ISO 20022 is the new global language for payments messaging, helping make the quality of data, richer, structured and more meaningful. The payments industry continues to change rapidly and is certainly something that is discussed by most heads of treasury and trade. There is a constant need to adopt global standards within the financial community, and ISO 20022 is one standard that’s taking the lead.
The title of the EBRD’s transition report 2019-2020 – “Better Governance, Better Economies” – summarises its message well. Good governance matters. It matters at the level of countries, subnational regions and firms…
TFG’s Editor, Deepesh Patel, spoke to Yves Mersch about the strategical priorities of the ECB in 2020. They discussed the importance of central banks’ independence for the foreseeing of their mandates. The ECB’s mandate is to ensure price stability…
TFG Spoke to Stacey Facter, BAFT’s Senior Vice President of Trade Products, during BAFT’s Global Annual Meeting, held in Frankfurt from January 13-15, 2020. We discussed some of the key themes around AML, sanctions and embargoes.
Currency is part and parcel of monetary policy, and a public mandate of the European Central Bank (ECB). TFG’s Editor, Deepesh Patel, spoke to ECB’s Yves Mersch about the possibilities of central bank digital currencies in relation to payment systems, faster transaction times and settlements. Separating the hype from reality; Mersch spoke to TFG about the regulatory consequences of central bank digital currencies. “We are tech neutral. We want to stay ahead of tech. Tech has to serve our purpose, not the other way around.”
Trade Finance Global spoke to Wenhui LIANG at the WTO Global Trade and Blockchain Forum, on the nature of the current state of the global trading and blockchain adoption in global trading.
There is a common miss-conception that four or five multiple banks must be involved to manage letter of credit transactions. These multiple banks include credit issuing banks, advising banks, negotiating banks, confirming banks, and reimbursing banks. What is less understood is that these “banks” are functions, not necessarily physical banks. The trade finance functions these banks perform in a transaction can be done by separate banking institutions or by one bank under UCP 600 guidelines (Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, ICC Publication 600).
Banks are often slow to adopt the latest technology, and in many cases that is warranted. As highly regulated institutions tasked with protecting valuable data, banks understandably want to avoid “running with scissors.” By starting slow with simply implementing APIs in a few areas, they can begin to modernize and ultimately provide streamlined payments solutions, like RTPs, to their largest pool of customers.
