TXF Markets Tracker

New SCF for the new normal in emerging markets

Katharine Morton

29 September 2020

Live Webinar | 30.09.2020 | 14:00 UK | As the world emerges from the current crisis, it’s fair to say that global supply chains have been disoriented and globalisation retrenched. It’s never been more important for companies in emerging markets to get access to liquidity to keep supply chains moving efficiently. TXF & Finverity look at new ways for companies to effectively use digitisation in emerging markets to access financing for sustainable international trade. Register Today

Time to double down on trade digitisation? On counting virtual beans

Katharine Morton

26 August 2020

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.

ABCP: Needs must when the devil drives in discombobulated trade markets?

Katharine Morton

12 August 2020

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.

Keynote: Caterpillar on spreading the ECA umbrella

Katharine Morton

26 May 2020

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.

Keynote: Elecnor’s long distance runner approach to structured finance

Katharine Morton

18 May 2020

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.

Live Webinar: Filling the $1.5tn trade finance gap: How much can technology bridge?

Katharine Morton

8 May 2020

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?

Keynote: Berne Union’s President and Secretary General, certain about uncertainty

Katharine Morton

27 April 2020

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.

Keynote: US Exim’s Renna on when the rubber hits the road

Katharine Morton

23 April 2020

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?

Are the wheels of supply chain finance still turning? In viro veritas 4

Katharine Morton

22 April 2020

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?

Keynote: ADB’s Beck on supercharging trade finance as a crisis response vehicle

Katharine Morton

15 April 2020

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.

Keynote: Pedal still to the metal on sustainability for France’s MoF

Katharine Morton

8 April 2020

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.

On financial triage: In viro veritas 3

Katharine Morton

1 April 2020

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.

Keynote: Chameleon KDB – when a DFI is not a DFI

Katharine Morton

26 March 2020

Adolfo Dindo Abueg, co-head of project finance, Asia Pacific at Korea Development Bank discusses life when your development bank is a development bank only in Korea, and elsewhere it’s a full blood commercial bank. Abueg shares how the bank operates, and his optimism in spite of Coronavirus.

Commodity finance report 2019: Structured deal volume drops by nearly half

Max Thompson

25 March 2020

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.

Coronavirus and global trade TXF podcast series: In viro veritas?

16 March 2020

Keynote: Opening up EKN's one-stop guarantees shop

Katharine Morton

2 March 2020

EKN had a banner year in 2019. EKN’s director general, Anna-Karin Jatko tells TXF about the rise of supplier credits for larger contracts, and how as part of ‘Team Sweden’ she has put sustainability, digitisation and the simplification of export finance at the top of the Swedish ECA’s mission statement.

Coronavirus and global trade: In viro veritas?

Katharine Morton

26 February 2020

The new coronavirus, Covid-19, is shining a light on just how connected global trade is to the world’s second largest economy. TXF takes a look at how China will officially support its trade and we ask whether global ECAs need to be taking note. ‘Think Global, Act Local’ may be apt for world trade and the response to the disease.

Keynote: Finnvera CEO on cruising concentration risk

Katharine Morton

24 February 2020

Finnvera’s CEO Pauli Heikkila talks to TXF about how the Finnish ECA’s increased exposure to the cruise ship sector drove much of its stellar growth in 2019. Should managing concentration risk be a concern going forward, not least amid the current coronavirus outbreak? Is Heikkila worried that the ECA, which won TXF’s ECA of the year award in 2018, will find diversification a challenge?

Keynote: Shipping keeps Euler Hermes CEO in buoyant mood

Katharine Morton

17 February 2020

It may have been a so-so year for many ECAs, but not Euler Hermes. CEO Edna Schoene was in a buoyant mood when she spoke to TXF. Financing ships has boosted business, claims have been benign and short term business has been stable, but the need to change the OECD Consensus radically is still top of mind,

EKN: On exporting Sweden’s fossil free energy future

Katharine Morton

12 February 2020

It was unseasonably warm for Stockholm in February at EKN’s annual seminar. TXF was in Sweden to hear about the opportunities to finance the transition to carbon zero. Apparently, no more Nobel prizes need be awarded for some of the technology to make it happen. The financing is a different question.

Keynote: The busy-busy post Brexit world of UKEF

Katharine Morton

10 February 2020

Louis Taylor, CEO of UK Export Finance (UKEF), tells TXF he is all geared up for a busy life after Brexit. How is he facing media concerns about the UK’s export credit agency’s approach to sustainability? What about the world post US Exim reauthorisation? How is direct lending to SMEs going to progress?

Keynote: SERV’s CEO thinking outside the box

Katharine Morton

3 February 2020

What does being a modern ECA mean? Peter Gisler, CEO of SERV has strong views on the Swiss ECA’s ability to be proactive, flexible and to think outside the proverbial box of options available. Nonetheless, it isn’t always an easy path. Gisler shares his thoughts with TXF.

Keynote: Deutsche’s Schmidt – from export financier to ‘project manager’

Katharine Morton

30 January 2020

Werner Schmidt, Deutsche Bank’s new head of structured trade and export finance discusses how he sees his role morphing given the increasing complexity and longer lead times of many large deals. Is it still fun?

Keynote: Wartsila’s Back on the future of financing flexible power, rain or shine

Katharine Morton

27 January 2020

Andreas Back, senior manager, financial services at Wartsila goes in depth with TXF to discuss financing sustainable power in a market that still needs backups when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing, his competition, his dealings with ECAs and DFIs and also the changes in marine finance. How does it work when your niche is being niche?

Into the sunshine: Telling tales about SCF

Katharine Morton

22 January 2020

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?

Keynote: Meet Mairead Lavery, EDC’s positive philosopher

Katharine Morton

21 January 2020

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.

Keynote: 2020 top five priorities for trade - a strategic view

Katharine Morton

14 January 2020

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.

Keynote: Low Fives to KYC red tape

Katharine Morton

9 January 2020

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?

Keynote: Teaching risk to rocket scientists at NASA, it’s a blast!

Katharine Morton

8 January 2020

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.

Drawing better straws? Pricing sustainability into supply chains

Katharine Morton

4 December 2019

Correctly pricing sustainability into corporate supply chains shouldn’t just be a matter of ticking boxes (or drawing straws). Companies are going to have to use their judgement to incorporate material climate risk of their supply chains into their financial statements better. Here’s a look at what some companies are doing, and how some are building sustainability into financing programmes.

CPRI market in the process of maturing: TXF talks to Matthew Beckett

Katharine Morton

29 November 2019

Appetite and capacity for credit and political risk insurance (CPRI) has been growing in the past 10 years but may be plateauing as the market matures. Matthew Beckett, EMEA director of insurance placement and loan capital markets at SMBC gives Katharine Morton a bank’s perspective on the future of what has been perceived as a ‘silent’ product in the run up to TXF’s CPRI conference in London on 4 December

Keynotes: In depth with Langlois on the evolution of trade distribution

Katharine Morton

28 November 2019

Nicolas Langlois, Standard Chartered’s global head of trade distribution talks to Katharine Morton about the bank’s recent $1 billion risk-sharing with the IFC to boost trade finance in emerging markets and how it is to stay on track. Will the seeds be spread effectively? Langlois shares his path to being head of trade distribution, the evolution of the bank’s distribution strategy and how he sees trade distribution developing.

SCF: You say tomato, I say tomato, let’s call the whole thing off?

Katharine Morton

20 November 2019

Is it time for supply chain finance to be rebranded? Looking 10 years out is a good way of focusing the mind. Even though there’s a big industry around SCF, will we still be looking at it in the same way in 2029? Katharine Morton looks at what may need to change.

A path through the zigs and zags: TXF Commodity Finance Report 2019

Aife Howse

12 November 2019

This year's edition of TXF’s Commodity Finance Market Report comprises the insights of 173 traders, bankers, alternative financiers, lawyers, brokers, borrowers and insurers through a two-part survey and in-depth interviews. It is our most representative, expansive and detailed yet.

How to get the most from CPRI: TXF talks to Boris Jaquet

Katharine Morton

11 November 2019

Boris Jaquet, EMEA Head, distribution, Deutsche Bank talks to TXF’s Katharine Morton about his views of the state of play of the Credit and Political Risk Insurance (CPRI) market and how to get the best from CPRI ahead of the TXF Conference in London on 4 December 2019

Get Happy? In protectionism there’s still opportunity, survey says

Katharine Morton

6 November 2019

It’s not often nowadays that trade financiers get a positive survey to chew upon. Stuart Nivison digests HSBC’s latest Navigator Survey with TXF. Is the remarkable degree of positivity in global corporates’ trade outlook pure Animal Spirits or something more canny in operation?

Finding the sweet spot on trade digitisation and working capital management

Katharine Morton

4 November 2019

Are corporate treasuries, fintechs and banks missing a trick on cross border working capital optimisation and what will the next five years hold? TXF's roundtable discussion of digitisation and international trade hosted in London by DBS highlights where the sweet spots will lie.

Is Incoterms 2020 one for the reference books?

Katharine Morton

30 October 2019

Katharine Morton looks at the relevance of the new Incoterms for the digital future of trade. Is it a step forward or a missed opportunity?

Corporate perspectives: Roche on the satisfactions of early gpi adoption

Katharine Morton

14 October 2019

Martin Schlageter, head of treasury operations at Roche, the pharmaceutical company based in Switzerland, gives TXF his candid take on SWIFT gpi developments and the corporate experience of financing trade in challenging times.

US Exim: Politics vs profit

Max Thompson

9 October 2019

US Exim’s full reauthorisation was expected at the end of last month as glimmers of bipartisan support returned to the US ECA. But now big ticket business is under threat once again as the agency’s latest expiry date for congressional authorisation emerges.

TXF Sibos smooth-down with CGI

Katharine Morton

4 October 2019

TXF's head of trade, treasury and risk, Katharine Morton, spoke with CGI's product manager for trade and supply chain solutions Patrick DeVilbiss about the key trends he saw emerging in Sibos 2019.

Questions on trade at the centre of the Sibos universe

Katharine Morton

2 October 2019

Katharine Morton looks into the sky at Sibos with a guided tour of hyper connectivity, trust, cosmology, trade and eating fairy cakes at the centre of the universe

Questions on trade at the centre of the Sibos universe

Katharine Morton

2 October 2019

Katharine Morton looks into the sky at Sibos with a guided tour of hyper connectivity, trust, cosmology, trade and eating fairy cakes at the centre of the universe

TXF Welcomes Sibos to our Manor!

Katharine Morton

25 September 2019

Introducing TXF’s vital guide to Sibos, the issues raised for the future of financing international trade for banks and corporates alike as SWIFT’s leviathan event comes to London for the first time.

Looking behind the mask on trade finance at ITFA

Katharine Morton

18 September 2019

Katharine Morton ponders the opacities of financing trade, and what lies beneath, revealed at ITFA’s celebration of a mysterious dance of hide and seek

Key trends revealed in TXF’s H1 2019 export finance report

Jonathan Bell

14 August 2019

The TXF half-year 2019 export finance report shows a bullish start to the year in the power sector, Japan’s JBIC coming in as top direct lender and the US and Australia being the two top destination markets. Jonathan Bell provides some teasers.

Risky business: Can Europe trade its way out of crisis?

Katharine Morton

7 August 2019

In the fourth of this series of Risky Business podcasts Coriolis Technologies CEO Rebecca Harding talks to TXF’s Katharine Morton about how the internal challenges of the EU continue to pull at the union. Is trade the way out of its problems?

Pit bull or pit bear?

Sean Keating

31 July 2019

The problems at the Oyu Tolgoi mining project in Mongolia mean the sponsors, Rio Tinto via its ownership of Turquoise Hill Resources, will have to raise $1 billion-plus more debt for the scheme. But is additional debt or a full refinancing the more likely outcome?

China’s Cofco ups the ante with sustainability-linked loan

Jonathan Bell

24 July 2019

Cofco has signed the largest loan for an agri trading company yet which is linked to sustainability elements. Jonathan Bell examines this growing trend within agri-finance and importantly, how the Chinese trader is helping to push for increased traceability of soy beans.

Risky business: China trade turns inward

Katharine Morton

23 July 2019

In the third of this series of Risky Business podcasts Coriolis Technologies CEO Rebecca Harding talks to TXF’s Katharine Morton about how it’s not all about trade wars for China trade, but it doesn’t help.