Global trade volumes are around US$18trn to US$19trn a year, and, according to the ICC Banking Commission, around 80% of that financed by some form of credit. In other words, the interconnection is obvious
For this reason, we were delighted that Dr Rebecca Harding, CEO of Coriolis Technologies, a business providing data as a service to the trade finance sector, to share her perspective on trade growth, the geopolitical landscape, and in particular, her take on a year of ‘trade wars’.
As co-author of the acclaimed The Weaponization of Trade: the Great Unbalancing of Policy and Economics, she is particularly well placed to talk about verbal conflict around trade, and the creation of uncertainty with the impact on investment.
Our second interview features a fireside chat with Deutsche Bank’s Global Head of Trade Finance, Daniel Schmand, and Sean Edwards who, in addition to his day job as Head of Legal at Japan’s SMB chairs the International Trade and Forfaiting Association.
They discuss how to make sense of the uncertainty in trade in the light of trade wars, and how trade will always find its way and financiers will go getting finance to those that need it most.
They talk about how the secondary market has grown to include private credit insurance and plays a huge part in helping banks adjust their liquidity, despite being relatively “silent”.
As chair of the ICC Banking Commission in addition to his day job, Daniel Schmand provide an update on creating trade finance as asset class, and both take viewers through how industry rulemaking and common standards support this.
