Wednesday, January 13th, 2021

There is no doubt that 2020 has been a pivotal year for trade digitisation. Technologies have evolved so much over the recent 2-3 years, and the most innovative ones such as electronic signatures and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), are being more and more accepted in financial services.

Wednesday, January 13th, 2021

Structured or ‘Synthetic’ LCs are sometimes seen as a bit of a dirty little secret in Emerging Market Trade Finance.

Wednesday, January 13th, 2021

On November 20th 2020, the ITFA German Regional Committee organized an educational webinar on Trade Finance Distribution (TFD) Initiative.

Wednesday, January 13th, 2021

Trade finance distribution has been receiving exponentially more interest and investment over the last decade – driven by tighter regulations, narrowing credit appetite, liquidity, enhanced client demand driven by increase in trade and many more.

Thursday, January 14th, 2021

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

– GlobalTrade Corporation
– Price Forbes & Partners Ltd

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

We come to the end of a year that I am sure all of us would rather not have lived through and certainly never expected.

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

It is with great pride that the ITFA Board announces the smooth running of its first virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

We see that the regional economic outlook is highly uncertain due to the pandemic and related disruptions as well as lower oil price.

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

Collaboration, Innovation, Standardisation and Education were the keywords that our panellists representing HSBC, Reed Smith and Santander Asset Management highlighted during our recent TFD Initiative webinar.

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

On November 17th, 2020, the ITFA Middle East Regional Committee, currently chaired by Mz. Naura Hussain, SRM, Financial Institutions International at UBL Dubai, organized in collaboration with Global Trade Review ‘GTR’, the 3rd trade finance roundtable, hosted virtually out of Dubai.

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

Trade Finance Global (TFG) and World Trade Organization (WTO) have today launched their updated Periodic Table of DLT Projects in Trade, at the Hong Kong Fintech Festival.

Thursday, November 12th, 2020

Hope is one of the great theological virtues and a fresh supply is desperately needed with the year we’ve had. Have we found some?

Friday, November 13th, 2020

This year, an impressive 19 projects were submitted to the ITFA Emerging Leaders Competition, with 5 projects selected as finalists, as well as a special mention project from a senior member.

Thursday, November 12th, 2020

On May 18, 2020, the ITFA Middle East Regional Committee, currently chaired by Mr Semih Ozkan, Director, Structured Trade Finance Head, Middle East, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, organized the second trade finance distribution forum in the region.

Thursday, November 12th, 2020

Even before Covid-19, the Trade Finance Gap in Emerging Markets was a hot topic, with a lot of Multilaterals, Governments, DFIs and the larger Global Trade community expressing great concern and a belief that if this Gap could be closed it would be hugely beneficial in developing economies.

Thursday, November 12th, 2020

Predominant financial institutions have taken the lead on the TFD Initiative and recently outlined how digital trends, new ecosystems and regulations are impacting trade distribution practices.

Thursday, November 12th, 2020

ITFA is pleased to welcome the following three institutions to its growing family:

– Coral Energy Group
– DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale
– Oldenburgische Landesbank AG

Monday, October 19th, 2020

It has been a long time since we mentioned Brexit. With all the uncertainty COVID-19 brought about, it is easy to forget about other important issues. But 1st January 2021, the day when the UK will be treated as a non-EU country, is just around the corner.

Tuesday, October 20th, 2020

Trade finance has an undeniable role to play in the development of a more sustainable world. The incorporation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations in trade finance brings widespread benefits to the goods’ and services’ supply chains.

Monday, October 19th, 2020

How can trade banks digitise original documents such as bank guarantees and bills of exchange? How can the use of paper originals be avoided to widen the financing window and to avoid delivery via postal services? How can digital originals be exchanged through banks’ own portals? What are the dDOC specifications? Is DLT finally helping trade banks?