CO-CHAIRS

• David Meynell, TradeLC Advisory / www.tradefinance.training

• Gary Collyer, Collyer Consulting / www.tradefinance.training

MEMBERS

• Abhishek Vyas, Associate Director, Trade and Supply Chain Products, ANZ, India

• Ahsan Aziz, GM—Head International Compliance, Habib Bank Ltd, Pakistan

• Alexander Zelenov, Advisor, Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs, Russia

• Atif Raza, Head of Trade Sales and Vice-Chair ICC UAE Banking Commission, Commercial Bank of Dubai, UAE

• Christian Cazenove, Global Head of Trade Finance Operations—Global Transaction Banking and Payment Services, Société Générale, France

• Daniel Vignial, Global Head of Trade Products / Trade Finance, Credit Agricole, France

• David Pelegrin, Global Trade and International Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, BBVA, Spain

• David Thompson, Trade Finance Manager, Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited, UK

• Javier Arias, Business Development Director, Santander, Spain

• K. Nizardeen, COO FIB, Malaysia / UAE and Vice-Chair ICC UAE Banking Commission

• Martina Janschak, Head of Trade Finance Advisory—Project Management, Siemens Financial Services GmbH, Germany

• Michael Quinn, Managing Director, Global Trade and Loan Products, JPMorgan, U.S.

• Pablo Nunez, Global Head of Trade Solutions, Santander, Spain

• Rita Ricci, Executive Global Trade Advisor—Trade Filière Competence Centre, BNP Paribas, Canada

• Tanguy Loreau, Head of Commodity Trade Finance Operations, Natixis, France

• Tat Yeen Yap, Head of Product Management Asia, Trade Services and Finance, Société Générale, Singapore

• Yun Fei Liu, Deputy General Manager of Global Trade Services Dept., Bank of China, China

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Meynell is the founder of TradeLC Advisory, an advisory and consultancy service, and the co-owner of www.tradefinance.training, an online training platform for all aspects of trade finance.

He previously worked for Deutsche Bank for over 30 years in a number of international locations, culminating in the position of Global Head Trade Product Management for Financial Institutions.

David is Senior Technical Advisor for the ICC Banking Commission and Chief Examiner for the Certificate in International Trade Finance (CITF®). He is a frequent coordinator and speaker at trade events globally providing workshops and training events.

INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (ICC)

Through a unique mix of advocacy, solutions and standard setting, we promote international trade, responsible business conduct and a global approach to regulation, in addition to providing market-leading dispute resolution services.

ICC produces universally accepted rules and guidelines that help business, particularly small—and medium-sized companies (SMEs), access the financing they need to grow.

Banks and other financial institutions help companies engage in world trade, mitigating risks so that goods and services can flow across the globe in a smooth and secure manner. Trade finance is especially crucial for small—and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which may lack the resources to advance the necessary funds to import or export valuable goods on their own.

In order to ensure that companies are able to access the financing they need and level the playing field worldwide, ICC produces voluntary rules and guidelines for issues, such as documentary credits, forfaiting, demand guarantees, bank payment obligation and dispute resolution.

In providing this common framework, ICC allows companies and governments around the world to speak the same regulatory language without burdening banks with red tape that could keep them from financing valuable trade opportunities.

Bringing trade finance experts from over 70 countries together, ICC also serves as a forum for those who seek to develop common strategies and standards to free up financing for SMEs, especially in developing countries and emerging markets.

GLOBAL RULES

Banking plays an undeniable role in making trade work for all, allowing even small businesses to take risks and conquer new international markets. Banks underpin more than a third of global trade transactions, representing trillions of dollars each year.

And if trade needs financing to flow smoothly around the world, banks in turn need common rules and guidelines to deal with their counterparts from other countries in order to avoid the confusion that comes with conflicting national rules.

Having companies across the globe voluntarily abide by the same guidelines also levels the playing field, making it easier for small—and medium-sized enterprises to integrate foreign markets and global value chains, and ensuring that trade is more inclusive.

ICC’s global rules for documentary credits were established in the 1930s—a time of growing nationalism and protectionism—and have since become the most successful privately drafted rules for trade ever developed.

Every year, trade transactions of over US$1 trillion are conducted on the basis of these ICC rules on documentary credits—now known as UCP600—yet international trade is constantly evolving. This leads ICC to continually adjust and overhaul our rules to reflect the changing nature of banking in trade.

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.

As disputes between companies and banks inevitably occur within this vast area of work, ICC’s expertise is also used to help parties resolve their disagreements around trade finance documents quickly and without going to court.

When disputes around global trade finance rules are resolved in a rapid, fair and cost-effective manner, trade can avoid the slowdowns and hassle that stem from protracted international litigation. In this spirit, ICC has developed rules for documentary credit dispute resolution (DOCDEX), where parties are provided with a specially appointed panel of experts that deliver a decision within 30 days of receiving the necessary documents.

https://iccwbo.org/global-issues-trends/banking-finance/global-rules/