When you trade or invest across borders, your balance sheet is at risk. In commodities, where pre-payment is common as a means of financing production and guaranteeing long-term supply, non-payment or non-delivery can have a devastating commercial effect. We help you protect yourself against these sorts of risks with our political and credit risk insurance team.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Political and Credit Risks

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We focus on the risks associated with cross-border trades and investments

When you trade or invest across borders, your balance sheet is at risk. In commodities, where pre-payment is common as a means of financing production and guaranteeing long-term supply, non-payment or non-delivery can have a devastating commercial effect. We help you protect yourself against these sorts of risks.

We also help you manage political risk. Foreign government actions like war, trade embargoes and expropriation can affect your bottom line, costing you tens or hundreds of millions. They can even cause you to write off your investment completely. The longer your trade or investment agreement, the greater the uncertainty – and the more you need cover.

We arrange insurance coverage that protects you against political and counterparty risks in trade transactions. We work with commodity traders and the banks that finance them, as well as with equity investors who have subsidiaries or physical assets abroad. Clients include the leading banks, construction companies, international commodities traders,  industrial companies, miners, oil producers and exporters.

What we cover

We’re more than an insurance broker – we’re a partner helping you protect your balance sheet.   We investigate the insurance market to find counterparties who’ll take on your political and trade credit risks at a premium you’re comfortable with.

We’ll advocate for you and negotiate hard on your behalf. As well as this, we’ll:

  • Analyse your risk and identify areas where a government action may threaten your investment

  • Study your contracts and recommend changes if needed to make them insurable

  • Suggest ways to structure your risk to reassure underwriters, such as obtaining collateral or guaranties

  • Get underwriters more closely involved with you and your risk to develop a true partnership

  • Advise you on the best way to manage your risk, not just the best insurance to buy

Our Political & Credit Risk Insurance Team

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Russell Winter

Partner
russell.winter@lockton.com
+44 207 933 2149

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Peter Hornsby

Partner
peter.hornsby@lockton.com
+44 207 933 2190

News and Insights

Most firms very wisely seek to limit their liability to clients in their engagement letters. It makes sense to do this so the firm and the client both know how much financial compensation might be available if things go wrong. 
But while limiting liability is good risk management practice, such clauses must be drafted carefully to be effective. Problems arise where the perceived losses are more than the limit of liability contained in the engagement letter. And if restrictions and exclusions are too onerous, they could be deemed unenforceable, leaving liability unrestricted.
Law firms: limiting liability in engagement letters

Hydrogen vehicles and refuelling stations: property considerations

Increasing fuel costs and the  ongoing need to reduce carbon emissions means that businesses continue to look at reducing their reliance on the fossil fuel internal combustion engine.  Electric vehicles are at present the main contender, although hydrogen-based technology could provide another alternative for commercial vehicles. Hydrogen has been used for many decades in various industries and provides a high energy density  fuel when burned, producing no greenhouse gases. However, hydrogen also presents several hazards and there are safety factors to consider when planning its storage and use. Increasing fuel costs and the  ongoing need to reduce carbon emissions means that businesses continue to look at reducing their reliance on the fossil fuel internal combustion engine.  Electric vehicles are at present the main contender, although hydrogen-based technology could provide another alternative for commercial vehicles. Hydrogen has been used for many decades in various industries and provides a high energy density  fuel when burned, producing no greenhouse gases. However, hydrogen also presents several hazards and there are safety factors to consider when planning its storage and use.

Golden thread: BSA requirements create additional cyber exposure

The Building Safety Act 2022 and the associated Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 introduced significant information retention requirements through their ‘golden thread’ provisions. These apply to buildings defined as ‘higher risk’ in the legislation.

The golden thread comprises information to create a proper understanding of a building and consequently the steps needed to keep both the building and people safe. It is envisioned as a building’s ‘single source of truth’, and to avoid obsolescence and omission errors, it is not intended to be held across multiple sources or even duplicated (save back up).

The legislation stipulates that the golden thread information must be held digitally, and to protect both personal information and the security of the building, it must be held securely.The Building Safety Act 2022 and the associated Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 introduced significant information retention requirements through their ‘golden thread’ provisions. These apply to buildings defined as ‘higher risk’ in the legislation.

The golden thread comprises information to create a proper understanding of a building and consequently the steps needed to keep both the building and people safe. It is envisioned as a building’s ‘single source of truth’, and to avoid obsolescence and omission errors, it is not intended to be held across multiple sources or even duplicated (save back up).

The legislation stipulates that the golden thread information must be held digitally, and to protect both personal information and the security of the building, it must be held securely.

Deepfake and the risk of vendor fraud: challenges and solutions for solicitors

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology are increasing the threat to solicitors of deepfake-enabled vendor fraud, with conveyancing and property transactions a particular target. Where successful, these frauds can inflict significant financial and reputational harm, both on a firm and its clients.

To protect themselves, solicitors must adopt proactive measures to bolster their verification procedures and minimise their exposure.Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology are increasing the threat to solicitors of deepfake-enabled vendor fraud, with conveyancing and property transactions a particular target. Where successful, these frauds can inflict significant financial and reputational harm, both on a firm and its clients.

To protect themselves, solicitors must adopt proactive measures to bolster their verification procedures and minimise their exposure.
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