Everyone loves a first birthday party.  The Electronic Trade Documents Act (or ETDA as it is affectionately known) celebrates that milestone on 20 September 2024.  Whilst 12 months is barely a beat in the life of a statute, now nonetheless seems like an appropriate moment to reflect on its progress to date. 

The International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) has been facilitating global trade finance by connecting various stakeholders, fostering collaboration, and driving innovation.

To learn more about the current state of credit insurance in trade finance, Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke with Marcus Miller, Managing Director, Global Lenders Solutions Group Leader, Credit Specialties, and Marie-Aude Vesval, Global Unfunded Risk Participation Leader, Credit Specialties at Marsh.

In a quickfire session at the 50th Annual Trade and Forfaiting Conference held at ITFA Abu Dhabi, TFG’s Deepesh Patel spoke with Sean Edwards, Chairman of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA), about some of the key themes emerging throughout the conference.

In the container shipping industry, players across the supply chain are at varying levels of digital maturity. From cargo owners and terminal operators to legislators and governments, the wide range of participants makes uniformity difficult to achieve. As does the vulnerability of global networks, prone to disruption now more than ever.

To better support growing small businesses, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced a new pilot loan program that intends to help close the trade finance gap experienced by SME exporters. The 7(a) Working Capital Pilot (WCP) is the SBA’s first new loan program introduced in more than a decade and will be able to support lines of credit up to $5 million. 

A pilot program led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has demonstrated a promising new approach to combating trade-based money laundering (TBML). This vast and underreported financial crime enables the flow of illicit funds through the global trade system.

In Georgia, the high costs associated with providing banking services to SMEs and stringent creditworthiness or collateral requirements pose

As of June 2024, Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean have escalated, with over 150 reported incidents since November 2023. These attacks have targeted both commercial and naval vessels, disrupting maritime traffic and global trade routes. 

Categorising the 4 billion paper documents that are currently logjammed in paper trade is no easy feat. In April 2024, the International Chamber of Commerce’s Digital Standards Initiative (ICC DSI)… read more →