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Egypt reportedly orders banks to allocate US dollar L/Cs for some non-essential imports

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has reportedly issued a directive ordering the country's banks to allocate US dollars for letters of credit (L/C) to be used for the importation of non-essential goods requiring pre-approval.

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J P Morgan takes a look at L/C history over the last 5000 years

Letters of credit (L/Cs) and promissory notes on clay tablets discovered 5000 years ago are the oldest known forms of trade finance, according to a visual timeline of international trade finance posted on J P Morgan's official web site.

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CTBC asks Hong Kong court to or ICBC to pay sum under negotiated L/C

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Taiwan's CTBC Bank have filed competing legal claims over a US$8.8 million financing for a shipment of Venezuelan petroleum coke that is mired in allegations of fraud.

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Acconto's new lease deposit financing promises L/C alternative for SME tenant businesses

Boutique lender Acconto Financial Corporation (AFC) says it is promoting its new specialty loan offering to Canada's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that provides an alternative to letters of credit (L/CS) and financial guarantees to cover tenants' commercial lease deposit obligations.

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Latest Technical Advisory Briefing

Just published - Technical Advisory Briefing from the ICC Banking Commission.

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Bangladesh's state power company partially settles Adani Power's L/C request

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has reportedly issued a letter of credit (L/C) for the equivalent of US$173 million to partially settle its debts to India's Adani Power.

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BIS launches Project Aperta to facilitate L/C and other trade financing flows

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is launching Project Aperta to explore how to reduce frictions and costs in global finance by enabling seamless cross-border data portability.

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World's largest debt conversion for river and watershed conservation features L/C from CAF

JPMorgan Chase & Co has successfully closed a landmark US$1 billion refinancing deal for El Salvador, which represents approximately 14 per cent of the nation's total debt of approximately US$21 billion or 59 per cent of its GDP.

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GM secures its all-electric future by putting up US$625 million in L/Cs and cash for JV with Lithium Americas

Lithium Americas and General Motors Holdings (GM) have entered into a new investment agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) for the purpose of funding, developing, constructing and operating the Thacker Pass lithium project in the US state of Nevada.

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WaveBL's groundbreaking POV underlines the important role eBLs play supporting digital L/C development

WaveBL, a blockchain-based digital solution provider that focuses on digitising trade documents such as bills of lading, has completed a ground breaking Proof of Value (POV) with Swift, the global messaging platform.

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MUFG buys into Obligo's US$35 million funding round to expand its L/C-backed security deposit solution

Fintech Obligo, which uses letters of credit (L/Cs) from banking giant Wells Fargo to back its security deposit alternative for landlords and tenants (DC World News, 1 July 2022), has raised US$35 million to expand its operations and build its share in the potentially lucrative market for US security deposit guarantees.

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L/Cs help Regions Bank win prestigious prize, as repurposed by US President John F Kennedy

Regions Bank has become just one in ten of the recipients of the 2024 President's "E" Award for export service in recognition of the bank's work to provide financing solutions for corporate banking clients that collectively increase US exports.

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Nigerian airline founder in L/C abuse case charged in the US with obstruction of justice

Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, the CEO and founder of Nigerian airline Air Peace, faces additional charges from the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Initially indicted in 2019 for bank fraud and money laundering, Onyema is now also charged with obstruction of justice.

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Executive outlines Microsoft's efforts to help partners develop new L/C solutions

Director of business development for financial services at Microsoft, Peter Hazou, has been explaining how the global technology giant has been working with partners to develop new letter of credit (L/C) and other trade finance solutions.

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StanChart's new digital capability allows clients to digitally initiate and accept L/C quotations on demand, at anytime

Standard Chartered has announced the introduction of Autoquote, a new digital request for quote (RFQ) module available on its Straight2Bank Next Gen, the bank's digital banking platform.

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Citi Token Services for Trade a 'milestone' step towards to digital L/Cs

Citi has announced what it describes as a "historic milestone" in its work to replace conventional trade finance instruments such as letters of credit (L/Cs) with Citi Token Services for Trade (CTST), a digital solution based on smart contracts backed by tokenised cash.

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Nassa Group founder accused of using L/Cs in US$3 million TBML scheme

Founder and chairman of Bangladesh-based Nassa Group, Nazrul Islam Mazumder has been accused of being involved in laundering US$3 million to the US through trade-based money laundering (TBML).

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National Bank of Malawi secures landmark US$100 million financing facility from Afreximbank to support trade finance

In a move set to significantly boost trade financing in Malawi, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a landmark US$100-million trade finance facilitation facility (AFTRAF) agreement with National Bank of Malawi (NBM), the country's largest bank by assets. The facility will allow NBM to issue letters of credit (L/Cs) confirmed by Afreximbank,

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Ontario proposes surety bonds to replace L/Cs to secure municipal obligations

The government of Ontario is proposing a regulation under its planning laws that would authorise landowners to stipulate pay-on-demand surety bonds to be used to secure municipal obligations that are conditions of land-use planning approvals.

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ADB initiative reveals 148 per cent increase in trade-based money laundering in Bangladesh's L/C transactions

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has published a brief entitled Transforming the Fight Against Trade-Based Money Laundering: New Data and Partnership, in which it describes a pilot project to curb trade-based money laundering (TBML) in letter of credit (L/C) transactions in Bangladesh.

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Deutsche Bank's US$150 million facility to provide L/C support for innovative community solar development pipeline

Community solar and battery storage developer, owner, and operator, Dimension Energy, has announced the closing of a US$150 million corporate credit facility with Deutsche Bank in an innovative deal featuring letter of credit (L/C) support for US renewable projects.

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L/Cs support financing of renewable project featuring innovative agrivoltaics initiatives

Pennsylvania-based Doral Renewables has successfully closed of a project debt financing package that includes letter of credit (L/C) support for the initial construction of the remaining phases of its Mammoth Solar complex located in the US state of Indiana.

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Japanese banks press on with stablecoins as alternatives to L/Cs in cross-border payments

Japan's largest banks - MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho - are participating in a pilot using stablecoins and the Swift network for cross-border payments that could offer an effective alternative to traditional L/Cs in trade finance transactions.

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Central Bank of Mauritius to join its Indian counterpart's proof-of-concept initiative for L/C processing

The Bank of Mauritius's (BoM's) newly launched Innov8 initiative is to join the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Innovation Hub initiative that has developed a proof-of-concept (PoC) for the processing of letters of credit (L/Cs) using distributed-ledger technologies, according to the BoM's governor, Harvesh Seegolam.

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New Trade ePass solution features L/C functionality at Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank

A key player in the Thai trade finance sector and one of Thailand's largest and oldest banks,

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China Construction Bank the 'lifeline' for the Vesttoo L/C fraud

China Construction Bank (CCB) was the lifeline for the Vesttoo fraud in which the collapsed insurance fintech participated in fraudulent activities using fake letters of credit (L/Cs) in insurance-linked securities transactions, according to a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of New York by White Rock Insurance.

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Allianz provides surety-backed variation of standard L/C for clean energy projects

Allianz, the multinational financial services company based in Germany, is offering a variation on the standard letters of credit (L/C) provided for the construction and development of clean energy projects.

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Latest Technical Advisory Briefing

Just published - Technical Advisory Briefing from the ICC Banking Commission.

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Egypt eases restrictions on L/Cs for non-essential imports

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has signalled to local banks that they can start issuing letters of credit (L/Cs) for imports of certain foodstuffs as well as a range of consumer and industrial goods.

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Alliant offers surety-based L/C alternatives on new national platform

US-based insurance distribution company, Alliant Insurance Services, has launched Alliant Commercial Surety, a new national platform targeting the commercial surety market.

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CargoX's digital L/C to feature in partnership with the world's eighth-largest container carrier

CargoX, which features digital letters of credit (L/Cs) as part of its suite of blockchain-based solutions for trade finance, has announced a strategic partnership with HMM, Korea's largest and the world's eighth-largest container carrier.

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Decentralised trade settlement specialist launches blockchain L/C alternative

Netz, a fintech specialising in decentralised trade settlements, has launched what it describes as a platform for cross-border commodity trading that serves as an alternative to traditional banking methods and letters of credit (L/Cs).

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L/C activities at six Bangladeshi banks restricted due to financial irregularities and owners' connections with deposed prime minister

The Bangladesh Bank (BB - central bank) has significantly restricted banks in the country that are controlled by the S Alam Group from conducting letter of credit (L/C) business.

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Bangladeshi mega-conglomerate faces serious TBML accusations

One of Bangladesh's largest and most diversified conglomerates has been accused of trade-based money laundering (TBML) at least US$135 million by using fraudulent letters of credit (L/Cs) to obtain loans.

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Nigeria's L/C payments more than halved in seven months

Nigeria's letter of credit (L/C) payments have experienced a significant drop in 2024, declining by 57 per cent in the first seven months of the year.

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Experts advocate Ethiopian EXIM Bank to facilitate L/C transactions

A group of financial experts is advocating that a project to build an Ethiopian Export-Import (EXIM) Bank with an alliance of the country's big financial institutions should be initiated, in part to make letters of credit (L/Cs) more available for Ethiopia's businesses and especially its small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

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L/Cs may have been improperly used in scheme to supply Nigeria with substandard Russian fuel

Letters of credit (L/Cs) may have been improperly used in schemes to import substandard fuel, including petroleum products, that originated in Russia but was shipped via Malta and then on to Nigeria.

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Obligo's L/C-based offering attracts established property management firm Yardi

Fintech Obligo, which uses letters of credit (L/Cs) from banking giant Wells Fargo to back its security deposit alternative for landlords and tenants (DC World News, 1 July 2022), has partnered with Yardi to provide new software solutions primarily for real estate management.

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Libyan banks suspend L/C processing as central bank descends into turmoil

Several Libyan commercial banks have notified their customers of the temporary suspension of letter of credit (L/C) processing and other key financial services due to ongoing turmoil at the Central Bank of Libya.

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Local currency deal enhances Ameriabank's L/C-oriented relationship with EBRD

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Ameriabank have signed an agreement enabling the Armenian bank to attract trade finance funding from the EBRD in Armenian drams.

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