Wednesday 2 May 2018

ITFA AFRICA REGIONAL COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 1, APRIL 2018


CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE – Duarte Pedreira, ITFA ARC Chairman / Head of Trade Finance at Crown Agents Bank

Dear Members and Friends,

It is with great joy that I write to you to introduce the ITFA Africa Regional Committee’s first newsletter.

When you kindly elected me to join the ITFA Board during last year’s conference in Edinburgh, I was given a mandate to grow the Association’s reach and influence in Africa. The set up of the Africa Regional Committee (ARC) formally initiated this process and when the members of this new venture first met on the 15th November 2017, we set out an ambitious agenda that will see a significant number of new Africa-related trade finance initiatives being undertaken over the next few months. These will be focused on fulfilling the ARC’s five strategic vectors: increase of ITFA’s African membership, delivery of training and education initiatives in Africa, discussing and lobbying with African regulators for ITFA related issues on behalf of members, communication and provision of information, and Africa-focused networking.

2018 is the year of Africa within ITFA as we proudly welcome the legendary ITFA conference to the continent in September for the first time in our history. As such, the ARC and ITFA are engaged in significantly increasing our membership in Africa as we aim to get at least 20 new members joining the Association’s ranks from the African continent. This is being spearheaded by Afreximbank who have sent out letters inviting hundreds of African institutions to attend the conference, with all the other ARC members being heavily involved in following up on these invitations and effectively delivering towards our common goal. So far we have onboarded some new names, including banks from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Malawi, which again are taking the lead in showing the world that it is precisely those countries that are considered to be the most challenging from a trade finance point of view, that are taking the initiative and embracing the opportunity to claim their place in the centre stage of the global trade finance industry.

We have also started working on delivering relevant training and education initiatives for our expanding African membership. The first of these initiatives will be a landmark training session being held in Nairobi on the 23rd May in the afternoon, linked to the Global Trade Review’s East Africa Trade & Commodity Finance conference. During this session, we will have ARC members delivering training on topics such as forfaiting/distribution, the MRPA, IFRS9, insurance solutions and other contemporaneous trade finance matters of interest. We are also hoping to use this training session as a vehicle to capture the attention of the many local banks in attendance, so that they understand what ITFA is and the value it provides to its members.

The main goal for this newsletter is to keep you up to date with our activities and provide our modest contribution towards your increased awareness and interest around African trade finance topics. As such, I am delighted to have in our first issue Louis Du Plessis from RMB telling us more on why we should all be excited with the forthcoming conference in Cape Town, Christian Karam from Africa Trade Finance sharing with us how international trade financiers returned to Nigeria, and Alastair McLeod from JLT discussing risk and reward in Ramaphosa’s South Africa. We are also delighted to include an article from one of the Mentees in the ITFA Martin Ashurst Trade Finance Mentorship Programme, Klisman Murati, who is a director for the boutique consultancy firm Pangea Wire, addressing terrorist financing in Africa.

Rest assured that our other ARC members (the Afreximbank Forfaiting Working Group, Marieme Kamara from Wilben Trade, Simon Cook from Sullivan and Worcester and Ian Henderson from GIB UK) are already lining up their contributions for the second issue, which will be due in 3 months time. As part of that second issue, just before the conference in Cape Town, we will be reporting on our inaugural event - the educational seminar in Nairobi. We want to be as relevant as possible, so if there is a topic you would particularly like to see covered here, do let us know and we will do our best to accommodate. 

Enjoy your reading!

Duarte

PS – have you registered for the Cape Town Conference yet?


2018 ITFA CONFERENCE IN CAPE TOWN – Louis du Plessis, ITFA ARC Member / Head of FI Trade & Distribution at Rand Merchant Bank
The 45th instalment of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) annual conference will be held in Cape Town, South Africa. This is a very exciting development as it will be the first of hopefully many ITFA annual conferences to be hosted on the African continent.
Dating as far back as the mid 1600’s South Africa and specifically Cape Town formed an integral part of international trade environment where the Dutch East India Company (the first large global trader!) set up a trading post to support shipping companies traveling around the tip of Africa in the Euro/Asian corridor.
ITFA has branded 2017/2018 “the year of Africa” and in the same vein established a regional committee dedicated to driving initiatives related to Africa on behalf of the association. One of the main objectives of the African Regional Committee (ARC) is to drive new membership from African banks and in doing so support the development of trade finance on the continent. With more than 1.2bln people and over USD 6 Trillion in GDP the continent represents a massive opportunity for international investors in trade finance. Hosting the event in Cape Town provides the perfect opportunity for ITFA members to catch up with existing members in one of the best locations in the world as well as to interact with banks, insurers and funds from all over Africa.
Our hope is that this year’s event in Cape Town will be the catalyst for the expansion of ITFA driven objectives on the continent which the ARC believes will add significant value to trade finance development in Africa and globally.
Cape Town has successfully hosted many international events and the location will certainly not disappoint in living up to the high standards that ITFA members have come accustomed to over many years! The African Regional Committee is looking forward to welcoming everyone to the 2018 ITFA Conference.
10 (or 13) Things you may not have known about South Africa
1.       The Cape Floral Kingdom is one of the world’s six floral kingdoms – and the only one which is wholly contained within a single country.
2.       The oldest remains of modern humans were found in South Africa and are well over 160,000 years old.
3.       Two Nobel Peace Prize winners lived on the same street. Both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu had houses on Vilakazi Street in Soweto.
4.       The Bloukrans Bridge, Western Cape, is the highest commercial natural bungee jump in the world. The 216m (709ft) jump off the Bloukrans Bridge, Africa’s highest bridge, falls over the Bloukrans river valley. The world’s oldest bungee jumper, South African Mohr Keet, jumped from the bridge when he was 96.
5.       It’s been estimated there are around 3,000 shipwrecks along the 3,000km coastline of South Africa. At some stage Lloyds of London stopped providing cover for shipping companies traveling to or around the Cape of Good Hope.
6.       South Africa has hosted the football (2010), cricket (2003) and rugby (1995) world cups – it is the only country in the world other than England to have done so.
7.       South Africa boasts 90% of the platinum group metals reserves on earth.
8.       There are about 900 different bird species in South Africa, which represents around 10% of the bird species of the world.
9.       The Tugela Falls in Kwazulu Natal are the second-highest on the globe, measuring some 850 metres (or 2,789 feet).
10.    Dr Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart transplant in the world in 1967. This took place at the renowned Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
11.    South Africa host the largest individually-timed cycling race in the world, the Cape Argus, and the world’s largest ultra-marathon, the Comrades.
12.    Incredibly, South Africa is home to the largest bird (ostrich), largest land mammal (elephant), tallest animal (giraffe), smallest succulent (10 millimetres), largest tree (baobab), fastest land mammal (cheetah), largest reptile (leatherback turtle), and smallest mammal (lesser dwarf shrew) amongst other animal records.
13.    South Africa has the longest wine route in the world. The R62 which is approximately 1000km takes you through some of the most beautiful winelands where you are able to visit over 500 wineries.


APPETITE RETURNS TO NIGERIA WITH NEW TRADE FINANCE SYNDICATED LOANS – Christian Karam, ITFA ARC Member / Director at Africa Trade Finance

Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa (UBA) has raised a US$160mn syndicated trade finance facility, which experts say is a sign that appetite is returning for the financially beleaguered country. 
Initially an amount of US$100mn was sought, but this amount increased as the transaction was heavily oversubscribed.
Nine lenders participated in the one-year deal, which was disbursed in December last year.
Bookrunners and co-ordinators on the deal were Africa Trade Finance and Mashreqbank.
On the other hand Access Bank Plc is currently at the advanced stages of a US$ 100 million syndicated trade finance facility. Bookrunners and co-ordinators on the deal are also Africa Trade Finance and Mashreqbank. The syndication is expected to close in April and will most likely be oversubscribed.
Over the last couple of years, the Nigerian economy has suffered from the scarcity of hard currency due to the significant drop of the country’s oil proceeds. As a result some of the Nigerian banks have delayed in repaying their outstanding with international lenders.  Consequently the availability of borrowing to Nigerian banks has been affected.
However the improved domestic environment and the financials of Nigerian banks today creates the appropriate opportunity for lenders to borrow.
Similar transactions are currently being contemplated in the neighbouring country Ghana whose banking sector is facing reforms and challenges.


RISK AND REWARD IN RAMAPHOSA’S SOUTH AFRICA – Alastair McLeod, ITFA ARC Member / Partner at JLT Specialty Limited

As Africa’s third largest and most diversified economy, South Africa accounts for the vast majority of all insurance premiums on the continent. South Africa boasts sophisticated financial markets and an abundant natural resource base, while also serving as a gateway to Africa’s expanding insurance market. According to BMI Research, sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to be the world’s second fastest economic growth region after Asia for the period 2017-2022, and the region is forecasted to grow by 3.5% in 2018. Yet South Africa’s complex business environment and on-going political tensions underscore the risks associated with doing business in the country. South Africa therefore produces a large amount of enquiries across the Credit & Political spectrum.
Risk Insight
Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in as South Africa’s president on 15 February 2018, and is expected to pursue a business-friendly reform agenda. However, the economic outlook will remain weak in 2018, as corruption investigations continue to deter foreign investment. Water infrastructure will be prioritised for investment as the Western Cape water crisis continues.
Trading Environment
President Jacob Zuma resigned on 14 February 2018 following a leadership struggle in the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Zuma’s deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, was sworn in as the country’s president on 15 February 2018. As president, Ramaphosa is expected to progress with business-friendly economic reforms. In a move likely to improve investor confidence, he removed a number of Zuma loyalists during a cabinet reshuffle in February 2018. Since becoming ANC leader in December 2017, Ramaphosa has pursued a number of reforms, including replacing the board of state-owned utility company Eskom. Ramaphosa intends to create a million jobs in 5 years, introducing tax reform and creating special economic zones.
However, Ramaphosa’s ability to restore investor confidence in South Africa will be limited by the country’s otherwise weak economic outlook. The South African economy is currently forecasted to grow by 1.3% in 2018, and a Ramaphosa presidency is unlikely to have an immediate impact on this outlook. The ANC remains divided on key policy areas, with a significant wing of the party continuing to support expansionary fiscal policies. This will make it difficult for Ramaphosa to enact reform measures, and many are likely to be watered down. In addition, Ramaphosa must balance the need to please investors with pressure to rebuild public confidence in the ANC ahead of 2019’s general election.
The on-going water crisis affecting Western Cape poses a further risk to South Africa’s economy. Severe dry-weather is likely to impact the region’s wine industry, with yields estimated to fall by 20% this year. Given that Western Cape accounts for 13.6% of GDP, a prolonged water crisis has the potential to weigh on South Africa’s weak growth outlook in 2018. 
Investment Environment
In light of the Western Cape water crisis, the government will prioritise investment into water infrastructure. In November 2017, Cape Town’s city authorities allocated USD 140 million for 7 additional water projects, temporarily halting progress on any non-water projects. Moreover, in February 2018 the deputy mayor revealed plans for 2 temporary desalination plants in Cape Town, which are currently at tender stage. The plants are expected to be operational in May 2018.
Foreign investors may be deterred from entering South Africa’s infrastructure sector by a challenging business environment. Allegations of ‘state capture’, in which Zuma is accused of facilitating Gupta family influence over state institutions, raise reputational risks for foreign firms. For example, major international firms have been implicated in malpractice accusations after working for companies linked to the Gupta family. In late 2017, the corporate registry filed criminal complaints against McKinsey, KPMG South Africa and SAP over the companies’ work for Gupta-linked companies. McKinsey was accused of fraud and collusion after ignoring staff warnings about the legitimacy of firms linked to the Guptas. In January 2018, state prosecutors indicated that they would enforce an order to seize McKinsey assets over fees the company earned from working with Eskom. McKinsey is reportedly seeking guidance from the South African government over returning the money.
Country
CEND Risk Pricing Range
Sovereign Credit Risk Pricing Range
Full Political Violence
Terrorism & Sabotage Only
South Africa*
0.6% - 1.5% p.a.
1.0% - 2.25% p.a.
0.05% p.a.
0.03% p.a.

* Given political uncertainty in the country, the range in pricing reflects the diverging outlooks of underwriters.


WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TERRORIST FINANCING IN AFRICA Klisman Murati, Director at Pangea Wire (www.pangaeawire.com) and a mentee on the ITFA Martin Ashurst Trade Finance Mentorship Programme
One need not look too far to find evidence that terrorism has become a major threat in the world. The growing verity of ways in which terrorist acts can be executed and deployed, including the use of explosives, hostage taking, cyber acts on critical infrastructure etc, has been of growing importance to governments and financial institutions around the world. 
Banks and those involved in financial services, including trade finance professionals, play a crucial role in providing a vitally important line of defence in spotting and stopping the financing of terrorist groups.  The regional and potentially global impacts of terrorism, highlights the importance of the international community taking all necessary steps to find ways to deprive terrorist organisations of their funding.
Terrorist financing in the African context
The issue of TF becomes ever more complex especially in the African context as the continent faces unique vulnerabilities and contextual factors, including;
                    A reliance on cash and use of money value transfer systems - according to World Bank statistics in 2014 66% of Africans remain unbanked. The high use of cash transactions means transfers cannot be monitored by banks and Financial Intelligence Units. Furthermore, the high propensity of cash means that certain sectors and industries are particularly vulnerable and exposed to TF including charities and money service businesses like Bureaux De Changes (more on this later).
                    Porous borders exacerbating the circulation of money & goods – In western & central Africa, jurisdictional boundaries often do not coincide with “natural” or ethnic boundaries and are difficult to control and police. Criminal and terrorist groups take advantage of these porous borders to move funds as well as legal and illegal goods through informal border crossings.
                    Corruption and wilfully complicit actors – Another major issue and one that is not unique to the African continent is that the Risk Based Approach which is considered the gold standard in AML and Customer Due Diligence practices is not carried out to its full potential. The facilitation of TF by officials and business professionals is carried out at times with impunity, thus further weakening already struggling CTF infrastructure. 
Sources of funding
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have identified several “funding sources of terrorist organisations in West and Central Africa which have been supported by information or case studies provided by government sources.” These include; extortion, the robbery & looting of banks and small businesses, cattle/livestock rustling, kidnapping for ransom, abuse of Non-Profit Organisations NPOs and funding of local businesses/commercial enterprises. The latter two are perhaps more relevant to a financial services audience and therefore deserve a more comprehensive explanation.
NPOs can be exploited by terrorist organisations to collect money and raise funds, spread propaganda, recruit members and hide a number of illegal activities. For the reasons mentioned in the previous section, NPO’s are considered high risk customers and therefore enhanced due diligence (EDD) must be performed to assess the legitimacy of said NPO.
The following case study is a pertinent case of a time where appropriate EDD lead to the successful identification and shutting down of a trade-based terrorist financing scheme. This case was initiated by an STR submitted by a bank to the Niger FIU. The NPO received USD 6 million in illicit transactions over a two-year period from two affiliated religious associations based in Europe.
Its directors were originally from a Middle East jurisdiction. The NPO listed well-drilling for water and general trade as its main activities. To facilitate the illicit transaction, the directors created a shell import/export company in Nigeria. More than 80 per cent of the funds received by the NGO were transferred to account belonging to the shell company as payment for products/services provided, where in-fact no real commerce took place.
Terrorist groups like Boko Haram of Nigeria have found innovative and entrepreneurial ways to finance their operations. Nigerian authorities have reported that BH provides microfinance to SMEs, in turn creating an investment network and increasing the organisations financial stability.
Furthermore, it has been reported by FATF that BH are also suspected of operating Bureaux de Change services around the country.
They have successfully imbedded themselves into the fabric of trade and commerce making it extremely difficult for banks and financial institutions to discern who are BH operatives and who are legitimate law-abiding customers.
Recommendations for banks & financial institutions.
There are four key precautions that banks and financial institutions can take to protect themselves against TF attempts. These include;
1.)       Working closely with international community - There is a clear need for countries in the region to work together and with the broader international community to conduct financial investigations, to share information with other agencies and countries, as well as the private sector, and to work with intelligence agencies in order to further identify and disrupt terrorism financing within the region.
2.)       Filling Suspicions Activity Reports (SARs) - Employees must have a vigilant eye to spot and report on suspicious activity and suspicious transactions as soon as there is reasonable cause to believe that there is an attempt to finance terrorism.
3.)       Appropriately screening customers, shareholders and directors for terrorist affiliations - This is especially important for Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) who due to their position require EDD to avoid reputational damage to the bank and financial institution. Counties like Sudan are also on the US’s list of State sponsors of Terrorism; therefore, it is recommended that banks closely monitor financial activity of neighbouring counties and also screen individuals who may have connections to PEPs in Sudan.
4.)       Adopting a robust Risk Based Approach - As mentioned above, the RBA is considered the gold standard in AML & CTF compliance. It is important that the approach is followed properly and that those responsible for adhering to it are not proven to be professionally negligent, wilfully blind or actively complicit.

Friday 6 April 2018

CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE - Sean Edwards, ITFA Chairman / Head of Legal at SMBC

Dear Members and Friends,

If the first quarter of 2018 is anything to go by for the remainder of the year, then we are in for what could be a bumpy and painful ride in the next nine months for emerging markets, which could end up in laughter or in tears. Credit has shown signs of frailty and weakness across the board, and from this point, the cracks can either become exacerbated or simply patched up. It’s anyone’s bet, that’s how fluid and delicate the situation is.

Going forward, it is going to take some consummate crystal-ball gazing to predict how the tête-à-tête between two of the world’s largest economies in the US and China will impact economies, companies and the markets in general in the months to come. What is expected to be extremely challenging for market participants across all the investment spectrum is the escalation of the whole situation; if it will remain confined and controlled or whether it will impact the greater scheme of things. But as a very experienced trade economist (and past contributor to these pages) told me at least these are battles and it’s not war – yet…

In the April edition of the ITFA Newsletter André Casterman, the chair of our fintech committee, has contributed ''ITFA Fintechs on Stage in London at Commonwealth Bank of Australia’’ following our successful inaugural fintech demo evening at CBA. Shannon Manders (GTR) interviews our very own Silja Calac - ''Don’t be Afraid of making Mistakes.'' The ITFA Board is also pleased to announce that we have a new ITFA Board Member, Head of Asian Activities, Ms Sophia Xiao, who takes over from Ms Jane Li and whom we thank for the sterling work she has done for ITFA. On another positive note, we are delighted to introduce four new ITFA members; VTeam Financial Service Group, BMCE Bank International plc, Zurich Credit and Political Risks and Banco Cooperativo Espanol (BCE).

Preparations for the 45th Annual International Trade and Forfaiting Conference which will be held in Cape Town between the 4th and 6th of September, are bounding ahead with the Gala Dinner venue now booked. As we have announced, the conference programme has now been finalised and can be found here. We urge you all to register and hope to see you in Cape Town.

We look forward to hearing from you with any feedback you may want to share with us by sending an email to myself, any of the Board Members or to our general email, info@itfa.org.  

Best wishes,
Sean Edwards

Thursday 5 April 2018

ITFA FINTECHS ON STAGE IN LONDON AT COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA by Andre Casterman, ITFA Fintech Committee Chairman

New platform-operated services and data-intensive processes were the highlights of the first IFTA FinTech event - London, April 2018. The ITFA FinTech Committee provides an educational forum to the ITFA membership to keep abreast of opportunities to collaborate with FinTech companies.

The ITFA FinTech committee held its first event on March 22nd in London at CBA's prestigious Innovation Lab located in Ludgate Hill, London. CBA, an ITFA member, kindly offered to host the gathering.


Attended by over 60 bankers, insurers and FinTech representatives, the event profiled leading FinTech companies focused on helping incumbent financial institutions grow their transaction banking business. The "bank - fintech" collaboration theme was thus high on the agenda.


Following a warm welcome by CBA's Gerry Gannon, both Sean Edwards and André Casterman of ITFA introduced the FinTech landscape that is increasingly offering opportunities for financial institutions to address key pain points and revisit business practices.


As per the BIS report entitled "Implications of Fintech developments for banks and bank supervisors", observation 8 on page 6 states: "The same technologies that offer efficiencies and opportunities for fintech firms and banks, such as AI/ML/advanced data analytics, DLT, cloud computing and APIs, may also improve supervisory efficiency and effectiveness".


Paul Coles, ITFA Board Member and Chair of ITFA Market Practice Committee and Global Transactional Distribution, HSBC GTRF explained the rationale to consider the FinTech developments as part of the emerging market practices.

A series of ITFA-registered FinTech companies had been invited to share their value propositions during 20-minute pitches. The hand-picked FinTech's were CCRManager, Tradeteq, LiquidX, Toredo, R3 Marco Polo and INTIX. Whilst some help banks offload their balance sheets, others focus on addressing banks and corporates by providing online credit insurance, blockchain infrastructure capabilities or data management.




#1 CCRManager - Expand your trade distribution network


Ka-Kit Man, CEO at CCRManager kicked off the pitches with an introduction to CCRManager, a new market place for originators. With CCRManager, banks can distribute trade assets digitally.

CCRManager which was launched in 2017 is a digital market place to distribute trade finance assets. The platform embeds a non-auction trading workflow as well as extended analytics and aggregated market reports for price discovery and market depth. See the May 2017 launch announcement.

#2 Tradeteq - Offload trade finance assets to capital markets


Christoph Gugelmann, co-founder and CEO of Tradeteq introduced the new Trade Finance marketplace that was launched in March 2018. Tradeteq eases the distribution of Trade Finance exposure to non-nank financial institutions. Christoph said: "There is a huge gap to be filled as banks intermediate about USD 9 trillion of trade finance whereas alternative funders only contribute to less than USD 0.025 trillion of financing. Such market failure must be solved." - check out the recent Euromoney interview for more as well as the recent GTR Ventures announcement.

Tradeteq aims to become the marketplace for banks to offload trade assets to non-bank financial institutions. The platform reduces transaction costs, operational friction, and time demands for funding trade finance exposures. Originators list opportunities, seamlessly share data, and negotiate transaction structure and terms. Investors can gain access to and evaluate new investment opportunities and conduct due diligence.

#3 LiquidX - A global network for trade finance and working capital assets


Jo Wissing, Director at LiquidX presented LiquidX which offers a one-stop solution for working capital, trade finance, insurance and technology solutions. LiquidX offers a single legal and technology infrastructure that enables corporates and financial institutions to transact more efficiently and effectively with each other. It covers origination, distribution, risk management and technology solutions delivered via a single legal framework.


LiquidX handles true-sale receivables finance, supply chain finance, dynamic discounting, investor financing and more such as L/Cs, insurance and blockchain support as from Q2 2018.





#4 Toredo - online insurance capacity for single situation non-payment exposures

Chris Hall, senior underwriter, global financial risks at Liberty Specialty Markets introduced Toredo as follows: "Whereas current market practices lead to inefficiencies in handling short-term, low premium, single situation trade credit risks for both customers, brokers and underwriters, Toredo will offer a fast, efficient and competitive online platform for all brokers and clients to access increased non-payment insurance capacity for short-term, single situation, trade finance and commodity related exposures. This will offer clients greater visibility, efficiency and transparency on market appetite, pricing and capacity."


Toredo has the capability to be used for c. 20 different product types. Current pre-agreed bank obligor capacity on the platform is $27.4bn. The London Market Credit Consortium (LMCC) will underwrite high volume, relatively low value, short term commodity and trade related risk for banks and commodity traders using a proven technology.

#5 R3 / TradeIX Marco Polo - re-wiring trade finance


Sophie Wiberg, Project Lead at R3 introduced Marco Polo as an open Trade Finance Platform built on an interoperable business network powered by open APIs and Distributed Ledger Technology. Marco Polo is an industry undertaking by 20 of the world’s foremost financial institutions supported by enterprise technology firms TradeIX and R3.

Marco Polo is offering two threads under one project for financial institutions and corporates to join and optimise their trade finance solutions. Marco Polo is the collaborative project umbrella supporting the delivery of both TradeIX's TIX Platform and the Universal Trade Network (UTN).

#6 INTIX - Monetise your transaction data


André Casterman, CMO, INTIX introduced the typical challenges faced by financial institutions to access and leverage transaction data: accessibility, visibility, infrastructure and delivery.

Add caption

Data management technologies help financial institutions access and use the client and transaction data being processed in various systems. INTIX makes this happen in a way similar to what Google does on the Internet. As data becomes available, it can be monetised.


The bankers' view - collaborating with FinTech's already a reality

Feedback and experience on the benefits of embracing FinTech propositions were shared during a panel featuring three trade practitioners and members of the FinTech Committee: Adeline de Metz, Global Co-Head of Trade and Working Capital Solutions, UniCredit; Farah Shaikh, Vice President – Trade Finance Operations, Crown Agents Bank; Daniel Rymer, Global Transaction Banking Department EMEA, Mizuho.

As bankers explained, the FinTech propositions make full sense and collaboration with various FinTech platforms is already a reality for some of them.


ITFA FinTech Committee to focus on key market-level themes

The gathering demonstrated the criticality of the four market-level themes that the ITFA FinTech Committee has chosen as priority areas to concentrate on and promote:


Discover more blogs developed by the FinTech Committee members on the above themes: Collaboration"Collaborating with FinTech drives transformation and accelerates change"Collaboration: "Trade Finance collaboration set to step up in the year head". Platforms"Online market places will help re-invent (and digitise) trade financing"Data Analytics"What are the Data Management challenges facing transaction banks?".

You can access the event presentations on the ITFA website at the following Member restricted page - http://itfa.org/member-area/events-and-conferences/

More info on "Trade as an Investable Asset Class" from TXF and EFA Group

Trade finance as an asset class is set for growth in the near term, according to 78% of respondents in a survey of investment professionals carried out by TXF in association with EFA Group. Download the recent investor market survey.

More info on "Trade as an Investable Asset Class" from TradeTeq and GTR Ventures

Francois Dotta, CEO of EFA Group says: “We wanted to get a deeper understanding into the factors that are driving investors to allocate into trade finance, as well as the reasons why they are not yet invested. And the insights we received make for good learning points that can help us further stimulate interest and investments in the asset class.”

In association with ITFA and GTR Ventures, the TradeTeq team looks at two elements that have been blocking the widespread distribution of trade finance as an asset class: one is the lack of reliable technological infrastructure to allow institutional investors to access trade finance portfolios, and the other is the need for standardised reporting to improve credit transparency. Filling these two gaps will push trade finance distribution from isolated one-off practices to an efficient, diverse and competitive marketplace. Download the recent Tradeteq white paper here.

Kelvin Tan, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of GTR Ventures adds: “The supply of low risk trade finance assets, coupled with institutional demand for similar assets which are uncorrelated, should have made distribution common place by now."

Join us at the next ITFA events

Check out www.itfa.org for more info on future events.