Friday, January 28th, 2022

I enjoy watching sunrises, and sunsets. With every passing moment, the sky is lit with brilliant colours dancing majestically in various shapes. The shift of scenery is gradual yet sudden. Similarly, interspersed with major events that sometimes accelerate change, industry trends morph from one year to another.

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

– ADM International Sarl
– BANCO LATINO AMERICANO DE COMERCIO EXTERIOR (Bladex SA)
– CGI
– IHS Markit
– NN Investment Partners

Friday, January 21st, 2022

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE – Sean Edwards, ITFA Chairman / Head of Legal and Special Adviser to The Global Trade Finance Department At SMBC, Dec 2021

Tuesday, January 25th, 2022

At various points during the past decade, news items have highlighted the Russian propensity to deploy ‘blow-up weapons’: inflatable tanks, missile launchers and the like that were indistinguishable from the real thing when viewed via radar or satellite.   

Monday, January 24th, 2022

Planning for the 48th ITFA Annual Conference in Porto, Portugal between 7-9 September 2022 is well underway with the official launch including Early Bird tickets, expected in March/April.
As a voluntary organization, we rely on our sponsors to make all our events a great success.

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

If you are familiar with the ITFA Emerging Leaders Initiative, you will most likely by now have heard us talking at length about the importance of mentoring.

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

Whilst it is not the case in reality, it certainly doesn’t feel that long ago when I started out as a junior lawyer and received my first taste of trade finance. It was a very different market back in the late 1990’s and, in fact, ITFA was IFA and the forfaiting and factoring markets were quite distinct from the structured trade and commodity finance market I was mostly involved with.

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

During the Spring and Summer of 2021, ITFA’s Northern European Regional Committee (NERC) initiated a survey of its members, with the aim of gauging levels of satisfaction with the services and activities that ITFA delivers.

Friday, January 21st, 2022

ITFA is pleased to welcome one institution to its growing family:

– CalBank PLC     

Friday, November 12th, 2021

On 18th October 2021 the International Trade & Forfaiting Association ‘ITFA’ Middle East Regional Committee held its 3rd Annual Trade Finance Distribution Webinar titled “Understanding the blueprint for Regional Trade Finance Distribution”.

Tuesday, December 14th, 2021

As we come to the end of another year, let me first take the opportunity to thank all those who attended our Market Update Seminar and Christmas Cocktail Party, which was held on the 6th December at the Savage Garden Rooftop Bar of the Doubletree, Tower of London Hotel.

Tuesday, December 14th, 2021

2021 marked another successful year for the ITFA Emerging Leaders Initiative. Despite the ongoing pandemic situation, we completed another round of the Martin Ashurst Mentorship Scheme, which connects Emerging Leaders with a pool of global experts and leaders in trade. The scheme allows Emerging Leaders to discuss their career and career path, industry positioning, and insights into the different areas of trade finance.

Thursday, December 9th, 2021

2022 is unlikely to produce the big goods trade rebound that everyone has been hoping for. The Covid pandemic continues with a new variant, Omicron, so there are likely to be sustained pressures on supply chains as well as upward pressure on prices.

Monday, December 13th, 2021

The Trade Finance Market is currently going through an important period of transformation in areas such as sustainability and digitalisation. Credit insurance industry commentators estimate that their members provide around $2.5bn of payment risk protection to banks, exporters and investors – equivalent to 13% of world cross border trade for goods and services.

Friday, November 19th, 2021

I cannot but start with the commitment made by the UK government during the COP26, to make the UK the world’s first ‘net-zero aligned financial centre’, which will eventually make it compulsory for companies to publish their plan setting out how they will decarbonise and transition to net zero.

Wednesday, October 27th, 2021

The masks came off as building resilience in world trade and ESG ran in tandem at ITFA’s in person annual event in Bristol.
World trade is finding the balance between giddiness and stoicism [which is another take on the word resilience] a hard one to pull off.

Tuesday, November 9th, 2021

A total of 200+ ITFA members flocked to Bristol on Wednesday October 6th to attend the ITFA Annual Conference which started with a half-day Fintech briefing. This was our 3rd edition that we organised following a good start in Cape Town (2018) and a 2nd one in Budapest (2019).

Thursday, November 18th, 2021

ITFA is pleased to welcome two institutions to its growing family:

– Cope Ehlers, P.C. 
– Sterling Bank PLC    

Wednesday, October 20th, 2021

I am basking in a warm post-conference glow after returning from Bristol, the venue of the 47th Annual Conference. Given the present circumstances and after one year’s absence, this year’s event was a remarkable success, attracting over 200 delegates from 18 countries!

Friday, October 22nd, 2021

Departures from parts of the trade credit and CPRI market – in particular by Zurich and QBE – have raised eyebrows as reduced capacity could make it harder for banks to secure a programme with a single insurer.