Trade digitisation has taken a big step forward globally with the announcement that the UK’s Electronic Trade Documents Bill is on its way to becoming law. What’s the significance of this globally? Let’s take some inspiration from Madness.
EPC contractors are having to deal with the inflationary ripples from the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine. It’s 100 years since one attempt was made to reconstruct central and eastern Europe and nearly 50 since the last major oil shock. Are there lessons to be learned?
Leah Gilbert Morris, Director of International and ECA Relations at Export Development Canada (EDC) and Chair of the BU Climate Working Group on behalf of EDC, discusses the ambitions of the new group with TXF and explains how it will deliver tangible action.
Andreas Back, senior manager, financial services at Wartsila reflects on the challenges of financing sustainable power and marine in the headwinds of the pandemic, the Ukraine crisis and inflationary pressures along supply chains. What’s changed, what needs to change and what will stay the same?
TXF spoke to Christine McWilliams, global head of commodity and energy trade at Citi about the bank’s longer term strategy after a decade back in the commodity markets. Amid the crisis in Ukraine, and with demand resurgent, supply dislocations and commodity prices at record highs, banks are facing challenges of how to finance commodity markets. Can ESG and digitisation plans stay on track too?
The impact of conflict in Ukraine on the world economy is not difficult to summarise: bad. In the case of Africa, it is much more complicated because of the continent’s diversity: good and poor agriculture, energy wealth and energy poverty. TXF investigates the immediate, and longer term, implications.
WATCH ON DEMAND. In this interactive briefing we look at the trade data emerging from the fast evolving Ukraine-Russia crisis.
WATCH ON DEMAND. Rebecca Harding, CEO of Coriolis Technologies discusses the very fluid situation in Ukraine with TXF in regards to how it impacts global trade – from the perspectives of sanctions on Russia, financial flows, payments and physical trade. Trade wars are not likely to be winnable.
Export credit agencies are still finding their way on how to deliver sustainable export finance in a measurable, consistent and transparent way. Collaboration is definitely the path forward. EKN, EKF and Atradius DSB share their experiences.
The volume of sustainable deals within the export finance sector is growing. But to take this forward positively across all industrial sectors a sensible debate with a clear pathway is needed to ensure business is not lost.
What will be the key words for financing trade this year? If last year was all about resilience and pivoting will this year be picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and starting all over again. Realisation, focus, rebuilding (and muddling through) are the watchwords. And how best to engage the elusive SME in international trade remains a big concern for 2022.
1 February 2022, 14:00 GMT. Register now for this exclusive virtual roundtable discussion where a panel of regulators and financiers look at practical solutions for overcoming pressure points for UK exporters.
How to build resilience into the global supply chains that have not proved robust over the pandemic has been a top issue for trade in 2021. COVID, climate and digitisation will be key themes for trade next year too. Will companies, banks and trade finance professionals be feeling blue in 2022? What will be the next blue moon event?
The masks came off as building resilience in world trade and ESG ran in tandem at ITFA’s in person annual event in Bristol.
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. What will be the impact, and can improved harmonisation of Basel-compliant documentation help bolster capacity?
APIs deliver critical functionality for banks driving towards full end-to-end digitisation in trade. Patrick DeVilbiss, offering Manager, trade and supply chain solutions and Colin Zeglen, product manager for Trade and Supply Chain Solutions at CGI explain the evolution and the importance to trade banks.
Is there a wave of zombie companies and insolvencies coming in time for Halloween, insolvency tsunamis approaching, reservoirs to overflow in trade credit insurance, or is the lack of claims and trade insolvencies something to chill about? In the immortal words of Dean Martin (not Boris Johnson), should we be told to ‘Relax-ay-voo’?
The International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) is grabbing the digitisation and ESG agenda and TXF talks to Sean Edwards, ITFA’s chair in the runup to the organisation’s 47th annual conference in Bristol in October about how to rebuild bank trade capacity in the current climate.
Justine Hendricks, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer at Export Development Canada talks to TXF about the implications of EDC’s net zero commitment on it and its customers and how it will engage all clients in the transition journey
How is SWIFT’s own digital trade evolution progressing? Will corporates, banks and vendors be on board and does the organisation risk competing with itself? TXF looks to history and asks more questions than it can get answers to at the moment. Will a pivot toward APIs be an answer in trade?
TXF’s Global Trade Virtual 2021 event took us on the rollercoaster journey of financing international trade last week. Saying “yes, and” could get the markets to help financing trade more sustainably (and digitally)
One hundred years of an international trade body was a virtual party not to be missed. TXF spoke to Tod Burwell in the wake of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade’s (BAFT) centennial celebration to find out what has been the secret of the trade organisation’s longevity, how it has helped moved international trade in a positive way, and what excites the organisation’s President and CEO about the future
In the run-up to TXF’s Global Trade Virtual 2021 on 23-24 June, Patrick DeVilbiss, Offering Manager, Trade and Supply Chain Solutions at CGI talks to TXF about how accelerated trade digitisation amid the pandemic should be long lasting
Is financing ESG-linked projects and exports going to be limited by what exporters and project financiers cannot do rather than what they can? How can (or should) incentives be improved and how can more deals that improve ESG outcomes be made bankable?
Has the secret sauce to trade digitisation been discovered in MLETR and is it something that will get over a decade of industry fatigue on the subject? Will the trade industry be able to get the sauce out of the bottle, will everyone like the same sauce, will they need to?
Jump right in and take sustainability to where the client is at in their journey. That’s the strong message of TXF’s discussion with Donna Laviolette, Senior Manager, Global Sustainability at Xylem and Donna McNamara, Global Head, Trade Product Commercialization, Treasury and Trade Solutions at Citi, hosted by Citi. How does financing trade sustainably work in practice?
The G for governance is often silent in discussions of ESG, Environment, Social and Governance. TXF tries to unpick this and its importance for supply chain management for export credit agencies
How can - or should - the SCF industry distance itself from the fast evolving situation at Greensill Capital? Is more transparency needed? For sure. How should the credit insurance industry respond? What is the fallout? TXF discusses eggs in baskets and babies with bathwater and waking up and smelling coffee with senior industry players.
What has Covid meant for ECAs and their ability to attract smaller companies? How are ECAs responding to the needs of these new clients and how are they broadening their financing partners? Once the pandemic imperative is over, will those smaller businesses be back for more? TXF talks to four ECAs about their experience with SMEs – and finds out things may have changed for good.
The OECD Consensus has a long history but it’s still the only game in town. With the International Working Group now in stasis, is that a problem, or is it going to focus minds on reform? It’s time for new thinking.
Henrik Welch, vice president and group treasurer at Alfa Laval discusses treasury perspectives on navigating international trade and cross border working capital management with TXF, and the need for banks and ECAs to step up further.
It’s easy to be gloomy, but a new year is a good point to look to the bright side. Here are some thoughts about why staying in bed for the whole of 2021 will not be the best option for trade, treasury and risk.
In a discussion supported by Finverity, TXF looks at new ways for companies to effectively use digitisation in emerging markets to propel access to financing for sustainable international trade through supply chain finance (SCF).
In a discussion supported by Finverity, TXF looks at new ways for companies to effectively use digitisation in emerging markets to propel access to financing for sustainable international trade through supply chain finance (SCF).
Are we going to be looking at a whole different playing field for trade credit insurance across borders as the pandemic works itself through the financial system? Katharine Morton, head of trade, treasury & risk at TXF, investigates the potential lumps and bumps along the way ahead of TXF’s Global Trade Virtual event on 8-10 December.
Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) has bold ambitions, and launching an Islamic Finance suite of products in the eye of the COVID-19 crisis is part of its positive push to narrow the trade finance gap and tap into the potential of the halal market globally. TXF spoke to both ECI’s CEO, Massimo Falcioni, and to Zishan Iqbal, Director of Murabaha Solutions, about the agency’s plan and the products.
TXF talks to CGI’s Rory Kaplan, senior offering manager for trade and supply chain solutions, Patrick DeVilbiss, director of consulting, trade and supply chain solutions and Colin Zeglen, product manager for trade and supply chain solutions for a reality check on digitisation in challenging times.
TXF looks at distinctions between virtual and real in trade digitisation. How much is the current crisis helping drive change? The challenges are more than simply counting metaphorical beans.
China’s underreported new ABCP digitisation play, if it works, could have implications for trade finance markets. It’s a big if, but it certainly warrants closer attention to how the pilots could presage changes to sidestep bank financing.
TXF spoke with Tim Gaul, global export finance director, export and agency finance at Caterpillar to outline what the reauthorisation of US Exim means for the US exporter, especially given now it can tap other more flexible ECAs - like Serv, UKEF and most recently Sinosure - for support.
Angela Perez, head of structured finance at Elecnor spoke to TXF both about the Spanish infrastructure and engineering company’s response to the current crisis, and the wider role teamwork across the industry will play in the recovery.
Wednesday 20 May | 11am BST | 12pm CEST How much is digitisation going to help narrow the gap between what trade finance is needed and what is under offer?
Beatriz Reguero, President, and Vinco David, Secretary General, of Berne Union, the global export credit and investment insurance industry association, discuss the association’s strategy through the Covid-19 crisis and climate change, how uncertainty is both a plus, and a minus for its members. One thing that is certain about the coming year – is more uncertainty.
Stephen Renna, chief banking officer at Export-Import Bank of the US talks to TXF about US Exim’s response to Covid-19 as it hits the ground running following full reauthorisation. How is US Exim filling the gaps left by the private capital market in both guarantees, working capital support and SCF? What about cooperation with other ECAs when the hard work of recovery really starts?
Supply chain finance can be a great tool for keeping funding flowing to all parts of the supply chain, but is there an existential strain on programmes from the dislocations of physical supply chains amid Covid-19? How will the crisis hit banks' and non-bank programmes and how will contracts be affected? Will ECAs and governments increasingly have to step in?
Steven Beck, head of trade and supply chain finance at ADB talks to TXF from lockdown Manila about how ADB is supercharging its existing trade finance programs to keep trade flowing amid Covid-19 and how both the digitisation and sustainability agenda will be maximised.
Gabriel Cumenge, deputy secretary of the French Ministry of Finance, DG Tresor tells TXF the importance of ECAs continuing their roles as the shock absorbers of global trade and driving the sustainability agenda through the current crisis.
TXF’s ‘in viro veritas’ series looks at the effects of the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic on trade and export finance. The first in the series was an early stage call to action, the second showed ECAs picking up their activities and this, the third, looks at more a coordinated response from institutions.
Overall volumes of global commodity finance fell by 16% in 2019 compared to 2018, according to the full-year TXF 2019 Commodity Finance Report, while structured commodity finance plummeted to nearly half the volume of the previous year. Max Thompson reviews the drivers behind these low figures, as well as the most active regions and sectors across the commodity finance space.
We’re taking the global export roadshow to Lisbon! Join us on the 7th & 8th June 2022 for another unmissable hybrid event. Deal makers from across the globe are attending in force. Don't miss out...
The destination for African commodity finance! A unique opportunity to come together with deal makers across this exciting region for virtual networking opportunities second to none!
Returning in-person to London! Calling all changemakers in trade & export finance - Join us for another thought-provoking edition to plot your ideas about diversity, sustainability and inclusion.
Return of the hugely popular virtual event which addresses the challenges of sustainable commodity finance head on. Bringing you an atmosphere that is inspiring & ideas led! The time is now...
TXF Asia is back, in-person, in Singapore! After three fabulous virtual editions, nothing can compare to face-to-face meetings and getting back in the room with the finest export finance minds.
Three virtual editions later, TXF APAC makes its first in-person return, in Singapore! Join us for an intimate, local language event curated specially for the trade and commodity finance market.
The climax to Geneva commodities week, TXF Geneva brings together the European commodity finance market for an unparalleled two days of thought leadership, networking and education.