Congratulations on pulling off the deal and on having had the courage of your convictions to confront your senior management.  (I hope they aren't reading this).  

In my experience such courage generally works out for the better provided there is no loss of face for any of the senior people involved.  They will be able to congratulate themselves for still engaging in some of their core activity.  Sometimes you have to push the boat out to get a new policy, or a new approach to banking, accepted as within the established norms and risks of doing business.

What use is a bank to anyone if it doesn't want to bank any more?  Senior management are making themselves redundant if they no longer have the courage to engage in quantifiable risks at a profitable price.

Accounting isn't my field, but it should be possible to put a value (in the balance sheet) on future cash flows with a known risk attached to them.  On that basis the deal is either Bank assets value enhancing, or it is not.  Since it is the role of management to add value, this one sounds a no brainer.

In fact, if I were managing the ECA, I would be questioning why we cut the bank in on the deal at all...

notes from no w here