(Bloomberg, Oslo, 26 April 2012) Norway will form a fully state-owned lender to fund export credits to replace Eksportfinans ASA that is being wound down. The company, called Eksportkreditt Norge AS, will provide financing in the form of state-subsidised CIRR loans and CIRR- qualified market loans on commercial terms. CIRR loans are loans granted to borrowers for export projects on terms compliant with an OECD arrangement… Norway in November decided to wind down Eksportfinans after rejecting the lender’s pleas to sidestep European capital rules limiting loans to single industries. The move led Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade the company to junk, roiling credit markets as far away as Japan. The 50-year-old company has about $39 billion in bonds outstanding… The government defended its move to remove support from Eksportfinans as necessary to safeguard financing for the country’s exporters.
