International trade is vital to the growth of income and the country’s economy. It is, however, not possible to carry out any trade devoid of any risks.

Lloyds Bank has introduced a digital solution, which enables clients to obtain Direct Guarantees or Standby Letters of Credit, thereby enhancing the efficiency, safety, and security of their trading activities. … read more →

With the passing of the UK’s Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA), the digital trade world is changing. While this is welcomed news for the entire industry, it also means that new partnerships and innovations need to come to fruition.

For ages, correspondent banking has played a vital role in the global payments system. Through correspondent banking relationships, banks gain access to a diverse range of financial products across various jurisdictions enabling them to offer cross-border payment solutions and services to their customers. 

ICC and Swift, the global leader in secure financial messaging services, have unveiled the first application programming interface (API) industry standards for bank guarantees and standby letters of credit. The… read more →

Lloyds Bank has initiated a strategic trade collaboration with UBS to bolster its global presence, aiding its UK-centric clientele to conduct business across 170 nations globally. Through this pact, the… read more →

The Electronic Trade Documents Bill has today received Royal Assent, and is officially an act of law (the Electronic Trade Documents Act), promising to transform the way international trade is conducted electronically.

In the geographically dispersed world of international trade finance, efficient communication is crucial. 

This is why the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication – better known as SWIFT – created its messaging types, which have long served as a means for banks around the globe to communicate and facilitate transactions.

With the disruption of the global value chains stemming from COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, Central and Eastern European (CEE) trades are finding themselves in a new business reality. While trade with East Asia is a well-established import region, new primary export destinations are emerging for exporters in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). With the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the main export markets outside the EU for the CEE companies, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, were closed or significantly constrained. 

In 1977, as Mr Justice Kerr was coining his often-cited description of the letter of credit as the “lifeblood of international commerce”, the obstruction caused by the use of sanctions in international trade as a weapon of foreign policy would have been difficult to predict. The modern use of sanctions clauses would have been beyond comprehension.