Trade monopolised headlines last year in a way it hasn’t for generations, but earnings reports from many large banks suggest the upheaval unleashed by US tariff policy hasn’t had a major impact on trade finance lending.
Instead, the full-year results show a mixed picture in which some regions appear to be flourishing while others lag. Many lenders complained of margin pressure dragging down income, even if trade volumes had grown.
Trade itself has proven more resilient than expected. China has continued to grow its exports and many banks reported realigned trade flows, such as greater trade within Asia and between Asia and the Middle East.
“Generally speaking, the market has been very constructive,” said Eric Li, head of global banking research at Crisil Coalition Greenwich. “I think that volumes across the board are up in dollar terms, especially in traditional trade.”
“We expect the market to go up a little bit. It’s trade finance we’re talking about – it’s never going to go up 20% in the quarter.”
As in GTR’s previous results overviews, the analysis provides just a snapshot of the market because only a handful of banks disclose details about trade finance volume or income.
Crucially, banks in the three key markets of China, India and Japan have not yet revealed full-year earnings because of different financial years. China and India are two nations that bore the brunt of higher US import duties, at least temporarily.
All figures refer to the full 2025 calendar year, unless otherwise indicated. US dollar conversions are rates as of press time, rather than those at the end of 2025.
Europe
London-headquartered HSBC, which bills itself as the world’s largest trade bank, grew its global trade solutions revenue by 1.8% to US$2.73bn, comprised of net interest income of US$1.27bn and fee and other income of US$1.46bn. The figure betters a rise of 1% that HSBC posted for 2024.
“Despite the evolving scenarios that you’re facing on tariffs and trade, our business has been really quite resilient,” chief financial officer Pam Kaur told analysts when the results were unveiled in Hong Kong.
Earnings dipped by around 5% in the fourth quarter, Kaur said, but were “stable over the full year” partly due to a “particularly strong” first half as clients ramped up purchases ahead of US tariffs.
The lender said it is well placed to take advantage of stronger intra-Asia trade flows. “Asia is buying Asia,” chief executive Georges Elhedery said.
At similarly Asia-focused Standard Chartered, trade and working capital operating income declined by 1% to US$1.2bn; US$603mn was from fees and commissions. The bank said fee growth “was offset by lower average volumes and margin compression”.
The bank saw a sharper 10% drop in trade and working capital income in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. A Standard Chartered spokesperson told GTR that the quarterly fall was because of an “exceptional” final quarter the previous year.
The bank said however that it had grown income from sustainable trade and working capital products by 8%, to US$138mn.
In Continental Europe, banks tend to provide little information about their trade finance business.
Milan-headquartered UniCredit reported a 22% fall in trade and correspondent banking net revenue – which represents revenue minus provisions for bad loans – to €1bn. Fees were stable at €700mn.
A UniCredit spokesperson said the figure excludes payments, and includes factoring and broader loan loss provisions that have been partially booked in the trade division. Trade volumes were 3% higher than in 2024, the spokesperson added, but earnings were pressured by the net interest income “dynamic”, particularly in factoring.
Milan-headquartered UniCredit, which reported a 22% fall in trade and correspondent banking net revenue – which represents revenue minus provisions for bad loans – to €1bn. Fees were stable at €700mn.
A UniCredit spokesperson said the figure is not comparable with other banks because it excludes payments, and includes factoring and broader loan loss provisions that have been partially booked in the trade division. Trade volumes were 3% higher than in 2024, the spokesperson added, but earnings were pressured by the net interest income “dynamic”, particularly in factoring.
At Commerzbank, net commission income from cash and trade totalled €802mn. The German lender said net commission income from trade finance specifically rose 4% year-on-year despite “weak exports”. It added that growth in trade finance and lending came “mainly” from financial institution business.
Arch-rival Deutsche Bank said only that “structured trade finance” had helped deliver loan growth at its corporate bank.
In the commodity trade finance hub of Switzerland, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise chief executive Pascal Kiener said trade finance “is still operating at a very low level… given the geopolitical situation”. Volumes rose by a “really small” 8%, Kiener said, adding that “we will carry on this way until some geopolitical problems are solved. I don’t know when, I hope soon, but it might take time.”
A spokesperson for the Lausanne-headquartered lender said the comment referred to business volumes being “lower than their pre-Covid crisis level”, and that trade finance’s share of the bank’s total loans had dropped from 10% to less than 5% since the pandemic.
ING said it saw an “increase in trade finance” that helped offset an overall decline in its loan book, and that it had experienced higher demand for trade and working capital solutions.
Most banks in France did not reveal trade finance earnings, although Société Générale reported a drop in both income and volume for trade finance. “Trade notes” as of December 31 fell from €7.7bn to €7.2bn year-on-year, and export loans declined by 8.2% to US$11.9bn.
Income on trade notes fell by nearly 22% to €613mn, while earnings on export loans In the UK, emerging markets-focused Crown Agents Bank reported a 50% jump in trade finance lending to £270mn following the launch of an “enhanced ‘originate to distribute’ model”, under which around £92mn of trade assets were “sold or risk participated for a small net gain”.
Fee and commission income from trade finance was largely flat at £977,000, but net interest jumped to £5.1mn, from £3.6mn a year earlier.
British Arab Commercial Bank, a London-headquartered trade finance lender, said its operating income from trade was £40.4mn, with a further £23.1mn made from cash management activity. Its overall profit before tax was £31.6mn.
Asia Pacific
In Singapore, DBS’s total trade finance income at DBS was S$630mn, across both net interest income and non-interest revenue. Total trade loans at the end of the year stood at S$50.2bn (US$39bn), although gross interest earned on those loans slipped from S$2.5bn to S$2.1bn due to an almost full percentage point drop in the average rate.
A quarterly analysis showed trade loans fell in the first quarter before climbing progressively throughout the year, with DBS chief financial officer Chng Sok Hui pointing out that higher trade lending drove a S$10bn increase in gross loans in the final three months.
Executives said the bank is seeing boosted trade between Asian countries and between East Asia and the Gulf. Han Kwee Juan, group head of institutional banking, said there is a “significant opportunity” to finance AI ecosystem suppliers through “short-dated financing” of 30 to 60 days.
UOB posted a 26% uplift in trade loans in 2025, following a 20% jump the previous year. The lender said trade helped carry a “steady performance” in its transaction banking unit despite lower rates and US tariffs. Gross trade loans stood at S$45bn at the end of the year, and the bank earned trade-related net fee and commission income of S$317mn, 4% higher than the previous year.
A spokesperson for the bank told GTR “growth was fuelled by supply chain realignment and strong regional connectivity, underpinned by our pan regional transaction banking platforms and resilient treasury customer flows”.
Trade-related and remittance fee income at OCBC was similarly up 3%, to S$278mn.
At Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Bank, documentary credits and short-term trade-related transactions continued a two-year decline, falling to HK$1.9bn (US$242mn). Net fee income was HK$227mn, down slightly compared to 2024.
Banks in China, India and Japan are yet to report full-year earnings.
Middle East
Trade portfolios at most UAE banks continued to swell in 2025. At First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), trade-related loans rose 46% to Dh73.8bn (US$20bn), while trade-related letters of credit and guarantees also increased to Dh223.8bn from Dh177.9bn.
FAB earned almost Dh1bn in net fee and commission from trade finance, a figure surpassed only by Emirates NBD which reported Dh1.4bn, some Dh300mn higher than the previous year. The lender’s letter of credit and guarantee volumes also expanded to Dh18.8bn and Dh106.9bn respectively.
Commercial Bank of Dubai brought in Dh300mn in trade finance fees and commissions, up from Dh252.6mn in 2024.
At Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the figure was Dh793mn, up 19%, while letters of credit nearly doubled to Dh14.3bn.
Mashreq didn’t report fee income but said loans to the trade sector grew to Dh26.6bn.
In Qatar, QNB did not publish trade finance numbers but said its fee income from the business had expanded 5% “despite external pressures and market volatility”. The lender added that it had “invested in expanding our sales teams domestically and across key markets, building a stronger bench of specialists in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UK, Hong Kong, France, Kuwait, Oman and India”.
Africa
Market signals in Africa came mostly from the large South Africa-headquartered banking groups that have operations in many of the continent’s major markets.
Absa Bank posted a 10% constant-currency drop in trade finance income, although did not disclose the figure. It said earnings were hit by an 11% contraction in average advances, or loans, in South Africa to R19bn (US$1.1bn) and a 10% downturn in wider Africa advances to R18bn. But the bank said the decline “was partially offset by strong growth in documentary trade-related activities” such as letters of credit and guarantees.
Working capital and supply chain finance income also ebbed by 11% “due to increased pricing pressure across both [South Africa] and Africa regions”.
Trade and working capital delivered “strong momentum” at Nedbank, with the bank reporting a 15% increase in gross operating income but not disclosing the profit figure.
Standard Bank said guarantees and export confirmation fees had helped fuel “double-digit growth” in trade finance, without providing specifics.
FirstRand, reporting results for the last six months of 2025, said trade and treasury lending fell by almost a quarter at its Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) subsidiary, “reflecting reductions in structured lending, domestic trade and general banking facilities”.
“The decline in trade resulted from a decision to scale back structured letters of credit, and reduced trade activity in Nigeria and Egypt, where improved ratings and increased liquidity have led to margin pressure,” the bank said.
However, RMB still eked out a 4% revenue gain, largely due to higher interest income – partly thanks to originating higher-margin customers – and bigger average deposits. Pre-tax profit shrank by 6%, to R1.29bn. Expected credit losses in the trade and treasury business shot up by more than100% “due to negative credit migration of a limited number of counter[parties]”, the bank said.
Americas
Citi, the only major US bank to indicate trade income, said average loans in its trade and treasury solutions unit grew by 10%, “driven by continued demand for trade loans, in particular export agency finance and working capital loans”.
Income for trade and treasury – a division that includes a range of transaction banking services in addition to trade finance – edged up by 6% to US$15.4bn.
In Chile, Banco de Chile reported a 70.7% slump in trade finance loans, worth Ch$779.9bn (US$862mn), which the lender attributed to the maturity “of specific low-spread trade finance operations in the wholesale banking segment” in the fourth quarter, as well as “more dynamism in foreign trade loans” in the previous year.
