, Aspinall decided to step back and concentrate on achieving a better work-life balance – which consultancy allowed her to do. However, in 2014, BPL Global asked her to join them. “They approached me knowing they would have to offer a job on a flexible basis, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do it,” she says. “So I had an understanding employer. It made a massive difference, and for me it is worth so much company loyalty.”

In late 2015, Aspinall took on the of role managing director.

Read the full article here.

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Following the announcement last week that BPL Global is to open a joint venture with EIA Global in New York, James Esdaile, Managing Director, assesses what the CPRI product can offer US financial institutions and exporters in an article in ExCred New York’s supplement for its inaugural conference this week.

Esdaile breaks down the claims figures in this comprehensive look at CPRI to discuss the performance and global growth of the market. He also explains the application of the CPRI product to both crisis events and day-to-day operations, and how BPL Global can help unlock these benefits for their US clients.

Download a PDF of this article.

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BPL Global is delighted to announce that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with EIA Global to form a joint venture insurance broking company in New York.

The joint venture will focus on global financial institutions which will benefit from its globally-integrated specialist credit and political risk insurance (CPRI) broking services. As client demand for such services dictates, the joint venture will expand its offerings to a growing list of financial institutions and multinational corporations with a worldwide footprint.

The new venture will trade as BPL Global and will be led by John Lavelle, EIA Global’s Senior Managing Director.

Charles Berry, Chairman of BPL Global, commented: “This is an important step for BPL Global. The joint venture formalizes our long standing partnership with EIA Global, the leading CPRI broker in the U.S., and allows us to provide our international clients with a seamless service across the Americas to complement our existing capabilities in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. It completes our identity: specialist; independent and employee owned; and now truly global.”

Al Giandomenico, President of EIA Global, stated: “We are pleased to be joining forces in New York with BPL Global, the London-based broking company that brings an extraordinary level of expertise in the CPRI market and shares our unwavering commitment to providing first class services to clients. EIA Global launched its strategic initiative in New York with global financial institutions when John Lavelle joined us in May 2016. We have made excellent progress, but this joint venture will have an immediate multiplier effect on our growth and ability to provide top tier CPRI services to our existing and prospective clients.”

Mr. Giandomenico added: “EIA Global will continue serving its clients in the multi-buyer sector and domestic financial institutions that do not require a worldwide reach and will do so with the same expertise and commitment as we have done for over 35 years. The good news for our clients is that the joint venture will enhance EIA Global’s abilities to serve them effectively and efficiently.”

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In a “60 second interview” with Trade & Forfaiting Review, Sian Aspinall, Managing Director, says that the CPRI market is growing in strength, with significant demand from banks using the product as a credit mitigation tool under the Basel framework.

Meanwhile, Aspinall suggests that the private market has established itself as a credible and respected alternative, complementary to the ECAs’ offering. Aspinall also discusses the progress of the company’s succession plans, and what the future has in store for BPL Global.

The full article can be read here.

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The leading credit and political risk insurance broker has obtained a brokerage license to allow it to undertake insurance intermediation in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

London/Dubai. 4th September 2017. BPL Global, the leading specialist credit and political risk insurance (CPRI) broker, has been granted a brokerage license by the Dubai Financial Services Authority to conduct insurance intermediation business in Dubai from the DIFC.

To date, the broker’s activities in the DIFC have been limited to general marketing and business development since opening a Representative Office, run by Harriet Smith, in July 2015. Harriet will continue to head up the broker’s operations in the DIFC as Senior Executive Officer of the branch office.

Sian Aspinall, Managing Director of BPL Global, says: “It goes without saying that Dubai is an important market for our multinational client base and, while we have had a local point-of-contact for them since 2015, this constitutes a significant step forward in terms of what we can do in the DIFC. So far our activities have focused on education. Now it’s time for action, focused on clients old and new. ”

Harriet Smith, Senior Executive Officer, adds: “Having spent a couple of years speaking to potential clients of the market and developing relationships, it’s clear that there is a growing demand for CPRI in the DIFC– from the commodity traders, from the banks, and from the corporates. Interestingly, they are not all current users of the CPRI product which speaks to the opportunity. Being able to service these clients’ needs locally – working with both local insurers and those in the London Market – means not only a more personalised offering, but ultimately faster and better-priced coverage.”

The announcement expands BPL Global’s network of offices conducting insurance business to five – including those in London, Paris, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

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BPL Global reiterated its commitment to serving the French market as it celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of its French subsidiary at the British Ambassador’s Residence in Paris.

“Our industry is, of course, faced with major political uncertainty in the form of the upcoming UK referendum on whether to remain in the European Union,” said Charles Berry, Chairman of BPL Global. “Yet, even if the UK opts out, BPL Global will stay in. I can say that with certainty because our Paris office is an extremely well-established business and a significant part of the market. We will do whatever is necessary to service our clients, not only in France, but also in Germany, Italy and Spain.”

The event was covered in depth by leading trade magazine Trade & Forfaiting Review.

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BPL Global’s deputy chairman, Anthony Palmer, moderated two panels at a political risk insurance seminar organised by The Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEiK) in Istanbul on 30th June 2011. The other panel was moderated by BPL Global’s Turkish correspondent, Arzu Geerding of Brokers’ House.

The seminar was attended by over a hundred of Turkey’s leading exporters and contractors, and resulted from a recent DEiK survey indicating that there was a lack of awareness of political risk insurance among its membership.

The panellists included Louis Bedoucha of MIGA, George Bolton of ACE, Khosro Rashid of ICIEC, Emre Serifoglu of Zurich, Alev Arkan of Türk Eximbank, Sylvia Greisman of Unistrat Coface, and Nick Robinson of Marketform.

DEiK was formed in 1988 and its president is also president of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey.

http://www.turkey-now.org

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In this article, published by the Insurance Insider, Charles Berry suggests that the impact of the estimated USD2.5bn of claims in the political risk insurance market may not be as severe as many think.

The effects of recoveries and rescheduling – where reported claims might never crystallise because insured debts are re-scheduled – could over time reduce the final cost to half that figure.

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