Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG:
- PODCAST | You can’t predict the weather, but you can insure for it: Credit insurance and the future of energy
- First Brands Group’s bankruptcy and the dangers of improper trade finance accounting
- PODCAST | Notches on the Belt and Road: Asian approaches to investment in Africa
- Strikes, protests, and Red Sea developments place European shipping in jeopardy
- Moldova becomes 41st member of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)
- Sibos 2025: Clearstream and Vyntra partner to improve transaction transparency
PODCAST | You can’t predict the weather, but you can insure for it: Credit insurance and the future of energy
In a conversation with Trade Finance Global (TFG), Madeleine Whiteley, Senior Client Manager at Aon, explored how credit insurance is helping energy clients navigate volatility, adapt to the transition to renewables, and manage the uncertainties that define today’s market. Read more →
First Brands Group’s bankruptcy and the dangers of improper trade finance accounting
According to documents seen by the Financial Times, the company held $2.3 billion in factoring facilities and $682 million in supply chain finance (SCF) at the end of 2024, alongside more than $8 billion in debt and inventory-backed financing through related entities. Read more →
PODCAST | Notches on the Belt and Road: Asian approaches to investment in Africa
In a grocery store in Cape Town, Korean instant noodles and ice cups sit alongside local biltong. “The younger generation is observing on social media, and has now created a demand for, these items,” observed Zaynab Hoosen, Senior Africa Analyst at Pangea Risk, of her home town. Read more →
Strikes, protests, and Red Sea developments place European shipping in jeopardy
Supply chain disruption and industrial action have, in the last week, demonstrated the fragility of maritime shipping across Europe, exacerbating an already uncertain situation for international maritime logistics companies. The fates of Maersk, the global shipping giant, exemplify the situation. Read more →
Moldova becomes 41st member of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)
Moldova became a full member of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) today on Monday, 6 October, allowing citizens and businesses to process euro transfers at the same rates and speeds as those in European Union (EU) member states. Read more →
Sibos 2025: Clearstream and Vyntra partner to improve transaction transparency
Vyntra and Clearstream, the global post-trade services provider, signed an agreement at the Sibos conference in Frankfurt, Germany, to strengthen operational control and improve transparency and compliance. Read more →
TFG Weekly Trade Briefing, 6th October 2025
- VIDEO | Trends in and tricks of the trade
- Sibos 2025: HSBC Asset Management’s Trade and Working Capital Solutions launch in collaboration with its Global Trade Solutions business
- Beyond the balance sheet: How CFOs and treasurers are transforming working capital into growth capital
- The road to faster payments: Latest trends in transaction banking
- Sibos 2025: Barclays partners with CGI and Komgo to digitise its trade finance operations
- Sibos 2025: Visa pilots stablecoin prefunding for faster cross-border payments
- Sibos 2025: LSEG’s World-Check On Demand set to transform risk intelligence data
- Sibos 2025: Temenos launches AI-powered payments and accounts management platform
VIDEO | Trends in and tricks of the trade
At the 2025 Sibos conference in Frankfurt, Germany, Mahika Ravi Shankar, Deputy Editor at Trade Finance Global, spoke to Andrew Bateman, Executive Vice President of Finastra’s Lending Business Unit, about the key trends shaping trade finance and how institutions can stay ahead of the rapid changes driven by AI. Read more →
Sibos 2025: HSBC Asset Management’s Trade and Working Capital Solutions launch in collaboration with its Global Trade Solutions business
HSBC Asset Management (HSBC AM), the investment management business of the HSBC Group, has today launched its Trade and Working Capital Solutions strategy. Read more →
Beyond the balance sheet: How CFOs and treasurers are transforming working capital into growth capital
In today’s unpredictable economic environment, corporate liquidity management is more high-stakes than ever. The latest Visa Working Capital Index reveals a profound shift in how CFOs and treasurers are shaping the future of working capital management. Read more →
The road to faster payments: Latest trends in transaction banking
At the 2025 Sibos conference in Frankfurt, Germany, Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke to Surath Sengupta, Head of Transaction Banking Products at Lloyds Bank, to hear about the most exciting recent developments in transaction banking, the industry’s biggest highlights in the past few years, and what’s to come. Read more →
Sibos 2025: Barclays partners with CGI and Komgo to digitise its trade finance operations
Barclays has struck a partnership with Canadian IT consultancy CGI to integrate digital trade finance platforms, as the UK lender seeks to modernise operations and meet growing corporate demand for automated financial services. Read more →
Sibos 2025: Visa pilots stablecoin prefunding for faster cross-border payments
At the Sibos 2025 conference in Frankfurt, Germany, Visa announced it would launch a stablecoin prefunding pilot through Visa Direct, its real-time digital payments network. Read more →
Sibos 2025: LSEG’s World-Check On Demand set to transform risk intelligence data
LSEG Risk Intelligence, the provider of risk management solutions, has launched World-Check On Demand, a real-time risk intelligence platform designed to transform how financial institutions access sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs), adverse media, and enforcement actions data. Read more →
Sibos 2025: Temenos launches AI-powered payments and accounts management platform
As fintechs began to rise in the early 2010s, it was clear that the position of traditional banks in global finance was about to change. Discourse in and out of the industry focused on the chances of fintechs killing bank branches. Read more →
TFG Weekly Trade Briefing, 29th September 2025
- VIDEO | 25 years of supply chain finance: A journey to unlock liquidity
- Leasing: The lesser-known path to greater liquidity
- VIDEO | Growing economies, widening gap: Increasing access to trade finance in Africa
- Interoperability as the bridge: Africa’s SMEs can thrive in a new era of cross-border trade
- VIDEO | Financing growth in an uncertain world
- Lessons from the June 2025 Israel-Iran conflict: The impact of geopolitical shocks on global logistics
- VIDEO | Industry leaders chart trade finance through the stormy seas of global volatility
- The remittance race: Have fintechs outpaced traditional banks?
VIDEO | 25 years of supply chain finance: A journey to unlock liquidity
Supply chain finance has always been crucial in creating working capital solutions for companies. However, as established supply chains are buffeted by events such as COVID-19 or structural shifts caused by the impact of US tariffs, supply chain finance will play an increasingly crucial role in facilitating negotiations and enabling trade. Read more →
Leasing: The lesser-known path to greater liquidity
Did you know that the leasing industry is projected to reach over £291 billion by 2030? Despite its growing importance, many businesses and banks often overlook its strategic potential. Read more →
VIDEO | Growing economies, widening gap: Increasing access to trade finance in Africa
According to the World Bank Group, over a billion people in different countries have been lifted out of poverty through open trade policies. This could have been more, but the trade finance gap has constantly clogged the wheel of global trade productivity. Read more →
Interoperability as the bridge: Africa’s SMEs can thrive in a new era of cross-border trade
Walk into any small business in Lagos, Nairobi, or Johannesburg, and you’ll see the same thing: ambition trumping circumstance. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up the majority of businesses across the continent, such as in sub-Saharan Africa where they account for 95% of all registered businesses and contribute 50% of the total GDP. Read more →
VIDEO | Financing growth in an uncertain world
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), uncertainty is the “watchword.” Late-stage globalisation means the global market is extremely sensitive to the actions of one country. Read more →
Lessons from the June 2025 Israel-Iran conflict: The impact of geopolitical shocks on global logistics
In June 2025, Israel’s strikes on Iranian targets and Iran’s retaliatory attacks sent shockwaves through global logistics networks. Brent crude jumped more than 10%, airlines rerouted flights to avoid conflict zones, and the threat of a Strait of Hormuz closure. Read more →
VIDEO | Industry leaders chart trade finance through the stormy seas of global volatility
Everywhere you look seems to be, in a word, volatile. The trade finance industry continues to grapple with a $2.5 trillion trade finance gap, constraining economic growth for those who most need it. Yet, the trade finance industry is demonstrating remarkable resilience. Read more →
The remittance race: Have fintechs outpaced traditional banks?
As fintechs began to rise in the early 2010s, it was clear that the position of traditional banks in global finance was about to change. Discourse in and out of the industry focused on the chances of fintechs killing bank branches. Read more →
TFG Weekly Trade Briefing, 22nd September 2025
- PODCAST | Tariffs, inside and out
- VIDEO | What has been the single biggest trend at ITFA Singapore 2025?
- Surecomp and Finverity partner for end-to-end integrated trade and supply chain finance
- VIDEO | Trade ecosystems, reimagined: Accelerating trade finance digitalisation over the next 25 years
- Over half of UK firms ended supplier relationships due to tariffs, says new Agiloft report
- VIDEO | 25 years of trade distribution: Regulation, resilience, and renewal
- Is trade finance ready for AI?
- UK Law Commission closes consultation on DLT, electronic trade documents
PODCAST | Tariffs, inside and out
Tariffs have evolved from a more specialised economic tool to one gaining political and ideological ramifications, generating renewed and expanded interest in them. Read more →
VIDEO | What has been the single biggest trend at ITFA Singapore 2025?
As you will see, the most common answer was “collaboration”. Yes, there is volatility. But stakeholders across the trade ecosystem recognise this, and for everyone involved, a solution is required. Read more →
Surecomp and Finverity partner for end-to-end integrated trade and supply chain finance
Digital trade finance solutions provider Surecomp announced yesterday it would partner with Finverity, a London-based supply chain finance technology firm, to provide banks and financial institutions with fully integrated, end-to-end trade and supply chain finance processing. Read more →
VIDEO | Trade ecosystems, reimagined: Accelerating trade finance digitalisation over the next 25 years
Recent tariff and regulatory developments are making trade technology, once the forgotten little brother of treasury management, into a crucial tool for agility and resilience. Technology and AI are compounding this shift, making innovation easier – and more attractive – than ever. Read more →
Over half of UK firms ended supplier relationships due to tariffs, says new Agiloft report
A new report by contract management provider Agiloft, published today, finds that geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainty are fundamentally changing the way companies manage contracts in international trade. Read more →
VIDEO | 25 years of trade distribution: Regulation, resilience, and renewal
Previously limited to risk-sharing between banks, trade distribution now increasingly involves insurers, reinsurers, and institutional investors, making it a key approach for freeing up bank capital and addressing the $2.5 trillion global trade finance gap. Read more →
Is trade finance ready for AI?
Mitigram, the end-to-end trade finance platform for corporates and financial institutions which digitises and automates pricing requests in a marketplace, have recently partnered with Complidata, specialists in AI-driven trade finance automation and financial crime compliance. Read more →
UK Law Commission closes consultation on DLT, electronic trade documents
The Law Commission, an independent organisation tasked with reviewing English and Welsh law, closed a consultation last week which reviewed how private international law operates in the context of electronic trade documents and digital assets. Read more →
