THE ROLE OF CREDIT INSURERS IN THE COVID-19 CRISIS

The Covid-19 crisis has significantly impaired trade credit, putting in evidence its vital role in the overall financing of economies. In this respect, credit insurers play a crucial role in safeguarding, smoothing and promoting trade credit.

Joint efforts of credit insurers and States have been fruitful in stabilizing trade financing and economic activity. Nevertheless, a climate of extremely high uncertainty persists in a context where corporate insolvencies are expected to significantly increase at the horizon of end-2021. A perennial private-public mechanism of risk sharing remains key in order to cushion the impact of systemic shocks. Insurers alone cannot absorb large non-diversifiable types of risks when they materialize.

The Covid-19 crisis also evidenced the fact that digitalized companies and countries were undoubtedly more resilient, when dealing with the shock. It means that the nature or definition of risk is currently changing for credit insurers. Beyond the purely commercial and financial aspects of trade credit, inter-companies risks now deal with digitalization, environment, sanitary, social and governance conditions.