CESCE

Company introduction

CESCE is a direct insurance and assigned re-assurance against short-term (less than 3 years) commercial risks involved in international business activities; insurance coverage against commercial credit and security risks for national or domestic operations. CESCE is classified as an Export and National credit insurance agency. It specializes in credit insurance and collections, and is the market leader in Spain. This involves providing protection for an exporter against risk of non-payment by a foreign buyer of an export shipment on credit. CESCE provides direct insurance and assigned re-assurance against short-term (less than 3 years) commercial risks involved in international business activities; insurance coverage against commercial credit and security risks for national or domestic operations.

The company is present across Spain through 11 field offices, and with its continued growth is making a stronger presence in the European market. As CESCE is dedicated to International Risk Management through export credits insurance, it has specialized in providing secured services and maintains risk management, in all business aspects, as a fundamental business culture. CESCE is in fact a corporate group of integrated service units. The service processes are threaded through the group, through other external services providers and then to clients.

CESCE has always been in the vanguard in the application of new technologies, providing clients with secure Internet access to services. CESCE understands that by gradually and extensively utilizing E-commerce, the use of new technologies will arm the company with the capacity needed to reinforce client loyalty and increase our business volume. Initially the company had 1,500 clients connected, and eventually they expect to raise the number to 5,000 clients.

As a reflection for its concern for security, the company, whose network maintains confidential information pertaining to clients, relies heavily on cryptographic services in order to assure confidentiality and integrity.

Key personnel

Michael Hall is Partner Director of Forbes Sinclair, in charge of information security projects at CESCE. In 1986, Michael Hall was assigned to work with the Senior Partner's Office of Price Waterhouse's European Firm (the Hague, Paris). Until that time Mr. Hall was a manager in the Management Consulting Services division of PW in Madrid. Mr. Hall was given the task of designing and implementing a new common IT strategy in PW Europe's offices in 16 countries, based on the then nascent LAN technology. Furthermore he was the head of the project team that specified, selected and implemented the project control system still in use in PwC today (i.e. CABS). In 1988 Mr. Hall returned to Price Waterhouse in Madrid to implement the pilot programme for the European Firm. In 1991 Mr. Hall set up a private consulting practice providing long term services for Exel Logistics (Bracknell, UK) , Cambridge University Press, TSAI (Grupo Telefónica) and several manufacturing concerns. Mr. Hall maintained his private practice until the end of 1997 when he created Forbes Sinclair. Mr. Hall guided Forbes Sinclair Spain through three major periods of development; Third Party Security Practice Development (working with clients through other companies), Direct Consulting, and Integrated Services. He also had a role in public forums and conferences, speaking mainly on tendencies in risk management and the impact of the evolution of information technology.