Forfaiting

In trade finance, forfaiting, or medium-term capital goods financing,[1] is a financial transaction involving the purchase of receivables from exporters by third party known as a forfaiter.[2] The forfaiter takes on all the risks associated with the receivables but earns a margin.[2] The forfaiter may also be immunized from certain risks if the transaction involves payment by negotiable instrument.[3] The forfaiting is a transaction involving the sale of one of the firm's transactions. Factoring is also a financial transaction involving the purchase of financial assets, but factoring involves the sale of any portion of a firm's receivables.[2][4] The word forfaiting is derived from the French word forfait, meaning to relinquish a right.[5]

Characteristics

The characteristics of a forfaiting transaction are:

  • Credit is extended to the importer for a period of between 180 days and seven years.
  • The minimum bill size is normally $250,000, although $500,000 is preferred.
  • The payment is normally receivable in any major convertible currency.
  • A letter of credit or a guarantee is made by a bank, usually in the importer's country.
  • The contract can be for either goods or services.

At its simplest, the receivables should be evidenced by a promissory note, a bill of exchange, a deferred-payment letter of credit, or a letter of forfaiting.

Pricing

Three elements relate to the pricing of a forfaiting transaction:

  • Discount rate, the interest element, usually quoted as a margin over LIBOR.
  • Days of grace, added to the actual number of days until maturity for the purpose of covering the number of days normally experienced in the transfer of payment, applicable to the country of risk.
  • Commitment fee, applied from the date the forfaiter is committed to undertake the financing, until the date of discounting.

The benefits to the exporter from forfaiting include eliminating political, transfer, and commercial risks and improving cash flows. The benefit to the forfaiter is the extra margin on the loan to the exporter.

Professional associations

The oldest forfaiting association in the world is VEFI, the Association of Forfaiters in Switzerland (German: Vereinigung von forfaitierenden Instituten in der Schweiz), which was founded in 1978.[6] The International Trade & Forfaiting Association (ITFA) [7] was founded in 1999 as a worldwide trade association for the forfaiting industry with a cash contribution from VEFI. Its purpose is to develop business relationships and assist other forfaiting-related organizations.

References

  1. ↑ Ghani, H. J., Financing Techniques in International Trade, accessed 7 July 2018
  2. 1 2 3 "Difference Between Factoring and Forfaiting (with Comparison Chart) - Key Differences". 13 January 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  3. ↑ A.I. Trade Finance, Inc. v. Laminaciones de Lesaca, S.A., 41 F.3d 830 (2d Cir. 1994).
  4. ↑ J. Downes, J.E. Goodman, "Dictionary of Finance & Investment Terms", Baron's Financial Guides, 2003; and J.G. Siegel, N. Dauber & J.K. Shim, The Vest Pocket CPA, Wiley, 2005.
  5. ↑ Treasury Today, Forfaiting, published September 2008, accessed 7 July 2018
  6. ↑ Welcome to the VEFI-Website!, accessed 7 July 2018
  7. ↑ Digital, Logix. "ITFA". Retrieved 7 March 2017.
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