denotes premium content | Dec 5 2008 Trade & Forfaiting Review magazine archive
Volume 4 Issue 4
Features
COUNTRY FOCUS: BRAZIL: Taking the corporate plunge
Sometimes a contract may be lost due to the insistence of using letters of credit or bank avals. In Brazil, where competition is strong, this is often the case. Louis Nicola, Senior Loans Manager at Banco do Brasil in London, explains about the ability of his bank in taking Brazilian corporate risk with or without guarantees.
BROKERS VIEW: Still further to travel
The trade credit insurance market has changed significantly in the past 10 years. Privatisation, growth, new entrants and technology have produced new products and new ideas. Policyholders have benefited from greater competition. The market today is increasingly organised for the convenience of policyholders, rather than for the convenience of insurers. But the transition to a more customer-orientated market is not complete: we expect further progress and more change.
COMMODITY FINANCE: Agriculture's catch-up
Agriculture is one of the most fundamental and oldest activities known to man. It was the precursor to civilisation. But since then agriculture has been left behind in the glamour stakes - first by the industrial revolution and then the explosion of technology. Justin Pugsley looks at how the internet should shake up agriculture.
COVER STORY: Forfaiting's coming of age
WestLB is about to launch a fund comprising forfaiting paper that is aimed at institutional investors. This isn't the first time such a fund consisting of forfaiting assets has been launched. But it is the first that is open-ended, unrated, uninsured and where the investor knows exactly what he is buying into. Rupert Sayer looks closer at this brave attempt to establish forfaiting paper as an investment class in its own right.
REGIONAL FOCUS: SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: Trust those who are experienced
Belgolaise Bank has been involved in financing trade flows in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1909. Today it has a local presence in some 15 countries across the region. Arjuna Balasingham, Senior Account Manager in London with responsibility for originating structured trade and commodity finance opportunities, reflects on the growth of structured financing opportunities in the region and opportunities for newcomers.
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: CREDIT INSURANCE; Credible risks
Terry Bridgman, London director of NCM and former CEO of
NCM UK, takes a look back at the credit insurance market in recent years and
looks ahead to the future - more involvement from the private market, more
e-commerce and more reviews.
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: EXPORT FINANCE; Thinking globally
Frederic Genet, Head of SG Export Finance in Paris, gives his take on export finance business over the past year and illustrates the trends that may affect the market in 2001 - more globalisation and competition especially.
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: FORFAITING; Waking up for next year
Martin Short, Director of Fast Forward (Software 2000) Ltd, whose calculation product 'Fast Forfaiting' has recently been launched in London, considers forfaiting's lot in the past year - the market and regions, the internet and regulation and standardisation.
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: LEGAL ISSUES; Get the wording right
Sunil Gadhia, Partner in London law firm Stephenson Harwood, reviews some of the year's important legal decisions affecting the trade finance arena.
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: TRADE & COMMODITY FINANCE; Consolidation and mixed markets
For trade and commodity financiers, 2000 was dominated by the oil price, Russia's return, Turkey's squeeze, and consolidation among players. Paul Maxwell, Senior Vice-President and Global Head of Trade and Commodity Finance at ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam explains further
SECURITY & CREDIT ENHANCEMENT: Commodities as collateral
Andre Soumah, Executive Chairman of ACE - Audit Control & Expertise Ltd in Geneva, considers commodity development and trade in developing countries through commodity-linked credit enhancement structures.
TRADE FINANCE STRUCTURES: Go for the best option!
Giovanni Castellucci, Chairman of Italian forfaiting broker Castellucci & Partners of Milan, compares export credit agency-backed finance structures with forfaiting and argues against imposing a single uniform system for export credits around the world.
YOUR SAY: Lets get Kosovo moving
Kosovo came under the control of UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) just under 18 months ago, in June 1999, officially marking the end of the war there and the start of stability. UNMIK has been placed in Kosovo as an interim governing body, until full power can be handed over to elected representatives.
bank spotlight: Citibank: asia leads citi's web drive
Citibank in Singapore has launched a new corporate service that takes business-to-business electronic commerce to new heights by incorporating settlement and reconciliation into the electronic procurement process. Other banks should take note. Rupert Sayer finds out more.
company spotlight: esquel enterprises - taking intranets to customers
One Asian-based textile firm is taking its vertically integrated structure a step forward in coming months thanks to technology. Esquel Enterprises is opening up its company intranet, that can track every part of production for every type of product, from cotton crop to shipped garments, to its valued customers. A lot of time and money will be saved and a lot more trust and relationship with customers built up as a result, as Rupert Sayer discovers.
customs brokerage : electrifying the business borders
The volume of US-Canada-Mexico trade is statistically mind blowing. Think then of the volume of documentation and customs work involved in this trade. My-Tien Van is Chief Information Officer at Livingston International in Toronto, a leading customs brokerage and trade services company facilitating trade between the two countries. She looks at the electronic drive in the customs business in the NAFTA region and how technology is having to keep up with the huge growth in trade.
electronic originals : moving forward to origins
A central issue in e-commerce is that of original documents and how these can be accepted electronically. Malcolm Smith explains how that problem has now been solved. He is Co-ordinator for the Electronic Initiative, Business Development Director for the Group 5 Group Ltd and 5th Generation Messaging Ltd in the UK. He is also Chairman of the G5 Messaging Forum, an independent, non-profit body, established in 1996 to create a new, coherent open standard for integrated multimedia messaging.
electronic trade systems: bolero : will trade ever be the same again?
Trade has entered the electronic age according to those at bolero.net, the recently launched electronic trade service for exporters. The market has been waiting to see bolero.net in action during several years of development. Now it is here, will this mean a revolution in how exporting is conducted? Rupert Sayer investigates.
electronic trade systems: tradecard - the missing link?
TradeCard, Inc is a start-up company that is creating a new e-commerce business model for international trade. By providing the missing documentary compliance and payment settlement link for the emerging business-to-business e-commerce marketplace, TradeCard is aiming to make global trade a fast, easy, inexpensive and secure process, claims Michael Klausner, Vice-President of Marketing at the firm.
Encryption : exporting secrets
What are the laws and regulations surrounding encryption? What are the problems being faced to regulate this area of technology? Robert Bond is a partner and head of the IT and Telecoms Group at London law firm Hobson Audley Hopkins & Wood and is legal counsel to the Electronic Project of the International Chamber of Commerce. He provides some answers, looking at the various initiatives under way in North America, the UK and by various multilateral organisations.
Interview: putting the byte into trade
Patrick Johnston used to get into trouble for asking too many questions. My dad would say: Your questions are good son, but you have to combine your questions with a commitment to go out and discover the answers, or they are wasted, he says. I have found the technology industry to be one of my favourite places to ask questions because technology attracts a special breed of extra curious folks. It is these incredible people who push the industry in unexpected - but ever interesting - directions. Nowadays, Johnston focuses his attentions on the internet. He is vice-president of sales and marketing for TradeBytes Data Corp in Vancouver, Canada, finding web-based solutions to exporters, information and marketing needs. He talks to Rupert Sayer.
regional focus: hong kong - helping exporters stay ahead
Tradelink is the body responsible for ensuring Hong Kongs exporters embrace electronic trade advancements and ultimately keep ahead in Asian exports. Peter Yan, Chief Operations Officer at Tradelink Electronic Commerce Ltd, outlines the organisations challenges and solutions in the past and future.
roundtable discussion : talking of e-commerce...
In the first of many expert roundtable discussions to come in e-mmerce, we rallied together two bankers, one lawyer and a specialist consultant to discuss three central themes in electronic trade finance today: the drivers behind e-commerce; the barriers to entry into the market; and what banks especially are doing to meet these challenges.
