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). 

In the vibrant setting of FCI’s 55th annual meeting in Marrakesh, Deepesh Patel, editor at Trade Finance Global, engages in a revealing conversation with Richard Wulff, the executive director at ICISA, shedding light on the intricacies of credit risk insurance and the current challenges faced by the industry.

Originally designed as a risk management tool among banks, trade asset distribution has now transformed into an indispensable means for capital and liquidity optimisation, inviting a broad spectrum of non-bank investors. 

At the ITFA conference in Abu Dhabi, Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke with Khilola Turaeva, the Head of Trade Risk Distribution for GTS EMEA at Bank of America to speak about the world of global trade asset and risk distribution.

Trade volumes and macroeconomic context of 2022 and the ICC Trade Finance Register for 2023 reveal a nuanced interplay of growth and deceleration. In 2022, international goods trade flows reached $23.8 trillion, marking a 10.7% increase from the previous year.

The ICC’s Trade Finance Register has been released, reporting a small increase in default rates across documentary trade and open account products, whilst highlighting still, the low-risk nature of the asset class.

Correspondent banking has played a central role in the global payments system for ages. Yet, the traditional correspondent model has been ailing for the past 20+ years. 

At the International Trade Forfaiting Association (ITFA) 49th Annual Trade and Forfaiting Conference in Abu Dhabi, TFG’s Deepesh Patel spoke to Silja Calac, Board Member, and head of the ITFA Insurance Committee to learn more about credit risk insurance and its importance for trade, as well as specific aspects of the implementation of the Basel 3.1 Regulation. 

In the current financial and technological sectors, businesses confront a range of challenges, as highlighted in the UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report 2023. These include economic instability, budget constraints, and… read more →

Thanks to the expansion of the financial dataset available, which is no longer only related to payments, we are witnessing the evolution of open banking towards open finance, a model in which authorised third-party providers have access to information provided by banks, subject to prior customers’ consent.