• UNCTAD report urges a rethink of global trade to tackle plastic pollution
• Afreximbank pushes digital payments drive in Central Africa
• JP Morgan and Oracle team up with FedEx on supply chain finance innovation
• Export Finance Australia extends £75m debt facility for infrastructure in SE Asia
• How to crack the UK code: Shipping to the UK from India
• White House Digital Assets Report paves the way for US deregulation

UNCTAD report urges a rethink of global trade to tackle plastic pollution

Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke to Luz María de la Mora, UNCTAD’s Director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities, to find out more about plastics in trade: especially as the UN works to develop an International Legally Binding Instrument (ILBI) on plastic pollution. Read more →

Afreximbank pushes digital payments drive in Central Africa

The African Export-Import Bank has intensified efforts to streamline cross-border trade across Central Africa, bringing together senior banking executives in Douala, Cameroon, this week to advance its digital payment platform, AfPAY. Read more →

JP Morgan and Oracle team up with FedEx on supply chain finance innovation

JP Morgan Payments has launched a supply chain finance solution (SCF) integrated directly into Oracle’s cloud-based enterprise software. Logistics company FedEx is the inaugural client for the new system. Read more →

Export Finance Australia extends £75m debt facility for infrastructure in SE Asia

Export Finance Australia (EFA), Australia’s government export finance and development agency, announced on Friday, 1 August, that it had granted a £75 million debt facility to the Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund (EEAIF), a blended finance fund managed by Private Infrastructure Development Group. Read more →

How to crack the UK code: Shipping to the UK from India

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the UK and India, signed on 24 July, has platformed significant bilateral trade opportunities between the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies. Read more →

White House Digital Assets Report paves the way for US deregulation

In a report released on Wednesday, 30 July, the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets Markets surveyed the current state of US digital assets and their regulatory status and made recommendations that could see a resurgence of the sector in the US. Read more →

• TFG Tariff Tracker 2.0: A recap before the 1 August deadline
• Trafigura and K-SURE collaborate to support Korean shipping companies
• Singapore court dismisses £14m letter of credit fraud claim
• Group of US small business owners sue Trump over tariffs
• Red Sea shipping disruption set to continue with Houthi escalation
• US-EU trade deal: 15% tariffs on EU exports and cars, US faces “zero tariff”

TFG Tariff Tracker 2.0: A recap before the 1 August deadline

Our timeline monitors which countries have negotiated deals (and what they entail), which are facing higher levies, and how often the turbulent past few months have led to where we are now. Read more →

Trafigura and K-SURE collaborate to support Korean shipping companies

The Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE) has signed a $200 million mid- to long-term financing agreement with commodities trading house Trafigura, marking the first time an export credit agency (ECA) has provided financial support based on time charter agreements. Read more →

Singapore court dismisses £14m letter of credit fraud claim

The Singapore Court of Appeals ruled that a Chinese oil trader did not need to reimburse its client’s lender, a Swiss bank, which claimed the oil trader had made fraudulent representations in documents related to a letter of credit. Read more →

Group of US small business owners sue Trump over tariffs

A lawsuit by a group of five small business owners against the Trump administration will be heard by a major US court on Thursday, in what could be a major challenge to US President Donald Trump’s extensive tariff agenda of the past few months. Read more →

Red Sea shipping disruption set to continue with Houthi escalation

Yemen’s Houthi militants announced on Sunday an escalation of attacks on merchant ships, expanding targeting to include vessels belonging to any company conducting business with Israeli ports, regardless of nationality. Read more →

US-EU trade deal: 15% tariffs on EU exports and cars, US faces “zero tariff”

Yesterday, the EU and US finally reached an agreement on a trade deal which will bring tariffs on most EU exports, including cars, to 15% – down from the threatened 30% announced as part of the Liberation Day tariffs. Read more →

• What do SMEs expect, and how can these expectations be met?
• 5 takeaways from the BAFT Global Annual Meeting 2025: The tug-of-war between localisation and collaboration
• VIDEO | Can AI finally fix cross-border payments?
• Development banks: The natural arbiters
• The rise of T-bill agents: What treasurers really want and what they’ve been missing
• Global trade is reducing emissions but increasing air pollution, World Bank report finds
• US and Japan agree new trade deal, automobile industry sees positive signs
• UK trade roundup: Non-EU trade boosts imports as goods exports suffer

What do SMEs expect, and how can these expectations be met?

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) employ over 70% of the world’s workforce, and their supply chains contribute up to 90% of global business. At the same time, they struggle more than anyone to access finance. Read more →

5 takeaways from the BAFT Global Annual Meeting 2025: The tug-of-war between localisation and collaboration

Navigating the trade finance landscape, with constant dodgeballs in the form of geopolitical tensions, regulatory requirements, and threatening technology, requires considerable agility. But this year’s BAFT Global Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC, revealed the considerable opportunity in times of turbulence. Read more →

VIDEO | Can AI finally fix cross-border payments?

Mick Fennell, the business line director for payments at Temenos, shared some insights into this at the Money 20/20 Europe conference in Amsterdam this June. “We see enormous opportunities for AI within the entire payment space, and it’s more of a surgical way of introducing it to various aspects of processing,” he said. Read more →

Development banks: The natural arbiters

The idea is straightforward but powerful: development banks could subsidise and maintain shared compliance infrastructure to facilitate transactions between markets that currently lack the necessary trust architecture. Read more →

The rise of T-bill agents: What treasurers really want and what they’ve been missing

Treasury professionals largely consider T-bills a secure place for corporate cash. 66% of survey respondents said they would feel safer holding T-bills directly in their name, free from counterparty or redemption risk. But only 12% actually do. The rest? Spread across accounts and instruments exposed to counterparty risk. Read more →

Global trade is reducing emissions but increasing air pollution, World Bank report finds

A recent report by the World Bank has found that global trade, especially between developed and developing countries, is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 2.2% annually. However, the opposite effect is seen in emissions of PM2.5, tiny airborne particles responsible for air pollution, which worsen as global trade increases. Read more →

US and Japan agree new trade deal, automobile industry sees positive signs

In what US President Donald Trump has described as “perhaps the largest Deal ever made”, this marks a deescalation from the previously agreed 25% rate – but higher than the 10% rate which was in place while negotiations were ongoing. Read more →

UK trade roundup: Non-EU trade boosts imports as goods exports suffer

UK trade has grown by 3% over the past year, mostly pushed by a 4% rise in imports and increased trade with countries outside of the European Union (EU), according to the Government’s latest report on the UK’s trade data. Read more →

• Trade disruption insurance: A versatile risk transfer product for commodity traders and lenders
• AI and interoperability take centre stage at Surecomp and Traydstream’s Collaborative Trade Finance Innovation Forum
• C-Suite speaks: Arnulf Romann reflects on a quarter century in factoring and receivables
• Germany-China digital trade test executed between Commerzbank, Siemens, and FMS
• UN Commission approves draft legislation on negotiable cargo documents
• VOXPOP | BYOL: Bring your own license models for deploying AI
• EU and Indonesia reach agreement to remove trade barriers
• DP World sign $800m deal to redevelop Syrian Tartus port
• Panama Canal BlackRock sale in jeopardy as China pushes for ownership stake

Trade disruption insurance: A versatile risk transfer product for commodity traders and lenders

TDI covers importers and exporters from losses stemming from force majeure events, political risks, port blockage, and a host of other perils specific to international physical trade transactions. Read more →

AI and interoperability take centre stage at Surecomp and Traydstream’s Collaborative Trade Finance Innovation Forum

During panels, roundtables, and presentations, these five themes came up again and again at the Collaborative Trade Finance Innovation Forum on 18 June, a joint effort between Surecomp and Traydstream. Read more →

C-Suite speaks: Arnulf Romann reflects on a quarter century in factoring and receivables

Arnulf Romann, CEO and co-founder of efcom, discuss this remarkable evolution and the role of technology in reshaping the receivables landscape, coinciding with efcom’s silver jubilee, celebrating a quarter century in the industry. Read more →

Germany-China digital trade test executed between Commerzbank, Siemens, and FMS

The test transaction showcased the exchange of digital original documents between a German exporter and Chinese counterparts, utilising technology from Swedish company Enigio and Chinese trade platform TradeGo. The eBL was processed through systems built on standards from the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA). Read more →

UN Commission approves draft legislation on negotiable cargo documents

The draft convention, approved on Monday, 14 July, during UNCITRAL’s 58th session, addresses a legal gap that has hampered international commerce. Until now, only maritime transport has benefited from widely recognised negotiable documents. Read more →

VOXPOP | BYOL: Bring your own license models for deploying AI

At the Money 20/20 Europe conference in Amsterdam this year, Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke with Anders Meinert Jørgensen, Co-founder & CEO at Avallone, who explained why enterprise clients remain cautious about AI in Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. Read more →

EU and Indonesia reach agreement to remove trade barriers

On Sunday, the EU and Indonesia announced they had reached a “political agreement” on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a deal expected to increase trade between the two countries and remove most tariffs. Read more →

DP World sign $800m deal to redevelop Syrian Tartus port

In one of the largest foreign investments in the war-torn country since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, DP World has secured an $800 million, 30-year concession to redevelop Syria’s Port of Tartus. Read more →

Panama Canal BlackRock sale in jeopardy as China pushes for ownership stake

Chinese officials have threatened to block a massive £18 billion port acquisition by BlackRock which would see the Panama Canal, currently owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchinson, go into American hands, the Wall Street Journal reports. Read more →

• VIDEO | The three-in-one magic of factoring amidst volatility
• Accelerating trade finance automation with AI
• ​​India and the new era of global trade and supply chain finance
• Architects of trust: AI and compliance in Africa’s financial transformation
• VOXPOP | Agentic AI in the future of payments
• U.S. Bank executes its first fully blockchain-based trade finance transaction
• Real-time, real pressure: How banks are building resilience
• India’s UPI payment system expands across UAE in digital finance push

VIDEO | The three-in-one magic of factoring amidst volatility

Speaking at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Annual Meeting in London on 13 May 2025, Çağatay Baydar, Chairman of FCI, was struck by the “vibrant energy” between the countries and companies under EBRD’s remit. Read more →

Accelerating trade finance automation with AI

The focus remains on augmenting human expertise rather than replacing it, ensuring that the technology serves to enhance rather than eliminate the strategic value that experienced trade finance professionals provide. Read more →

India and the new era of global trade and supply chain finance

With the world’s most advanced digital public infrastructure (DPI) and a thriving fintech ecosystem, India is already at the heart of reimagining working capital. Read more →

Architects of trust: AI and compliance in Africa’s financial transformation

There is a precedent in Africa for turning weakness into strength. For instance, the African mobile payments landscape is extremely vibrant: in 2022, mobile money transactions in Africa hit $1 trillion. Legacy infrastructure on the continent was not a limiting factor, and they went straight to digital. Read more →

VOXPOP | Agentic AI in the future of payments

At the Money 20/20 Europe conference in Amsterdam this year, Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke with Rosie McConnell, Product Director at IFX Payments, on the single biggest trend she had observed at this year’s conference. Read more →

U.S. Bank executes its first fully blockchain-based trade finance transaction

The Minneapolis-based bank is the first American lender to execute a transaction using WaveBL, a blockchain platform that enables encrypted document transfers between trading partners and their financial institutions. Read more →

Real-time, real pressure: How banks are building resilience

Focusing on this transformation, Trade Finance Global’s Mahika Ravi Shankar spoke to Erik De Belder, Director of North America and the UK at Vyntra. They discussed how the data-focused fintech company is helping banks gain real-time visibility over their transaction flows. Read more →

India’s UPI payment system expands across UAE in digital finance push

India’s digital payment infrastructure is making inroads into the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the country’s leading fintech organisation advances plans to integrate its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) across the Gulf state’s retail and hospitality sectors. Read more →

• VIDEO | How stable is a stablecoin?
• PODCAST | Sowing the seeds for sustainable finance
• VIDEO | BAFT’s strategic independence in an era of geopolitical complexity
• What Trafigura’s £16m victory means for trade finance
• Unlocking domestic capital markets through DFIs
• Trade credit insurers see record demand as protectionism fragments global commerce: Findings from the Aon’s Credit Solution Market Insight Report
• Oracle introduces trade and supply chain finance cloud services
• VOXPOP | Nigeria as Africa’s fintech and payments hub

VIDEO | How stable is a stablecoin?

At the Money 20/20 Europe conference this year in Amsterdam, TFG spoke to Shane Riedel, founder and CEO of Elucidate, which provides regulatory, compliance, and risk assessment services to the financial industry. Read more →

PODCAST | Sowing the seeds for sustainable finance

The energy transition appears to have been a constant back and forth between opportunities and complex regulatory and ESG challenges, and nowhere is this more pertinent than in commodity finance. TFG spoke with Christine Dirringer, Global Head of Trade and Commodity Finance at Rabobank, about how the industry is evolving to meet these demands. Read more →

VIDEO | BAFT’s strategic independence in an era of geopolitical complexity

After more than two decades under the American Bankers Association (ABA) umbrella, the Bankers’ Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) is charting a new course as an independent organisation. The separation, effective September 2025, will be in response to an increasingly fragmented global financial landscape. Read more →

What Trafigura’s £16m victory means for trade finance

On 23 June, the London High Court ruled that Singaporean commodities giant Trafigura could keep the £16 million it had been given in 2017 by Rasmala Trade Finance Fund, a Dubai-based fund. Read more →

Unlocking domestic capital markets through DFIs

In light of her recent promotion to Partner at Sullivan & Worcester UK LLP, Daniela Barrdear shared her thoughts with TFG about the role that development finance institutions (DFIs) play in emerging market development: harnessing her expertise and background on the subject. Read more →

Trade credit insurers see record demand as protectionism fragments global commerce: Findings from the Aon’s Credit Solution Market Insight Report

Trade credit insurers are bracing for a more challenging environment amidst projected decelerating global economic growth, compounded by uncertain geopolitical trajectories, according to Aon’s Market Insight Report for H1 2025. Read more →

Oracle introduces trade and supply chain finance cloud services

Announced on 30 June, Oracle has launched new cloud-based trade and supply chain finance (SCF) services designed to help banks accelerate lending to corporate clients and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Read more →

VOXPOP | Nigeria as Africa’s fintech and payments hub

Traditional payment systems in Africa are proving costly and inefficient, particularly for cross-border transactions. Read more →