We areFor Trade

We are for Trade! Our +4,700 experts operate at the very heart of the global economy, and support ~50,000 clients to take informed decisions in their business development, both internationally and in their domestic markets. 

We help our clients to secure their activities in order to build more successful companies, with complete confidence.

Our values

Coface’s culture, which is shared by over 4,700 employees across the world, is founded on four key values.

  • Customer focus: we are dedicated to our clients, and we think of them as partners. We are committed to developing constructive relationships that stand the test of time.
  • Expertise: we have been developing our expertise in credit insurance and risk management for over 75 years - this is what defines us and positions us as a world-class leader.
  • Collaboration: close cooperation – collaborating – is vital to the success of our business. This is how we view the relationships we have with all our internal and external stakeholders.
  • Courage and responsibility: in an unsettled economic world, our experts must act as guides for our clients. To steer them, we must constantly be courageous and responsible.

Our purpose

Our guiding principle: We believe that trade is a force for good in the world, contributing to its prosperity and stability.

Our mission: To facilitate trade by supporting companies to develop their international business.

Coface works with companies wherever they operate and helps them take the right commercial decisions. The services and solutions we offer our clients consolidate their ability to sell by protecting them against the risks of non-payment in their domestic and export markets.

We share a passion for trade, working in close collaboration with our clients to build thriving, dynamic and growing businesses. By helping our clients build stronger companies, we contribute to the smooth-running of the economy – and that’s our purpose!

Our history

  • 1946

    The Compagnie française d’assurance pour le commerce extérieur (Coface) is founded by the French government, which instructs Coface to insure its political, monetary and exceptional trade risks.

  • 1992

    Coface starts to take on an international dimension: Italy (1992), United Kingdom (1994), Germany (1996), Austria (1997), United States (2002)… and in 100 countries worldwide today!

  • 1994

    Most of Coface’s capital is privatised following the privatisation of SCOR, its major shareholder, but the Compagnie continues to manage public guarantees on behalf of the French state.

  • 2002

    Natixis acquires 35.26% of Coface’s capital from SCOR, in the process becoming the majority shareholder.

  • 2006

    Delisted in 2004, Coface becomes a subsidiary of Natixis, the financing, management and financial services bank that is part of the BPCE group.

  • 2012

    Coface Global Solutions (services for multinationals) and TopLiner, additional credit insurance coverage, are launched.

  • 2014

    Coface is listed on the French stock exchange on compartment A of the regulated Euronext Paris market.

    EasyLiner - a 100% digital package for SMEs - comes online.

  • 2017

    Coface transfers the management of public export guarantees to Bpifrance.

  • 2020

    The Build to Lead strategic plan is launched, designed to consolidate the Group's leading role in credit insurance and develop adjacent businesses (information services, debt collection, bonds, factoring and single risk insurance).

    With the acquisition of GIEK Kredittforsikring AS, Coface strengthens its position in the Nordic market.

  • 2019

    Coface seals the acquisition of PKZ, Slovenia’s leading credit insurance provider, and creates a new entity for expansion in Greece.

    COFACE SA is integrated into the SBF120, the flagship index of the Paris Stock Exchange.

  • 2021

    Coface incorporates its strategy into the global framework of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

    Natixis sells part of the capital of Coface SA to the Arch Capital Group Ltd, which now holds 29.5% of the shares.

  • 2022

    Coface creates an entity so it can expand in New Zealand.

  • 2023

    Coface augments its databases with the acquisition of Rel8ed, a company specialising in data analysis in North America, and consolidates its analytical capabilities on behalf of our credit insurance and business information clients.