UAE-based Emirates NBD and DP World Trade Finance, along with tech firms Enigio and iBind, have completed a proof-of-concept for an electronic trade transaction that incorporates participants’ digital identity.  Stockholm-based Enigio, which specialises in electronic versions of original documents, says the project is a “unique milestone” in efforts to digitalise global trade and financial services.  As well as replicating the physical flow of trade documents in a digital setting, the proof-of-concept also uses technology to prove that the companies involved have ownership and author ..read more

London-based fintech Traydstream has hired Stephan Hufnagl as chief technology officer, effective from late April. Hufnagl, who joins from Microsoft, will oversee product development and innovation at the software company. Traystream’s AI-driven platform digitises trade documents such as letters of credit and bills of lading, and then automates typical checking and compliance processes. In hiring Hufnagl, the fintech has expanded its technology team and adopted a “significantly greater focus on innovation” across emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning and data analytics, a Traydstr ..read more

High interest rates, economic uncertainty and disclosure rules appear to be dampening demand for payables finance programmes, though receivables finance remains robust, research by Demica has found.  Bank representatives report a drop in demand for buyer-led supply chain finance (SCF), with suppliers potentially withdrawing from programmes due to higher costs and external pressures, according to Demica’s survey of nearly 200 professionals across 31 markets.  More respondents identified receivables discounting as having higher growth potential than payables finance, a reversal of the ..read more

Singapore-based consultancy firm Kairos Risk Solutions has hired Stephen Lee as a managing director for banking solutions. Lee joins from DBS Bank, where he held various roles across the Asia Pacific region over the past three decades, serving most recently as head of global trade product management in Singapore. In his new post, he is tasked with driving Kairos Risk’s consultancy business to banks in Asia. He brings a “robust skill set” that includes structured products, credit risk, risk management and trade finance, the firm says. “I am excited to join the team at Kairos Risk Solutions. Ban ..read more

Xalts has big ambitions in trade finance. The company revealed in February it had acquired digital trade finance consortium Contour, which ran into difficulties the previous October after failing to secure sufficient funding from its bank backers.  Contour’s central offering was based on bringing down processing times for letters of credit, from an average of 10 days to under 24 hours. But following the acquisition, Xalts’s co-founders said they intended to “expand the scope” of its network and “build it into a rail that enables businesses to access digital solutions for trade and su ..read more

Influential industry groups are urging governments to push adoption of the legal entity identifier (LEI) system, arguing wider uptake could cut trade costs by US$100bn and widen access to financing for smaller companies.  A decade since it was established by the G20, the LEI – a unique, electronic fingerprint companies can use to demonstrate their identity and ownership – remains “underutilised” in trade, says a report published this week by four industry bodies, including the International Chamber of Commerce United Kingdom (ICC UK).  It argues that wider usage would dramatically sp ..read more

London-based investment manager Acre Impact Capital has won investor commitments worth US$100mn for its inaugural fund, an export finance-focused offering that will target climate infrastructure in Africa. Acre says the fund, which it hopes to grow to US$300mn, has attracted a diverse group of backers, including institutional investors, family offices and impact-first investors such as Trimtab Impact and Ceniarth. Development finance institutions are also among the initial investors, including the European Investment Bank (EIB) – with a US$40mn investment – and the UK government-backed FSD Afr ..read more

A new template to standardise distribution of open account trade assets should make it easier for investors to enter the sector, industry advocates say. The template, the Master Account Receivables Assignment Agreement (Mara), was developed in 2018 by HSBC and law firm Dentons. After being honed through several years of use, it has now been released for market-wide use through the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA). ITFA and other parts of the industry have pushed in recent years to broaden investor interest in trade finance assets, particularly among deep-pocketed capital m ..read more

Surecomp, a provider of trade finance systems to banks and corporates, has signed a partnership agreement to integrate Cleareye.ai’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based trade compliance solutions onto its Rivo platform. Launched in May 2022, Rivo is set up as a collaborative digital hub that provides open API access to importers, exporters, banks, insurers, shipping companies and solution providers, in an attempt to stitch together the patchwork of disparate digital trade and trade finance solutions into one centralised offering. In all, five compliance solutions providers are now integrated on ..read more

Financial backers are continuing to assess whether they should reaffirm their support for a multi-billion-dollar LNG project in Mozambique as operator Total looks to restart work. The project was suspended in 2021 after insurgents known as the Islamic State Mozambique attacked Palma, a town in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. Total declared force majeure and withdrew its staff from the nearby Afungi project site. But earlier this year, the French energy major announced its intention to restart the project, meaning its financial partners are also expected to confirm their commitment. A co ..read more