Letters of credit are the oldest and most common type of short term trade finance, famously described as the “lifeblood of international commerce,” with some commentators suggesting their use stretches back to 3000 BC. What makes them so successful?

The 2021 ICC Trade Register summary, on the credit risk profiles of trade finance, supply chain finance and export finance transactions. Read our summary on 38m transactions representing USD $19.2t exposures, and 28% of global trade flows.

World trade is central to economic growth and as we emerge from the pandemic, trade is paramount in enabling the global economy to recover. Is the time really now, for digitising trade, and how can advance the dialogue to reduce friction, costs and risk?

Since the inception of UCP 600, trade finance professionals, in particular, the letter of credit community, have been discussing the need for and consequences of modifications and exclusions to the rules in commercial LCs issued under UCP 600.

Trade and economic activity are advancing at a rapid pace across the Middle East. How are governments across the region evolving and harnessing opportunities to enable high-speed economic activity?

Canada-based software provider Surecomp has today announced the expansion of its Trade Finance-as-a-Service (TFaaS) offering to enable smaller and mid-sized banks to improve their trade finance processing efficiencies and customer… read more →

The need for trade digitization has never been more prevalent than it is today, especially with pandemic-induced restrictions emphasizing the inefficiency of paper-based trade. Our Editor, Deepesh Patel sat down with Contour’s CEO and Chief Product Officer, as well as TradeLens’ Head of Strategy and Operations, to discuss how fintech can come together to partner to solve these problems.

Never have fragmented reactions, as seen to recent global crises, be that Covid-19, climate change or geopolitical power shifts, illustrated better the acute need to have sustainable strategies in place.

Surecomp® is one of the first technology providers to successfully secure the 2021 SWIFT certification. Surecomp secured this label for its flagship trade finance solutions to support the processing of… read more →

Has digital trade finally arrived with the ICC eRules guidelines? John Dunlop explains how this might be true.