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Surety solutions
What is Surety?
Surety is an obligation by a financial institution (which for our purposes is an insurance company) to guarantee the contractual or commercial obligations of one party, the Principal, to another, the Beneficiary.
Surety bonds can be required under the terms of a contract, or in accordance with statutory or licensing requirements, to secure the performance of the Principal in its commercial or contractual obligations to the Beneficiary.
As illustrated below, a surety bond is a tri-partite agreement issued by an insurer, the Surety, providing monetary compensation to the Beneficiary in the event that the Principal fails to perform its contractual or commercial obligations.
A counter-indemnity is taken from the Principal (and potentially its parent company) allowing the Surety to seek reimbursement in the event the Surety has to pay a claim under the surety bond.
Other service benefits:
- Pricing: consistently delivering competitive terms.
- Market influence: as a leading income generator to the surety insurers we have excellent buying power.
- Bespoke solutions: surety solutions for challenging, innovative and complex transactions.
- Global & local solutions: facilities on a local, regional or global basis.
- Delivery capacity: access to all major providers ensures all capacity options are fully explored.
- Industry expertise: expertise across multiple industry sectors.
- Syndication: organisation of multiple surety capacity to meet large surety bond requirements.
- Document analysis: market leading surety bond review capabilities including the analysis of contract.
- Facility management: full service administration of all day to day surety bond needs and arrangement of competitive surety bond facilities.
Types of Surety bonds
Surety is traditionally divided into two categories
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Surety bonds are widely used and are a critical financial tool in many industries:
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Why are insurer issued surety bonds superior to bank surety?
Bonds issued by a bank diminish available headroom underlines of credit and can limit opportunities for growth.
Insurers generally issue surety bonds on an unsecured basis, being provided on the assessment of a company's financial strength and proven track record.
The issuance of surety bonds by an insurer does not impact working capital or bank borrowing facilities, and therefore can provide a useful boost to a company's liquidity.
Meet the team
Managing Director | Head of SuretyJames has largely focused on working with large international, Top 250 E&C firms, who previously solely relied upon the banking market to support their guarantee obligations. James has structured solutions for these companies via bank fronting and syndication – most notably with Petrofac, Tecnicas and Mainstream over the past twelve months where he has been involved in arranging over $1 billion worth of capacity.
Global Practice Leader for SuretyGlobal Practice Leader for SuretyAzman Noorani is the Global Practice Leader for Surety. With a career spanning 26 years at Swiss Re, Azman brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to Howden. He began his career at Swiss Re as a Credit and Surety Reinsurer before transitioning to direct insurance, leading the Credit and Political Risk Insurance business. Most recently, he served as the Global Head of Surety at Swiss Re. Azman’s appointment marks a significant step in expanding Howden’s existing Surety capabilities. He is instrumental in establishing a Global Surety Practice, aimed at delivering exceptional service and innovative solutions to clients worldwide.
Executive Director | Head of SyndicationsExecutive Director | Head of SyndicationsWarren Withfield is a Loan Market specialist with over 20 years’ experience in Corporate and Investment Banking. He previously worked in Trade Finance for Investec and Corporate coverage for Commerzbank before joining MUFG where he spent the past 17 years in their Loan Syndications Origination team within MUFG Securities. Warren has recently joined Howden CAP to establish a dedicated Global Syndication desk supporting corporate clients, banks and sovereigns with bank-surety syndication transactions.
Executive Director | Head of Bank FrontingExecutive Director | Head of Bank FrontingPatrick is a senior FIG and investment banker with over 30 years’ experience across capital markets and insurance banking. Joining Howden after 8 years at ANZ, Patrick supports in the creation of a dedicated bank fronting desk in order to support clients’ bank guarantee and SBLC requirements globally, as well as assisting partner sureties and partner brokers.
Executive Director | Head of Natural Resources DeskExecutive Director | Head of Natural Resources DeskChris leads the dedicated Natural Resources Desk for Howden Surety which was created in order to support natural resources’ clients bank guarantee and SBLC requirements globally. For the last 14 years Chris has covered ANZ’s natural resources clients – his last role was as Head of REI Europe.
Chris is a senior corporate banker with over 30 years’ experience covering clients in Europe, America and Australia. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1998, has a Masters degree in Economics and prior to ANZ worked at PwC (corporate advisory and audit) and started his professional career as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Executive Director | In House SolicitorExecutive Director | In House SolicitorMatthew is an In-House Solicitor and Executive Director sitting within the Surety team in London. Matthew is involved in all aspects of the Surety business and in particular structuring transactions and reviewing and analysing counter-indemnities, bonded contracts and guarantee wordings. Before joining Howden, Matthew worked in private practice as a corporate and commercial solicitor at Maxwell Winward (now Mills & Reeve LLP) and Trowers & Hamlins.
Executive Director | Head of PlacementExecutive Director | Head of PlacementWith over 8 years’ experience in the surety market, Tom has significant experience across domestic and international guarantee requirements, both on a direct and syndicated basis. Tom supports many multi-nationals and FTSE 250 companies with their guarantee requirements both in the UK and globally, including the US.
Divisional Director | Head of Africa and Emerging MarketsDivisional Director | Head of Africa and Emerging MarketsKevin has 27 years of investment banking experience having structured credit solutions for multi-nationals and syndicated risk amongst a diverse range of institutions. Kevin utilises his holistic understanding of credit and insurance markets to deliver the most optimal terms for clients.
Divisional Director | Trade Finance Lead (Bank Guarantees and SBLCs)Divisional Director | Trade Finance Lead (Bank Guarantees and SBLCs)Marc is a trade finance specialist with over 10 years’ experience in corporate banking with Barclays and NatWest. Prior to joining Howden, Marc applied his trade finance expertise in a corporate environment establishing Lightsource bp’s global trade finance function. In his current role, Marc works with clients globally to structure and execute guarantee and SBLC facilities working with both banks and sureties.
Divisional DirectorDivisional DirectorVanessa is Divisional Director for International Surety, focusing on Bank Fronting & Syndication solutions. She is specialised in banking and financing, with strong experience in ECM, DCM and cross-border M&A transactions, as well as LMA syndicated facilities, having worked for financial institutions and multinational corporations across different jurisdictions.
Divisional Director | Head of Business DevelopmentCerys joined the Howden Surety team in 2016 and is responsible for driving the new business initiatives and client development of the Surety team both in the UK and globally. Cerys has over 10 years’ experience in the Surety industry and over 25 years’ experience of business development in a variety of industry sectors from commercial real estate and construction to IT.
Divisional DirectorDivisional DirectorDanielle joined Howden in May 2022 from QBE, where she spent just under 8 years in the surety team, starting as an underwriting assistant in 2014, and departing in 2022 as a senior underwriter. Danielle has significant experience in bonding UK construction clients, as well as more non-standard transactions and schemes.
Associate Director | Head of Mining DeskAssociate Director | Head of Mining DeskJames is a Mining Engineer from Australia and has seven years of experience in underground mining operations. James has a strong foundation in the mining industry. While studying at the University of Wollongong and then completing the distinguished BHP graduate programme and substantive leadership roles thereafter, James worked in all facets of some of the most technically challenging and successful operations in the southern coalfields of New South Wales, Australia. In order to diversify his life experience while he was flexibly able to, James moved to the UK and added to his operational and leadership experience with senior management roles in the ever challenging UK rail industry. James has now returned to his mining roots by joining Howden as the Head of Mining Desk and is the operational expertise in the team.
Associate Director | Head of Oil & GasAssociate Director | Head of Oil & GasNicole is a Petroleum Engineer specializing in Reservoir Engineering. She began her career with two mid-cap exploration and production companies before transitioning into reservoir engineering consulting. Subsequently, she moved into the corporate finance sector - joining a boutique advisory firm where she provided mergers and acquisitions (M&A), asset acquisition and divestiture (A&D), and capital-raising support within the energy sector.
Nicole’s unique combination of technical expertise and financial acumen allows her to deliver valuable insights into upstream asset valuation, portfolio optimization, and energy transition strategies. As the Head of the Oil & Gas Desk, she leverages her knowledge to guide well-rounded, data-driven, and strategic decision-making.
Nicole holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering and a Master of Science in Reservoir Evaluation and Management. Beyond her role at Howden, she serves as Vice President of the Scottish Energy Forum, sits on the industry advisory board of the Society for Low Carbon Technologies, and is an active angel investor.
Associate DirectorAssociate DirectorAbigail is a senior broker within the Surety team at Howden, working with UK & Ireland clients from SME’s to multi-nationals to support their bonding requirements. Abigail is responsible for the management of client’s day to day surety needs which includes establishing and managing facilities, reviewing contract wordings, obtaining competitive terms and finding the best solutions for their transactions.
Associate DirectorAssociate DirectorFrankie joined Howden in 2023 from private practice where she worked as a solicitor in banking and finance, advising lender and borrower clients on a range of finance transactions. Frankie brings her extensive banking and finance experience to the surety market, with a particular focus on complex international transactions, LMA-style documentation, and structuring solutions such as syndication or bank-fronting requirements.
Senior Associate | Business DevelopmentSenior Associate | Business Development
Senior Account ExecutiveSenior Account Executive
Senior Account ExecutiveSenior Account ExecutiveSam has been involved in a number of our large structured transactions for our international clients. Sam has gained experience in producing credit memos, drafting and reviewing bond wordings and facility agreements, as well as building strong relationships with the wider surety markets.
Account ExecutiveAccount ExecutiveCharles joined Howden at the end of 2021 as one of three graduate hires for the team. He has an educational background in Law and attended the University of Bristol. Since joining, he has worked primarily in the international team, helping to support our clients with their global guarantee needs. In particular, he has focused on structuring bank-fronted solutions, as well helping to grow our presence in Africa.
Senior BrokerSenior BrokerAimee is a senior broker specialising in sophisticated surety solutions for clients with international bonding requirements. Holding a law degree, she brings strategic legal and commercial insight to transactions, advising on bonding structures, risk allocation, and facility management. She has experience across bilateral surety-only facilities, as well as fronted and syndicated structures, collaborating closely with banking partners to deliver integrated solutions for multinational clients.
BrokerBrokerEason joined the Surety team in October 2022 and works primarily with clients across the UK and Ireland. He works closely with clients and insurers to structure, place, and manage surety facilities both regionally and on a global basis.
With a strong focus on accuracy and client service, Eason delivers reliable surety solutions that support clients’ ongoing commercial and contractual requirements.