A Guide to Digital Trade Finance

We are delighted to share the “Guide to Digital Trade Finance” published by Deutsche Bank in association with ITFA. The guide provides a snapshot of what today’s digital trade ecosystem looks like, and the overall direction of travel.

In their foreword, Atul Jain and Oliver Resovac, global co-heads for Trade Finance and Lending at Deutsche Bank, state “Certain key trade documents are now acceptable as electronic transferable records (ETR), including bills of exchange and promissory notes used for financing and payment, bills of lading, and warehouse receipts, to name but a few.”

As ITFA Chair Sean Edwards adds in his own foreword: “To emphasise the importance of interoperability in the development and adoption of negotiable instruments that are compliant with MLETR, we have continued to leverage our DNI Initiative (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/developing-industry-blueprint-digital-negotiable-andr%25C3%25A9-casterman/) to provide guidance and templates for banks to start digital forfaiting, with the aim of fully digitising bills of exchange and promissory notes.”

“The short-term benefit for banks will come from digitalizing bills of exchange and promissory notes. There is an opportunity to use these instruments to harmonise supply chain finance – and it is in the open account space where there is a short-term growth opportunity for banks.” adds André Casterman, Chair of the Fintech Committee, ITFA.

Download the guide here which features ITFA members Santander CIB, Lloyds Banking Group, Arqit, T3i Partner Network, Casterman Advisory, Trade Advisory Network, Sullivan, Tradeteq and also from ICC DSI, TradeLC Advisory, OPUS Advisory Services, ICC United Kingdom, SWIFT and DCSA.

We thank Deutsche Bank for their partnership and work on this white paper which demonstrates how all necessary jigsaw pieces are beginning to fall into place.