Division 2—Export Payments Insurance Contracts and Guarantees
Export payments insurance contracts in relation to overseas trade.
(1) The Corporation may enter into contracts of insurance with, or for the benefit of, persons carrying on business in Australia, being contracts of insurance against risk of monetary loss or other monetary detriment attributable to circumstances outside the control of the person suffering the loss or detriment and resulting from failure to receive payment in connexion with, or otherwise arising out of, acts or transactions in the course of, or for the purpose of, trade with countries outside Australia.
(2) The Corporation shall not enter into contracts of insurance under sub-section (1) against risks that are normally insured with commercial insurers.
(3) In this section, “trade with countries outside Australia” includes any transaction (including a transaction for the rendering of a service) involving a consideration in money or money’s worth accruing from a person in the course of carrying on business or other activities outside Australia to a person carrying on business or other activities in Australia.
Export payments insurance contracts in relation to trade with external Territories.
(1) The Corporation may enter into contracts of insurance with, or for the benefit of, persons carrying on business in Australia, being contracts of insurance against risk of monetary loss or other monetary detriment attributable to circumstances outside the control of the person suffering the loss or detriment and resulting from failure to receive payment in connexion with, or otherwise arising out of, acts or transactions in the course of, or for the purpose of, trade with an external Territory.
(2) The Corporation shall not enter into contracts of insurance under sub-section (1) against risks that are normally insured with commercial insurers.
(3) In sub-section (1)—
“Australia” does not include an external Territory;
“trade with an external territory” includes any transaction (including a transaction for the rendering of a service) involving a consideration in money or money’s worth accruing from a person in the course of carrying on business or other activities in an external Territory to a person carrying on business or other activities in Australia.
Percentage of loss that may be insured under export payments insurance contracts.
(1) Subject to this section, in a contract of insurance entered into by the Corporation under section 13 or 14, there shall, in relation to each cause of loss to which the contract applies, be specified a percentage as the percentage of the amount of the loss, as defined in the contract, to which the indemnity under the contract extends.
(2) In relation to the one cause of loss, different percentages may be specified as being applicable in respect of loss sustained by reason of the occurrence of the cause at different times.
(3) The regulations may prescribe a percentage as the maximum percentage that may be specified, in pursuance of this section, in a contract of insurance in relation to a cause of loss.
(4) Regulations so made may prescribe different percentages for different classes of contracts and for different causes of loss, and according to different times of occurrence of a cause of loss.
(5) The Minister may, if so requested by the Board in a particular case and if he thinks it appropriate so to do having regard to special circumstances applicable in the case, direct, by instrument in writing, that, in lieu of the percentage that is the maximum percentage applicable in that case under the regulations, such greater percentage as is specified in the instrument shall apply.
Guarantees in relation to export payments insurance contracts.
(1) Where—
(a) the Corporation has entered into, or proposes to enter into, a contract of insurance under section 13 or 14 with, or for the benefit of, any person;
(b the value of the consideration payable to that person in respect of the acts or transactions to which the contract of insurance relates is not less than such amount as is prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph; and
(c) another person has lent, or proposes to lend, moneys to the first-mentioned person for the purpose of financing, in whole or in part, the acts or transactions to which the contract of insurance relates,
the Corporation may, subject to any regulations made by virtue of sub-section (2), guarantee to that other person the repayment of the whole or any part of the moneys lent or to be lent by him and the payment of the whole or any part of any interest or other charges that may become payable to him in respect of those moneys.
(2) The regulations may make provision for limiting the extent to which a guarantee may be given by the Corporation under sub-section (1).
Contracts of indemnity in relation to transactions with overseas countries.
(1) Subject to sub-section (2), the Corporation may enter into a contract with an approved foreign insurer under which an indemnity or guarantee is given to that insurer in respect of the liability of that insurer under a foreign contract of indemnity relating to a transaction involving—
(a) goods exported, or to be exported, from Australia by a person carrying on business in Australia or goods in the production or treatment of which goods so exported, or to be so exported, have been, or are to be, used; or
(b) services rendered, or to be rendered, (whether in or outside Australia) to a person carrying on business outside Australia by a person carrying on business in Australia.
(2) A contract entered into by the Corporation under sub-section (1) shall relate only to such part of the liability of the approved foreign insurer as may reasonably be regarded as related to the goods exported, or to be exported, from Australia or to the services rendered, or to be rendered, by the person carrying on business in Australia.
Contracts of indemnity in relation to transactions with external Territories.
(1) Subject to sub-section (2), the Corporation may enter into a contract with an approved foreign insurer under which an indemnity or guarantee is given to that insurer in respect of the liability of that insurer under a foreign contract of indemnity relating to a transaction involving—
(a) goods exported, or to be exported, from Australia to an external Territory by a person carrying on business in Australia or goods in the production or treatment of which goods so exported, or to be so exported, have been, or are to be, used; or
(b) services rendered, or to be rendered, (whether in Australia or in an external Territory) to a person carrying on business in an external Territory by a person carrying on business in Australia.
(2) A contract entered into by the Corporation under sub-section (1) shall relate only to such part of the liability of the approved foreign insurer as may reasonably be regarded as related to the goods exported, or to be exported, from Australia or to the services rendered, or to be rendered, by the person carrying on business in Australia.
(3) In this section, “Australia” does not include the external Territories.
Guarantees in relation to foreign contracts of indemnity.
(1) Where—
(a) in relation to the export of goods, or the rendering of services, by a person (in this section referred to as “the exporter”), the Corporation has entered into, or proposes to enter into, a contract of indemnity under section 17 or 18 in respect of the liability of an approved foreign insurer under a foreign contract of indemnity;
(b) the exporter is, or is to be, entitled (whether by virtue of an assignment or otherwise) to receive a part of any moneys payable by the approved foreign insurer under the foreign contract of indemnity;
(c) the value of the consideration payable to the exporter in respect of those goods or services is not less than such amount as is prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph; and
(d) another person has lent, or proposes to lend, moneys to the exporter for the purpose of financing, in whole or in part, his acts and transactions in relation to the export of those goods, or the rendering of those services,
the Corporation may, subject to any regulations made by virtue of subsection (2), guarantee to that other person the repayment of the whole or any part of the moneys lent, or to be lent, by him and the payment of the whole or any part of any interest or other charges that may become payable to him in respect of those moneys.
(2) The regulations may make provision for limiting the extent to which a guarantee may be given by the Corporation under sub-section (1).
(1) Subject to sub-section (2), where—
(a) an application is made to the Corporation for a contract of insurance of a kind referred to in section 13 or 14 or a contract of indemnity of a kind referred to in section 17 or 18; and
(b) the proposed contract would impose upon the Corporation a liability that the Corporation is not authorized to undertake, or would not undertake in the ordinary course of business,
(2) The Minister may give directions to the Board with respect to the circumstances or cases in which applications are, or are not, to be referred to him under sub-section (1), and the Board shall comply with any such direction.
(3) Where, in relation to an application referred to the Minister under sub-section (1), the Minister is of opinion that it is in the national interest that the Corporation should enter into a contract of insurance or contract of indemnity, as the case may be, in respect of the matter the subject of the application, the Minister may, by writing under his hand, approve the entering into by the Corporation of such a contract.
(4) An approval under sub-section (3) may contain conditions or directions in relation to the proposed contract (including conditions or directions with respect to the amount of the premium to be charged or the percentage of the amount of the loss to which the insurance or indemnity is to extend).
(5) Where an approval is given under sub-section (3), the Corporation is empowered, notwithstanding anything contained in section 11 or regulations made for the purposes of sub-section 15(3), to enter into a contract in accordance with the approval and, unless the approval is revoked, shall not decline to do so.
(6) The Board may, before the Corporation enters into a contract in accordance with an approval given under sub-section (3), inform the Minister, by notice in writing, that the Corporation will bear such proportion of the liability of the Corporation under the contract as is specified in the notice.
(7) Where a contract is entered into in accordance with an approval under sub-section (3), the Minister shall notify the fact in the Gazette (without reference to the names of the parties to the transaction to which the contract relates), together with particulars of the nature and extent of the liability under the contract.
Guarantees in relation to national interest contracts.
(1) Subject to sub-section (2), where an application is made to the Corporation for the giving of a guarantee in relation to a contract of interest insurance or contract of indemnity entered into, or proposed to be entered into, by the Corporation in accordance with an approval given under sub-section 20(3), the Board may refer the application to the Minister for consideration under sub-section (3).
(2) The Minister may give directions to the Board with respect to the circumstances or cases in which applications are, or are not, to be referred to him under sub-section (1), and the Board shall comply with any such direction.
(3) Where, in relation to an application referred to the Minister under sub-section (1), the Minister is of opinion that it is in the national interest that the Corporation should give a guarantee in respect of the matter the subject of the application, the Minister may, by writing under his hand, approve the giving by the Corporation of such a guarantee.
(4) An approval under sub-section (3) may contain conditions or directions in relation to the proposed guarantee (including conditions or directions with respect to the amount to be charged by the Corporation for the giving of the guarantee or the percentage of the relevant loan to which the guarantee is to extend).
(5) Where an approval is given under sub-section (3), the Corporation is empowered, notwithstanding anything contained in section 11 or regulations made for the purposes of sub-section 16(2) or 19(2), to give a guarantee in accordance with the approval and, unless the approval is revoked, shall not decline to do so.
(6) The Board may, before the Corporation gives a guarantee in accordance with an approval given under sub-section (3), inform the Minister by notice in writing, that the Corporation will bear such proportion
of the liability of the Corporation under the guarantee as is specified in the notice.
(7) Where a guarantee is given in accordance with an approval under sub-section (3), the Minister shall notify the fact in the Gazette (without reference to the names of the parties to the transaction to which the guarantee relates) together with particulars of the nature and extent of the liability under the guarantee.
(8) The Corporation shall not give a guarantee in relation to a contract of insurance or contract of indemnity entered into by the Corporation in accordance with an approval given under sub-section 20(3) except in accordance with an approval given under sub-section (3) of this section.
(9) For the purposes of this section, a guarantee shall be deemed to relate to a contract of insurance or contract of indemnity, as the case may be, entered into by the Corporation in accordance with an approval given under sub-section 20(3) if it is given in respect of moneys lent for the purpose of financing, whether in whole or in part, the acts or transactions to which that contract relates.