Russia-Ukraine Conflict

90% of world trade – from bulk raw commodities to breakbulk and finished goods – is moved on approximately 60,000 trading ships, crewed by about 1.5 million seafarers. To most traders, the potential risks associated with any one of these vessels is an unknown.

In this episode of Trade Finance Talks, Alex Gray, Head of Trade and Transaction Banking at the London Institute of Banking and Finance (LIBF), and Noémi Klein, former Regional Head of Financial Crime Surveillance Operations at Standard Chartered Bank, share the main topics and insights covered at the LIBF Annual Trade Finance Compliance Conference 2023. Together, they shed light on the multifaceted issues faced by financial institutions and the recent developments in the intricate world of compliance in trade finance.

Last month, I found myself staying with a nomad family in a traditional yurt (‘ger’), 300km West of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, staring at the overwhelmingly star-filled night sky.

Central Asia is becoming increasingly attractive to investors. It has abundant natural resources and is strategically located, leading to its reputation as a region with untapped economic potential.

The resilience of Ukrainian businesses deserves special attention. Entrepreneurs have not only survived the beginning of the war, but continue to develop their businesses. According to a survey, as of March 2022, only 13% of enterprises were operating as they were prior to the war, 48% were operating at partial efficiency, and 35% suspended operations and were waiting for better times. 

In 2023, environmental and climate issues will again be at the top of the policy agenda in the Middle East and North Africa. The upcoming COP28 climate conference in Dubai and the rapid growth in the renewables sector in Egypt and North Africa both point to the growing power of MENA states within global climate politics.

Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke with Pamela Mar, managing director at the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, to explore the key themes driving trade digitisation and their potential impact on trade and trade finance in 2023.

On the 9th February, Swiss-based commodities trader Trafigura alleged that it had been exposed to “systemic fraud” to the value of $577 million of nickel, in relation to UAE-based businessman Prateek Gupta’s London trading company TMT Metals Holdings Ltd, and companies connected to him.

The latest issue of TFG’s Trade Finance Talks, ‘Sailing into 2023: Navigating the new year’, is out now!

‘Permacrisis’ was crowned word of the year by the editors of the Collins English Dictionary at the end of 2022, defined as “an extended period of instability and insecurity”. It seems an appropriate term to describe the state of global trade, finance, and supply chains as we enter 2023.

Trade sanctions are among the many tactics resorted to by the international community in order to compel a state to comply with its human rights obligation. 

Taking a step in this direction, the UK legislature has enacted legislation to prevent economic crime. To learn more about this essential piece of legislation in the financial and economic world, Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke with Susan Hawley, executive director of Spotlight on Corruption.

If you read the international shipping media during the final quarter of 2022, you would be forgiven for thinking that it’s “Game Over” for international trade.

In TFG’s conversations with industry experts, we have learned quite a lot about trade volumes and commodities, trade technology, and trade credit insurance. While there is plenty of uncertainty regarding the global outlook in 2023, it is clear that there are many areas of optimism for international trade.

There is little doubt that 2022 has been an unprecedented year and for better or for worse, there has been a lot that has happened in the trade, treasury, payments and supply chain spaces.