The US SEC is on a drive to get companies to disclose supplier finance more explicitly. Companies would do well to tell their stories. The US accounting regulator has been asked to provide guidance. Some players are concerned that there is a risk to SCF as a whole if that guidance goes one way. Why should they be worried, and why is more transparency needed?

TXF finds Mairead Lavery full of vigour about her first year as president and CEO of EDC in advance of her first performance review with the chair of the board. Her energies are devoted to promoting Canadian exporting companies on a path to sustainability, inclusion and diversity. Is she concerned about EDC’s perception as being more a bank than a traditional ECA? Not a bit of it. What about local content requirements? Competition with other ECAs? It’s a question of philosophy.

TXF caught up with Citi’s John Ahearn to find out more about his newly-created role as chairman of trade to oversee strategic investments across the business, and what 2020 has in store for trade.

David Avram, trade and export finance director at Fives talks to TXF about his outlook on the markets in 2020, and how the company structures its export finance activities. Will ECA-driven KYC red tape, and the timing of demands for compliance hinder the industrial engineering group’s deal flow?

Ahead of TXF Americas next month, TXF caught up with Dr Jeevan Perera, a senior engineer at NASA, to find out how he teaches risk management to rocket scientists.