The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Banking Commission recently announced a single Steering Committee for its work on trade, supply chain and export finance, comprising one Chair and 12 Vice-Chairs.

The Banking Commission, leaders in standard-setting for international trade finance transactions, will be led by ING’s Global Head of Commodities, Lynn Ng.

The announcement, made by ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO, is set to oversee the ICC’s delivery of both new and enhanced projects, focusing on the digitalisation, sustainability and the capital treatment of trade assets.

What does the ICC Banking Commission do?

The ICC Banking Commission established global rules for documentary credits in the 1930s, including Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 600), eUCP versions,  Uniform Rules for Collections (URC and eURC) and Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG).

ICC also develops guidelines for fields, such as forfaiting, demand guarantees and supply chain finance – all ways that banks work with companies to mitigate the risks involved in trade.

The banking commission also produces a number of data points around access to trade finance, including the annual ICC Global Survey, the ICC Trade Register (assessing the risk of defaults on trade finance). ICC Banking Commission previously had active working groups on trade digitalisation and sustainable trade finance.

What’s the new structure?

Chair

• Lynn Ng, Global Head of Commodities, Food and Agri, ING (Netherlands)

Vice Chairs

• Mencia Bobo, Global Head of Trade & Working Capital Solutions, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Spain)
• Marilyn Blattner-Hoyle, Global Head of Trade Finance, AIG (UK)
• Merlin Dowse, Global Trade Product Manager, J.P. Morgan (US)
• Yina Fu, Head of Financial Ecology Solutions, Alibaba B-To-B Business Group (China)
• Andrew Kigira, Group Head of Trade Products, Equity Bank Ltd (Kenya)
• Maria Jose Llabot, Head of International, Banco de la Provincial de Córdoba (Argentina)
• Surath Sengupta, Managing Director & Global Head – FI, Portfolio & Distribution, HSBC (UK)
• Louise Taylor Digby, Head of Global Trade Strategy, SWIFT (Singapore)
• Florian Witt, Managing Director, Divisional Head, International Banking and Corporate Banking; Member of the Group Business Executive Committee, ODDO BHF (Germany)
• Xu Jun, Deputy General Manager, Global Transaction Banking, Bank of China (China)

Commenting on the appointments, Mr Denton said: “We see an absolute imperative to smooth the flow of cost-effective trade credit to small businesses in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. I’m confident that the new leadership of the Banking Commission will provide us with the diversity of technical, industry and regional expertise needed to enhance the impact of our work in this vital area for global real economy.”

ICC recently announced a renewed work programme for its Banking Commission for 2021/22 – establishing a clearer focus on value-add activities and fully leveraging synergies with other institutional projects, such as the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, led by Oswald Kuyler.

The new Chair of the Banking Commission, Lynn Ng said: “I’m honored to take on the leadership of the Banking Commission at such a critical time for the trade finance market. I’m committed, working with ICC’s global network, to rebuild trust in the trade ecosystem and accelerating industry efforts in critical areas such as sustainability and digitalization. Together we can make a real difference in enabling a resilient rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic.”