BACB’s Damian Austin, chief banking officer, and Clint Eastwood, head of asset distribution & syndication, explore how specialist banks are working to address Africa’s shortfall in trade finance – and the role of distribution in supplying additional liquidity. Traders in Africa have long been stymied by the trade finance gap, which poses a stubborn ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)
Trade finance banks have blamed high interest rates and Russia's invasion of Ukraine for rejecting a growing number of financing requests, as a key barometer shows the shortfall in supply has ballooned to US$2.5tn. The “trade finance gap”, which measures the value of financing applications rejected by 137 banks worldwide, has jumped by almost ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)
Dubai-headquartered bank Mashreq and British International Investment (BII) have signed a US$50mn trade finance agreement aimed at boosting imports and exports in South Asia and Africa. The deal, announced this week, will see Mashreq and the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) share risk on transactions in Angola, Bangladesh, Benin and Côte d’Ivoire, as well as ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)
The judgment handed down by Delhi’s High Court in February concerned a fairly straightforward trade finance dispute. On one side, an exporter claimed it was owed money as the beneficiary of a letter of credit (LC); on the other, a bank argued it wasn't obliged to pay. The twist? The LC had been issued more ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)
British International Investment (BII) has provided a US$10mn loan to NMB Bank Zimbabwe, the development finance institution’s first banking sector debt financing deal in the Southern African country. 70% of the loan will be used for on-lending to NMB Bank’s agricultural exporter clients, enabling them to invest in machinery, operational infrastructure and imports of crucial ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)
Rejection rates for trade finance applications for SMEs in Africa are rising, with bank participation in activities decreasing. The continent’s trade finance gap, estimated to be more than US$81bn, is also growing, finds a new report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). Conducted over 2011-19, the report titled Trade Finance ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)
BII has extended a US$150mn facility to South Africa-based Absa Bank CIB to finance sustainable trade transactions in Africa.| Global Trade Review (GTR)
The UK’s top crime and sanctions enforcement agencies have warned banks to be on the lookout for efforts by a Russian oil trading network to access trade finance. The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) say in a “red alert” published on July 2 that sanctioned entities are using ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)
Stronghold Global Finance, a UK-based trade finance firm, went into administration in August last year following a High Court order.| Global Trade Review (GTR)
HSBC will no longer report interest income from its global trade finance unit, while continuing to disclose fee and commission revenue. The London-headquartered lender bills itself as the world’s largest trade bank and says it facilitated US$850bn in trade flows last year, making its earnings a bellwether for global trade activity. It previously included total ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)
Standard Chartered has agreed a US$100mn facility with British International Investment (BII) to extend trade finance across key sectors of the East African economy, with a focus on economic empowerment for women. Through the facility, Standard Chartered will extend trade and working capital finance to companies in Kenya and Tanzania, supported by a risk participation ...| Global Trade Review (GTR)