Dear Members and
Friends,
The first quarter
of 2016 has been characterised by a sharp correction in commodities and
Emerging Markets, only to witness some sort of timid recovery towards the
latter stages. Despite this, markets are a far cry from their 2015 highs, and
this has resulted in subdued investor sentiment in the markets, industries and
sectors in which we operate and carry out our trade.
One of the greatest talking points
in emerging markets in recent months has been Brazil, which has been clearly
one of the underperformers, both in terms of economic performance as well as in
terms of corporate governance. Once one of the largest emerging market
economies, Brazil has moved from being the envy of other neighbouring emerging
countries to being a country embroiled in corruption claims and a sharp deterioration
in the country’s credit metrics. Ever since the ‘lava jato’ scandal linked to state
owned Petrobras broke out, the Brazilian economy deteriorated significantly.
Brazil is one country, however, where significant
attempts have been made to introduce Supply Chain Financing partly through the mandatory
use of electronic invoicing platforms in certain circumstances.
The recent publication of Standard Definitions
for Supply Chain Finance, a collaborative effort between a number of organisations
led by the ICC and with valuable input from ITFA, is an important step in cementing
the use of SCF globally. Copies of the
Definitions are available through our ITFA website.
Turning to the March issue of the ITFA
Newsletter, Philipp Moulas talks about the ITFA Young Professional Network and
its importance amongst juniors in the profession. We will also introduce you to
one of the newly elected ITFA Board members; Anurag Chaudhary (Citi) whose role
within the Board primarily entails introducing new banks to ITFA, whilst
also expanding ITFA membership.
We hope you have found the ITFA Calendar of Events to be useful in planning your yearly
events in advance. The page, found on the ITFA website, is being updated on a regular basis.
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
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