The overreaching arc of sanctions regulations is threatening the certainty of payments guaranteed by the smooth functioning of letters of credit (LC) in international trade. This tension recently played out in the Singapore courts in a judgment handed down recently (Kuvera Resources Pte Ltd v JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. [2023] SGCA 28).
Author: Baldev Bhinder
Baldev Bhinder is the Managing Director of BlackStone & Gold LLC, a specialist commodities law firm in Singapore with expertise in trade fraud investigation. He is an expert in O&G and Commodities and advises on all aspects of the supply chain from trading and trade finance arrangements to international recoveries and arbitration.
Unmasking trade finance fraud: The intricate web of balance sheets, fragmented information, and human biases
Lenders across the world are grappling with the trade finance asset class. In Singapore, a string of legal cases has left banks facing the prospect of staggering losses with the nature of the trade finance asset class, as secure and self-liquidating, facing an existential crisis.