TRANSFERS OF FINANCIAL ASSETS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Accounts Receivable Securitization Facilities

The Company historically sold trade accounts receivable of select North American entities and qualifying trade accounts receivable of select European entities on a revolving basis to certain multi-seller commercial paper conduit entities ("conduits"). The proceeds received were comprised of cash and interests in specified assets of the conduits (the receivables sold by the Company) that entitled the Company to the residual cash flows of such specified assets in the conduits after the commercial paper had been repaid. Neither the conduits nor the investors in those entities had recourse to other assets of the Company in the event of nonpayment by the debtors.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company suspended further sales of trade accounts receivable through these facilities and began reducing outstanding balances through collections of trade accounts receivable previously sold to such conduits. In September and October 2018, the North American and European facilities, respectively, were amended and the terms of the agreements changed from off-balance sheet arrangements to secured borrowing arrangements. See Note 16 for additional information on the secured borrowing arrangements.

In 2018, the Company recognized a loss of $7 million on the sale of these receivables (loss of $25 million in 2017), which is included in “Interest expense and amortization of debt discount” in the consolidated statements of income. There were no sales of receivables through these facilities in 2019.

Following is an analysis of certain cash flows between the Company and the conduits:



Cash Proceeds
In millions	2018		2017
Sale of receivables	$	—	$	1
Collections reinvested in revolving receivables	$	—	$	21,293
Interests in conduits ¹	$	657	$	9,462


1.	Presented in "Investing Activities" in the consolidated statements of cash flows.

North America Accounts Receivable Program

The Company maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in North America (“North America A/R Program”) with various financial institutions, which expires in November 2022. Under the terms of the North America A/R Program, the Company may sell certain eligible trade accounts receivable, up to $900 million, at any point in time. The Company continues to service the receivables from the customer, but retains no interest in the receivables, and remits payment to the financial institutions. The Company also provides a guarantee to the financial institutions for the creditworthiness and collection of the receivables in satisfaction of the facility. See Note 17 for additional information related to guarantees. There were no receivables sold during the year ended December 31, 2019.