Toronto-based GlobalTrade Corporation (GTC) has formally announced that 36 subsidiaries of Airbus parent EADS and 22 banks have 'gone live' with its @GlobalTrade Guarantee Platform via a co-operation agreement between GTC and Germany's Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG (HVB).

Last month GTC's CEO, Jacob Katsman, told DC World News that he hoped to be able to reveal in the near future the names of some very big corporates signing up to the company's multi-bank online trade solutions that were revealed earlier this year. (DC World News, 8 September 2006 and 3 October 2006).

Applications

The @GlobalTrade platform technology works for export and import letter of credit (L/C) applications as well as the guarantee platform that the EADS subsidiaries have opted for.

While the European aircraft manufacturer is now openly associated with GTC's guarantee platform, the names of the multinational and three banks that DC World News has been told have signed to an L/C platform with the company have not been revealed.

There are @GlobalTrade applications for guarantee issuance, documentary collection, payables and receivables financing too and the platform is designed to collaborate with carriers, freight forwarding and insurance companies.

EADS first customer

The European aircraft manufacturer was the first customer to mandate HVB in September 2005 to implement the @GlobalTrade Guarantee Platform in connection with its EUR 2.9 billion Letter of Guarantee (L/G) Umbrella Facility that was closed beginning of May 2006.

HVB acts as agent for the 36 EADS subsidiaries and as service provider for the 22 banks participating in this transaction.

Flexible and easy

Manager of EADS group's guarantee activities, Jörg Weber, says that with the Canadian company's guarantee solution, "we have been able to considerably improve the transparency and efficiency of our L/G activities."

"We have chosen @GlobalTrade for its remarkable flexibility and ease of use," he adds.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.