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UK Export Finance (UKEF) has overhauled its supplier credit facility programme to make its support more accessible to the large proportion of SME trade that is financed by non-bank lenders. Launched this week, the British export credit agency’s new standard buyer loan guarantee (SBLG) allows it to guarantee a loan of up to 85% of a UK company’s export contract value, enabling British exporters to get paid upfront while their overseas buyers can repay the loan from their lender over a longer period. The SBLG’s predecessor facility was only available to financiers who had entered into an overarching master guarantee agreement with UKEF. With one exception – the London Forfaiting Company – these were all traditional bank lenders, including HSBC, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered. Under the new scheme, this requirement has been removed, and replaced with transaction specific documentation which caters for alternative lenders. ....