Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. Having appeared to stabilise in July and August the number of new cases of COVID-19 globally has edged up to new highs in the last fortnight. Europe is seeing a second wave, particularly in Spain and France, but the case rate in the US has fallen. The centre of the disease, both in terms of cases and deaths, has shifted to emerging markets, particularly Latin America, Mexico and India.
Trade Finance Guide 2020 – Now Launched!
ITFA and TFG have launched their international trade finance guide for corporates and large businesses, aimed at clarifying and defining standard definitions for trade finance products, as well as the risks, challenges and opportunities within trade finance. Read more →
Euler Hermes Chairman – the worst is yet to come for trade
Euler Hermes, the world leader in trade credit insurance, predicts that global GDP will contract by -4.7% in 2020, followed by growth of 4.8% in 2021, global insolvencies will increase by 35% by 2021, and global trade volumes will contract by -15% in 2020, with a recovery of +8% in 2021 and +4.1% in 2022. Read more →
Will Singapore lose its lustre over the commodities financing saga?
Barings Bank collapse. Noble Group’s demise. The 2020 commodities scandals of Agritrade, Hin Leong, Zenrock, Sugih Energy and Hontop Energy. These financial scandals have one thing in common. They happened on Singapore’s shores. Would the latest commodities scandal in 2020 finally serve to dent that reputation that Singapore has long worked hard to achieve? Read more →
ICC launches high-level advisory group to prime trade finance to power COVID-19 recovery
The International Chamber of Commerce, the institutional representative of 45 million businesses worldwide, has announced the creation of a new Advisory Group on Trade Finance (ATF) – a cross-sectoral coalition of leaders in global trade. Read more →
Boris Johnson tells EU that free trade deal must be done by 15 October
Britain has set a deadline of Oct. 15 to strike a free-trade deal with the European Union, and if none is agreed both sides should “accept that and move on”. The prime minister said the UK was entering the “final phase” of negotiations, which resume on Tuesday. Read more →
SCHUMANN Interview – Rethinking credit risk management in 2020 and beyond
TFG heard from Robert Meters, Head of Marketing and Sales, Global Business & Financial Services at SCHUMANN, on the impact of the pandemic on trade credit insurance and the recent Covid-19 initiatives including digital approaches. Read more →
Surety bond dilemma in Turkish insurance
Are we entering into an era wherein Turkish Insurance Companies begin to issue Letter of Guarantees as Banks do? TFG heard from Dr.Özge TOSUN, legal counsel at Turk Eximbank on the various surety bond dilemmas in Turkish insurance including the impracticality of expecting Turkish law to govern all overseas contracts. Read more →
