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Alessandro Rizzo (EuroCaution): Tailored Surety and Guarantees

As an independent broker & product manufacturer specializing in surety & bond insurance, EuroCaution delivers tailored advisory and underwriting services that fully address the unique needs of each client. Alessandro Rizzo, CEO, explains what distinguishes EuroCaution from traditional banks and insurance brokers, focusing on its expertise in financial guarantees for VEFA sales.

"Financial constraints allow insurers, who are subject to different regulations, to offer highly competitive alternative solutions."

Alessandro Rizzo, CEO of EuroCaution

What sets you apart from your competitors?

EuroCaution stands out as the best alternative to traditional banks and insurance brokers for clients seeking efficient, adaptable solutions to their surety and guarantee needs. Serving over 500 active clients in Luxembourg and Belgium, we have built an extensive network of 35 guarantor partners, including insurers, mutual insurers, banks, and reinsurers. We offer our customers a fully digital solution through our E-Cautio portal, allowing them to manage all their bonding lines and submit guarantee requests in one place, anytime—24/7.

Our service model is founded on a rigorous internal methodology designed to maximize service quality and efficiency. Each client begins with a comprehensive review of their existing coverage, whether it is with banks or insurers, to establish a clear understanding of their current and future needs. We also prepare a customized tender, which our analysts carefully review before sharing it with our network of guarantors. Our experienced analysts present it directly to the underwriters at our partner institutions, expediting the decision-making process. Through competitive bidding among our partners, we can offer clients the best terms and conditions on the market. Our experts not only negotiate pricing but also review the legal conditions attached to each offer.

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What are the advantages of using insurer-issued sureties and guarantees?

Surety bonds, the insurance industry’s equivalent of bank guarantees (such as letters of credit), provide key liquidity benefits to banks, companies, and the wider market. They play an important role in reducing capital requirements and preserving valuable liquidity resources, particularly during economic volatility.

With the support of insurers, companies can release their bank commitments and allocate these lines for other purposes, such as project financing, export credits, or investments. The ongoing evolution of prudential regulations, like Basel III and Solvency II, has driven a shift from bank-issued to insurer-issued sureties. Notably, insurers often operate with lower capital requirements than banks—sometimes by a factor of 1 to 3. Financial constraints of banks allow insurers, who are subject to different regulations, to offer highly competitive alternative solutions, often more affordable than those from banks with fewer counter-guarantees.

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As an expert in financial guarantees for VEFA sales, could you elaborate on your approach?

In 2023, the competition authority estimated our market share at over 80%, making us the leading intermediary in Luxembourg. As an financial guarantee product manufacturer, we provide the most competitive financial completion guarantee available. Beyond a standard offer comparable to those from banks, our clients (Real Estate developer) can offer their purchasers additional guarantees. For instance, they can provide buyers with reimbursement of land purchasing costs if a completion guarantee converts by law to a repayment guarantee due to legal or technical issues.

Unlike banks, our developer clients are not required to meet an 80% pre-sale rate, as we offer flexible solutions that enable financial completion guarantees from the point of any level of pre-sale rate, even 1. However, the developer must provide sufficient guarantees for the guarantor to issue a financial guarantee of completion.

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