Panamerican Surety Association

What Panamerican Surety Association does

PASA (Asociación Panamericana de Fianzas / Panamerican Surety Association) is a Swiss-domiciled, non-profit professional trade association serving the surety bond, guarantee insurance, credit insurance, and reinsurance industry across the Americas and selected markets in Europe and Asia. Founded in 1972, it is organized as a Swiss civil law association (Verein) under Swiss Civil Code Article 60 et seq., with its legal seat in Zurich and operational headquarters in Buenos Aires. The association's stated purpose is to foster technical cooperation, develop underwriting standards, disseminate statistical and regulatory intelligence, and provide professional education specific to its niche industry — a role that its statutes assign to it as the only regional body of its kind.

PASA's product portfolio is service-based rather than technology-based and centers on recurring member-facing programs: the multi-level PASA School (Fianzas 1, 2, 3 and Seguro de Crédito), annual Technical Seminars, the rotating annual General Assembly (the XXXVIII edition is scheduled for Asunción, Paraguay in May 2027), the weekly Boletín Semanal industry bulletin (running continuously into the 850+ issue range by 2026), the Carlos Dupont research competition (USD 5,000 prize), a bilingual Spanish-English Glossary of Surety Terms hosted on a public-facing microsite, webinars (Country Day series co-developed with ALASECE), case studies, booklets, and a members-only attorney database. The association also has an active research stream exploring blockchain technology applications for surety bonds and maintains a collaborative research relationship with ICISA (the International Credit Insurance & Surety Association), most visibly through a joint whitepaper on the "Extend or Pay" clause in surety bond underwriting.

The business model is a classic non-dues-disclosed membership association: PASA is funded by annual membership dues set by its Executive Committee, with membership categories for Active (operating insurers/reinsurers) and Associate (state-run insurers, ECAs) members. The organization is governed by elected officers drawn from its member companies — its current President (elected 2025) represents Crédito y Caución (Spain), its First Vice President represents AXA XL (Switzerland), and its Second Vice President represents Junto Resseguros (Brazil). The association claims 80+ member companies spanning 19+ countries, with marquee participants including AXA XL, Munich Re, Swiss Re, Coface Re, Atradius, Chubb, HDI, Tokio Marine, Berkley, Travelers, Liberty Mutual, and Hamilton Insurance Group. The operating footprint is supported by only 8 staff, reflecting the lean, member-driven governance model characteristic of small professional associations.

Name

Panamerican Surety Association

Legal name

Asociación Panamericana de Fianzas

Website

https://apfpasa.ch

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PASA is a Swiss-domiciled non-profit trade association serving 80+ surety bond, credit insurance, and reinsurance companies across 19+ countries, providing training programs, technical standards, working committees, weekly market bulletins, and the annual General Assembly to the Americas market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Trade Association Services (Surety & Credit Insurance)

NAICS

Finance and Insurance (52), Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage (5231)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPADACAF

Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) & Trade Finance Institutions

Business & Public Services/International Organizations & Development/International Financial Institutions & Development Banks

Keywords

• Surety bonds association
• Credit insurance association
• Industry training programs
• Trade association events
• Member research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Buenos Aires

HQ country

Argentina

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: PASA's primary revenue stream consists of annual membership fees paid by Active and Associate Members. The statutes specify that the Executive Committee sets the amount of membership dues (Cláusula 17.h). The association is a Swiss Verein (civil law association) and is non-profit in nature.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

PASA is a professional membership association that serves surety bond, guarantee insurance, and credit insurance companies across the Americas. It sells access to a structured portfolio of industry services: multi-level training programs (PASA School), annual General Assemblies and Technical Seminars, working committees for standards development, an annual research contest (Carlos Dupont), weekly market bulletins, a bilingual glossary, an attorney directory, and joint research with ICISA. Its sole commercial transaction is paid membership in the association.

Product overview

The Panamerican Surety Association (PASA) is a professional industry association serving the surety bond and credit insurance sector across the Americas. Rather than a unified software product, PASA offers a portfolio of educational services and industry resources including the PASA School (Escuela PASA) with multi-level certification courses in Fianzas and Credit Insurance; annual Technical Seminars and General Assemblies for professional development and networking; the Carlos Dupont Research Award competition; a bilingual Glossary of Surety Terms; an attorney database; case studies; webinars; and weekly industry news bulletins. PASA also collaborates with ICISA on joint research projects and explores emerging technologies like blockchain for surety bonds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PASA School (Escuela PASA) Certification Program Multi-level in-person certification program offering training in Fianzas (Surety Bonds) levels 1, 2, and 3 and Credit Insurance for member company staff and trainees. Includes syllabi and training history, targeting underwriters and operational staff of surety and credit insurance carriers.
• PASA General Assembly Annual international meeting of member company representatives combining academic sessions, workshops, networking, and the General Assembly business meeting. Held in a different host country each year across the Americas and Europe. Targets senior leadership of member insurance and reinsurance firms.
• PASA Technical Seminar on Surety Bonds and Credit Insurance Annual regional technical seminar focused on specific technical topics in surety bonds and credit insurance, with an emphasis on Latin American regional concerns. Combined with the PASA School training sessions. Targets mid-level officers and operational specialists of member companies.
• Weekly Industry Bulletin (Boletín Semanal) Weekly publication summarizing regional surety bond and credit insurance market statistics, regulatory developments, and industry news across Latin America. Distributed via email to members and industry contacts.
• Carlos Dupont Research Contest Annual research competition awarding USD 5,000 (first prize) and USD 1,500 (special mention) for academic papers on surety bond and credit insurance topics. Targets industry professionals and university students. Winning papers are presented at the General Assembly and published on the members-only website.
• Bilingual Glossary of Surety Terms Publicly available bilingual (Spanish-English) reference glossary providing generally accepted definitions of key surety concepts with synonyms and cross-references. Targets sureties, contractors, intermediaries, beneficiaries, and reinsurers, with focus on contract bonds.
• Attorney Database Member-accessible directory of legal professionals specializing in surety and credit insurance matters across the Americas, providing member companies with vetted counsel referrals.
• PASA Educational Publications (Booklets and Books) Published educational materials including the Booklet Surety Bonds and Basic Concepts of Credit Insurance, distributed as downloadable PDFs to members and the public.
• Country Day Webinars Virtual webinar sessions covering country-specific surety and credit insurance topics, jointly developed with ALASECE. Available to members and industry professionals.
• ICISA Joint Technical Projects Joint technical documents with ICISA (International Credit Insurance & Surety Association), including analysis of the Extend or Pay clause for surety bond underwriting on long-term contracts such as large infrastructure projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 80 member companies from 19+ countries participate in PASA's programs and events
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ICISA (International Credit Insurance & Surety Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPASA collaborates with ICISA on joint projects of mutual interest in the credit insurance and surety bond industry. Joint deliverables include a technical whitepaper on the 'Extend or Pay' clause in surety bond underwriting, addressing the challenge of granting coverage for long-term contracts such as large infrastructure projects. The committees of both associations jointly produced this document analyzing the implications of the clause and providing practical guidance for risk mitigation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP): US-based association for surety bond producers with education, advocacy, and networking programs analogous to PASA's portfolio. Operates the Surety Information Office and is a useful comparable for member-services monetization.
• International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA): Global trade association for the credit insurance and surety industry, headquartered in Amsterdam. PASA's closest analog at the global level and explicit partner on joint whitepapers, making it the most direct comparable in mission, member profile, and product mix.
• Surety Association of Canada: Canadian national surety industry association with overlapping members (e.g., Travelers, Chubb). Provides a regional peer benchmark for educational programming and member engagement in the surety vertical.
• ALASECE (Asociación Latinoamericana de Seguros de Crédito a la Exportación): Latin American export credit insurance association with overlapping membership and joint Country Day webinars with PASA. Targets the same member base with a narrower credit-insurance focus, making it the closest functional peer in the region.
• Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA): US national trade association for sureties, comparable in member profile and advocacy mission but jurisdictionally limited to the United States. Provides a benchmark for PASA's product mix of advocacy, education, and statistical reporting.

Broad incumbents

• International Underwriting Association (IUA): London-based association representing corporate and specialty insurers, including surety and credit lines. A broader incumbent covering multiple lines of business with overlap on the surety/credit insurance member subset.
• Reinsurance Association of America (RAA): US-based trade association for reinsurers including many PASA members (Munich Re, Swiss Re, Hannover Re). A broader incumbent in the reinsurance space that partially overlaps with PASA's membership.
• Insurance Europe: European insurance and reinsurance federation whose members include several PASA member companies. A broad incumbent representing the European regulatory and policy environment that materially shapes LatAm surety underwriting standards.

Regional players

• Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Garantias Contratuais (ABEG): Brazilian national surety industry association covering contract guarantee providers. Geographic peer operating in the largest single LatAm surety market, complementary rather than directly competing with PASA's Pan-American scope.
• Aseguradora de Cauciones (subset — Cámara de Aseguradores de Chile A.G.): Chilean insurance industry chamber representing domestic sureties. A regional peer that interacts with PASA's Chilean members and provides a comparable trade-association structure at the national level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/apf-pasa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Panamerican Surety Association