NOTE 6—FINANCING RECEIVABLE

The financing receivable relates to proceeds receivable from the sale of trade accounts receivable under the Factoring Facility, net of advances taken against the sales proceeds and administrative fees and costs. The following table presents the information about the Factoring Facility and financing receivable as of December 31, 2017 and 2016:


	December 31,
(In millions)	2017		2016
Balance, beginning of period	$	28.4	$	32.7
Sales of trade accounts receivable		385.9		354.9
Proceeds from sales of trade accounts receivable		(389.5)		(349.2)
Advances, net against financing receivable		(12.4)		(8.5)
Currency translation adjustments		4.1		(1.5)
Balance, end of period	$	16.5	$	28.4

On February 27, 2015, an indirect wholly owned German subsidiary of Real Alloy, entered into the €50.0 million Factoring Facility, which provides for nonrecourse sales of certain of its trade accounts receivables to a financial institution, subject to certain limitations and eligibility requirements. The Factoring Facility has a termination date of January 15, 2019. On November 15, 2017, Real Alloy Germany entered into an Amendment Agreement to the Factoring Facility to eliminate a cross-default under such facility in the event that Real Alloy became a debtor-in-possession under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, provided that Real Alloy enters into a DIP credit agreement approved by a bankruptcy court.

Prior to the collection of proceeds from the transferred receivables, advances against such proceeds are available to the Real Alloy subsidiary, subject to certain limitations and eligibility requirements. Such advances, which total $25.1 million and $11.3 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, are recorded as a reduction to the financing receivable in the consolidated balance sheets, due to the counterparty’s right of set off.

The interest rate applicable to advances under the Factoring Facility is the three-month EURIBOR (daily rate) fixed on the last business day of a month for the following month, plus 1.65%. Interest expense on advances was $0.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2017, and $0.1 million in each of the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015.