Singapore

For centuries, trade documentation has been a time-intensive and resource-demanding process, involving a multitude of stakeholders and a deluge of paperwork. Central to this process is the bill of lading, the most critical document in international trade. 

Globalisation is not dead, contrary to recent claims. Nowhere is this more evident than in global trade, where high-growth trade corridors in Asia, Africa and the Middle East are set to outpace the global average by up to four percentage points.

The potential impact of the UK’s incoming Electronic Trade Documents Bill goes far beyond a boost to the country’s trade prospects. By enshrining in law that a digital document is equivalent to physical paper, the reform means that counterparties can issue and process documents electronically by default, – and with UK law acting as the basis for trade transactions across much of the world, the opportunity for transformation is unprecedented.

Fraud has been a prevalent issue in commodity trading and financing over the past few years, most recently in relation to cargoes of metals.

TFG interviewed ITFA and ADB about the financing of dirty commodities and fossil fuels, and what a sustainable transition means for trade finance.

Iain MacLennan, VP of product management and trade at Finastra, and Patrik Zekkar, CEO of Enigio, Patrick DeVilbiss, head of product at CGI and Alisa DiCaprio, chief economist at R3, provided us with their predictions for the trade technology landscape in 2023.

TFG asked Francoise Huang, senior economist for Asia Pacific and Trade at Allianz Trade, John Miller, chief economic analyst at Trade Data Monitor, and Richard Wulff, executive director at ICISA, to give their thoughts on the 2023 trade environment.

This article was originally published on December 19 2022 by Watson Farley & Williams LLP. TFG would like to thank Kimarie Cheang and Chengxi Tan for their contribution.

At the IIBLP’s Dubai Trade Law & Compliance Conference held in Dubai on 15 March 2022, one of the panellists referred to the Solo Industries fraud in a panel discussion addressing the recent Singapore case, Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank (CACIB), Singapore branch v. PPT Energy Trading Co.

According to Edwards, reducing the record-high $1.7 trillion USD global trade finance gap will be amongst the most important considerations facing the trade finance industry in 2023. The trade finance sector is developing several tools to address this issue.

Trade Finance Global (TFG) are delighted to have had the opportunity to speak with Liliana Fratini Passi, Managing Director, CBI, for further insight into the situation. 

With the trade ecosystem increasingly shifting towards technological advancements, and a market saturated with options in which to digitise trade processes, it can be difficult to cut through the noise.

Deep-tier supply chain finance can be a powerful tool in the ESG toolkit––but implementing this innovative financing approach will require overcoming some key barriers.

For sustainable trade finance to scale, the industry needs a uniform model for ESG data that can be used by everybody, says Pradeep Nair, Global Head of Structured Solutions and Development of Standard Chartered Bank

Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG: China hits record trade surplus in July