The trade finance industry has suffered a trio of ailments since the end of 2024 with the shuttering of three different non-bank lenders. While the circumstances across the three cases vary, market conditions are posing problems for lenders of all sizes. How can the community reflect on these events, and what options are borrowers left with?

Today’s Exile is Veronika Koroleva, Partner at gunnercooke. Veronika’s Exile celebrates the importance of mentorship and resilience, as well as embracing alternative working models to deal with problems that aren’t quite as unprecedented as we give them credit for.

Daniel Bembennek, head of finance and guarantees, decarbonisation technologies department at thyssenkrupp, argues that long term trends towards decarbonisation are unambiguous, and relentless, even amid geopolitical headwinds. However, ECA adaptability will remain key.