By Esteban Duarte | Updated on Oct 12, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Credit Agricole SA is considering offloading credit risk linked to lending to European car dealerships grappling with cost pressures and the transition to electric vehicles.
The Paris-based lender is conducting a preliminary assessment of investor appetite for a significant risk transfer tied to about €1 billion ($1.12 billion) of floorplan facilities, which dealers use to buy showroom inventory and repay when vehicles are sold, according to people familiar with the matter.
The potential transaction, which may be targeted at insurers, includes so-called stage 2 loans, said the people who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Stage 2 frequently implies that the probability of default has increased significantly since the loans were originated because of a range of factors, including conditions affecting a borrower or sector.
Europe’s automotive industry is navigating pressures ranging from intense Chinese competition, inflation exacerbated by the Iran war, and electrification.
A representative for Credit Agricole declined to comment.
French banks have been hit recently by fallout from a sharp selloff in the country’s government bonds. Shares have underperformed the European market and credit default swap spreads have surged above those of major peers in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.
Meanwhile, demand for SRTs remains robust, despite the hazards involved, as the double-digit coupons they often pay continue to attract new money. That’s allowed lenders to offload credit risk on a growing range of assets at a record pace.
In most SRTs, institutional investors put up cash to cover potential losses on a portion of the reference loans. Still, an increasing number of banks are doing so-called unfunded deals with insurers, which offer a type of credit guarantee instead.
Read more: Insurers Want a Bigger Slice of the Bank Risk Transfer Boom
While the vast majority of transactions are still tied to corporate loans, the strength of demand is allowing lenders to offer greater diversity of collateral, including lending for leveraged buyouts, infrastructure projects and data centers. Stage 2 debt, which is deteriorating but still performing, was included in a deal tied to commercial real estate lending completed by Germany’s Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG late last year.