Trade Finance Talks

The African Continental Free Trade Area ( AfCFTA ) forms a single market of over 1.4 billion people, making up the largest free trade zone in the world. Rooted in the philosophy of pan-Africanism, the AfCFTA unites the African Union member states as a means to build regional value chains and bolster the continent’s industrial development. 

End-user needs are driving innovation in transaction banking, with banks focusing on integrated workflows rather than standalone financial products. Digitalisation, AI and high-quality data are helping businesses improve liquidity management, automate treasury processes, and enhance operational efficiency. Banks must embed services into clients' existing systems and workflows to provide flexible,...

In 2026, prices of oil, gold, wheat, beef, and other commodities hit all-time highs, fueled by the inflationary effects of the Iran war. But one global good has plummeted - cocoa.    In the last year, prices have fallen 70% . An industry riddled by moral and social challenges, including child labour exploitation, carbon footprint, and deforestation, is now also under economic threat.   The future...

In the new normal of continuous geopolitical disruption and economic uncertainty, supply chain finance (SCF) is moving beyond its traditional remit.  SCF encompasses a set of financing solutions designed to optimise working capital and improve cash flow for both buyers and suppliers. These solutions range from buyer-led programmes such as approved payables finance (allowing buyers to pay later) to...

Sweeping geopolitical disruption is making credit and political risk insurance (CPRI) ever more crucial.    CPRI is moving away from being a reactive product, evolving into a structural, balance sheet tool that corporates need to embed into their capital relief, portfolio management, and liquidity strategies.

When corporate treasurers survey the global economic landscape for areas of future growth, one region comes up again and again: South-East Asia. The region enjoys some of the world’s fastest-growing, increasingly sophisticated export industries and an ever-wealthier population - 70% of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) population will be middle-class by 2030.  

As supply chain difficulties and volatile commodity flows once again make headlines around the world, commodity trade finance (CTF) remains the backbone of global commodity transactions. The commodities sector has undergone an impressive evolution in the past decades, driven by macro trends and short-term shocks, and is now facing some of its biggest challenges yet. However, CTF providers are supp...

Fully transparent, programmable, secure digital money that maintains a stable value: 20 years ago, stablecoins sounded about as realistic as flying cars and holograms. But recent technological advancements and regulatory innovation have made this once-distant dream a reality, turning it into one of banking’s hottest topics.

Allianz Trade’s 2026 Risk Barometer identifies the 10 most pressing concerns faced by corporates for the year ahead, encompassing the views of 3,338 risk management experts, spanning 97 countries and territories. Doğa Usanmaz, Reporter at TFG, sat down with Sarah Murrow, President and CEO of Allianz Trade Americas, to discuss these changes. AI’s jump from eighth to second place in the Barometer ra...

The exclusion of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from finance isn’t driven by mere moral neglect, but by systemic infrastructural constraints - amplified by incomplete data. In a recent episode of Trade Finance Global’s (TFG) podcast series, Trade Finance Talks, Silvia Andreoletti, Senior Reporter at TFG, sat down with Adel Meer, Manager of SME Finance, Solutions & Impact, a...

The growth of AI in document forgery, the lethargic response of legislation, and the complexity of international commodity transactions all pose significant challenges to combating financial crime. 

Russia has rapidly expanded its “shadow fleet” of ageing, poorly regulated tankers to bypass Western sanctions, now accounting for a significant share of global seaborne oil trade.

Tensions have been high at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Switzerland. The tone was set from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s proclamation on Tuesday, 20 January, that “the rules-based order is fading”, for which he received a standing ovation.

When Russian tanks rolled into the Donbas, Sumy, Kherson and other regions of Ukraine in the early morning of 22 February 2022, the world watched in horror as the familiar story - a small state bullied into submission by a global superpower - repeated once again. Since then, the role of financial institutions both as providers of financing and pillars of the community has grown more firmly entrenc...

As sudden swings, geopolitical shifts, and the erosion of dollar-dominance reshape the market, foreign exchange (FX) — the global market for trading currencies — has become a central concern for businesses trading across borders.

In the second episode of Future of Trade, Trade Finance Global and Standard Chartered explore why digital trade adoption continues to lag behind innovation. TFG’s Mark Abrams speaks with Samuel Mathew, Managing Director and Global Head of Documentary Trade at Standard Chartered, on the difference between digitisation and true digitalisation, the interoperability challenges holding paperless trade...

Alternative lenders - non-bank entities that provide financing outside traditional banking channels - are no longer peripheral to the trade finance ecosystem. Their increased presence reflects a structural failure: banks' declining ability to lend to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

As the environmental cost of global supply chains – responsible for over 60% of global yearly emissions – becomes impossible to ignore, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment (CBAM) is emerging as a central tool for aligning trade with climate objectives. On January 1, 2026, CBAM will move from a reporting framework and become a real financial liability for importers: those who haven’t secured authoris...

Resilience in global trade has moved beyond a defensive strategy. In an era defined by tariffs, technological developments, and shifting patterns of economic growth, it is now integral to sustainable expansion and long-term competitiveness across global supply chains.  In the debut episode of Trade Finance Global’s (TFG) new five-part podcast series, Future of Trade with Standard Chartered, TFG’s...

Factoring, a financial practice where businesses sell unpaid invoices for immediate cash, underpins trillions in global commerce, with global volumes nearing €3.8 trillion in 2023

At the 2025 Sibos conference in Frankfurt, Germany, Silvia Andreoletti, Senior Reporter at Trade Finance Global (TFG),  had the opportunity to speak with Ximena Alemán, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Prometeo, a Latin American payments network.

Over the last decade, a new world order has been trying to emerge from the cracks of enduring systems. When Nick Szabo proposed the idea of “bit gold” in 1998, he opened the portal to inventions that changed how humans thought and dealt with money forever. 

The global trade finance gap persists at around $2.5 trillion, leaving businesses - especially small-and-medium commodity traders - struggling to pay suppliers, ship goods, and keep cash flowing while they wait for buyers to pay invoices.

From soaring price volatility and shifting geopolitical tensions to the urgent need to decarbonise, companies across the energy sector are facing risks on multiple fronts. Energy trading contracts can stretch for years, while market shocks can happen overnight. 

In a grocery store in Cape Town, Korean instant noodles and ice cups sit alongside local biltong. “The younger generation is observing on social media, and has now created a demand for, these items,” observed Zaynab Hoosen, Senior Africa Analyst at Pangea Risk, of her home town. It’s a retail revolution spurred by cultural curiosity, and it stands as a microcosm of newfound Asian investment strate...