The GTR Leaders in Trade awards highlight excellence in the trade, commodity, supply chain and export finance, and fintech markets, recognising pioneering institutions and top performers from around the world. Judging is based on submissions sent to GTR that outline institutions’ greatest achievements throughout the course of 2023.

Best Deals signed in 2023 were referenced as further substantiation for GTR’s decisions.

Congratulations to the winners!

Trade Leaders

 

Best trade finance bank in East Africa: Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB)

Headquartered in Mauritius, MCB has established itself as a leading banking institution both locally and regionally. According to the bank’s submission, its international diversification strategy has driven average growth of 17% in total assets over the past five years, with foreign currency assets increasing from 38% in 2017 to 53% in 2023.

MCB’s success is largely attributed to its expansion in the African oil and gas industry and the promotion of supply chain finance for regional corporates and financial institutions.

“MCB has developed and nurtured excellent relationships with its trade finance clients based on its unique value proposition and recognition as a reliable and meaningful solutions provider,” the bank says.

In the financial year ending June 2023, MCB’s gross exposures in trade finance activities stood at US$3.3bn, reflecting an 18% average growth over three years.

Key initiatives in 2023 bolstered MCB’s standing. In May, the bank launched a sustainable supply chain finance solution in collaboration with two subsidiaries of CIEL Textile supporting products categorised as sustainable for both imports and exports.

Also in 2023, MCB introduced a triangular supply chain finance arrangement involving a company in Madagascar and its central procurement division, leveraging MCB’s investment-grade status. The facility utilised a standby letter of credit from MCB Madagascar to secure orders, enabling MCB Mauritius to extend supply chain financing.

Additionally, MCB launched the MCB Global Trade Portal, a free platform that connects buyers and suppliers. The initiative aims to diversify clients’ supplier bases and capitalise on business opportunities in Africa while offering information on free trade agreements between Mauritius and African nations.

 

Best trade finance bank in West Africa: Ecobank

Ecobank Group’s win as the top trade finance bank in West Africa recognises its regional reach, digital innovations and trade facilitation efforts. The bank operates in 35 Sub-Saharan African countries, including 15 in West Africa.

Ecobank’s strength lies in its significant market share in the letter of credit (LC) market, despite constraints related to foreign currency scarcity in Nigeria and Ghana. Excluding those two countries, Ecobank’s LC market share in West Africa grew from 15.6% to 16.5% as at November 2023, year to date, the bank says in its submission.

Ecobank’s digital platforms, including e-Trade and e-FSC (its electronic financial supply chain offering), allow clients to remotely and efficiently manage their trade operations. Transaction volumes on these platforms in West Africa have seen a substantial increase, reaching US$1.5bn. These included LCs, bank guarantees and documentary collection openings.

In commodity finance, last year Ecobank facilitated syndicated pre-export finance facilities in Burkina Faso and Benin for cotton seeds, totalling US$57mn and US$71mn respectively, and provided trade facilities of US$83mn for farmers to obtain fertilisers and pesticides. Additionally, in Côte d’Ivoire, Ecobank granted cocoa pre-shipment facilities amounting to US$215mn, and in Guinea Bissau, pre-export facilities of US$25mn for cashew nuts exporters. Furthermore, Ecobank led a syndicated loan of US$38mn for soybean exports in Togo.

In supply chain finance, Ecobank partnered with Endeavour Mining through an agreement to support local content and finance eligible domestic suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal for up to US$125mn.

In March 2023, the bank launched its Ecobank Single Market Trade Hub, offering matchmaking services and access to banking products and services.

 

Best trade finance bank in Southern Africa: Rand Merchant Bank (RMB)

A worthy winner in this category for yet another year, RMB’s trade finance team achieved substantial revenue growth of over 30% in the 12 months to June 2023. This was driven by exemplary client support; expansion into new sectors, including crude and refined products; a surge in supply chain finance (SCF); and diversification of its portfolio of customers, with top clients’ contribution a smaller percentage of overall revenue than the previous year.

The bank says it is actively expanding its trade franchise and increasing its trade presence in African markets. These efforts drove a 48% increase in trade and working capital (TWC) revenue in the 2023 financial year. The main countries contributing to this growth were Nigeria, Mozambique and eSwatini.

With the incorporation of the TWC team into the newly formed trade and treasury solutions (TTS) area, RMB aims to increase its focus on the short-term lending and trade businesses, offering clients solutions that are integrated into other product disciplines within TTS, such as transaction banking and payments.

Noteworthy innovations in 2023 included a significant expansion in SCF solutions in South Africa, with an 87% growth in discounted invoices to over R22bn in the 2023 financial year.

Technology rollouts, such as the implementation of SCF capabilities in Zambia and Mozambique and an overhaul of trade finance capabilities in Nigeria and Ghana, further demonstrate RMB’s commitment to optimising activities across Africa.

In terms of innovative solutions, RMB’s partnership with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency to extend short-term funding support on a trade-backed facility in Côte d’Ivoire, which won a GTR Best Deal award, underscores its dedication to supporting critical projects across the continent.

 

Best trade finance bank in the Middle East: Bank ABC

Winning this award for the first time, Bahrain-based Bank ABC says it has demonstrated exceptional service and leadership in trade finance.

“Bank ABC stands out in risk management and trade services across diverse markets, offering expertise in both traditional and complex structures. Supported by a team of 4,000 banking professionals, we deliver customised funding solutions and ensure cross-border connectivity,” the bank says in its submission.

In 2023, Bank ABC witnessed substantial growth, crossing the US$40bn asset mark and maintaining US$1bn in revenue for the second time in its history. Notable highlights included an overall exposure growth of 38% year-on-year, driven by the bank’s core trade finance offerings, particularly in guarantees, standby letters of credit (LCs) and import/export LCs.

Bank ABC’s commitment to digital transformation has boosted its overall efficiency. Through initiatives like implementing the region’s inaugural digital corporate onboarding service, launching a wholesale banking corporate portal, and teaming up with fintechs to consolidate core banking systems, the bank says it is revolutionising its processes.

In 2023, Bank ABC expanded its global transaction banking business, deploying advanced platforms for import/export LCs and documentary collections. The bank’s supply chain finance platform, rolled out in Bahrain at the end of last year, features cutting-edge capabilities to streamline customer interface and back-end processing.

The completion of the legal merger of Blom Bank Egypt with Bank ABC in Egypt in January 2023 has advanced the bank’s mission to become the region’s “international bank of the future”, it says.

 

Best trade finance bank in North Africa: BACB

ACB has been awarded the title of best trade finance bank in North Africa, recognising its contributions to facilitating trade flows to and from African markets. Headquartered and regulated in London, BACB has established itself as a key conduit between African corporates, financial institutions and global exporters. The bank’s ties to the Maghreb region, through its North African sovereign shareholders, have enabled it to maintain a strong presence despite global supply chain disruptions.

In 2023, BACB says it strengthened its relationships with regional partners, ensuring continued access to international financial markets amidst geopolitical and macroeconomic tensions. Operating in a region often underserved by international banks, BACB stands out by handling trade transactions from all six North African nations – Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan and Egypt. With representative offices in Tripoli and Algiers, and a multilingual team based in London, the bank provides invaluable on-the-ground support.

BACB says that in 2023 it managed almost 1,000 letters of credit (LCs) from North Africa, covering over US$1bn in trade transactions. In another highlight, the bank also played a vital role in handling strategic imports for Libya, where its main shareholder is based, processing over US$618mn in trade transactions, including for essential goods such as fertilisers, pharmaceuticals and food products.

Moreover, BACB is the only UK bank issuing LCs for companies operating in Libya, becoming the “bank of choice” for the Libyan energy sector as it upgrades infrastructure and diversifies energy production, the bank says.

BACB continues to assist its North African partners in enhancing their risk management by providing training on trade finance, treasury best practices and the regulatory environment.

 

Best trade finance bank in the Americas: BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon has been named the best trade finance bank in the Americas. For its financial institution (FI) clients worldwide, the bank says it is the “unconflicted orchestrator of faster, smarter payments, liquidity management and trade financing”.

“We have an unwavering commitment to help deliver innovative trade finance capabilities and strive to lead in expediting clients’ digital journeys – while remaining a stable and sustainable provider,” BNY Mellon says.

Compliance costs are causing many FIs to limit their Swift Relationship Management Application (RMA) exchanges with correspondent banks. This restriction can hinder the issuance and processing of letters of credit (LCs), damaging relationships with importer and exporter clients. BNY Mellon’s RMA-as-a-service allows FIs to utilise its extensive RMA network, enabling smoother bank-to-bank linkages and trade flows while reducing RMA compliance costs. This service helps FIs expand their customer base, capture additional trade flows, and enhance revenues through complementary risk mitigation and financing services, it says.

Elsewhere, smaller banks face challenges due to rising costs, high inflation and supply chain disruptions, often relying on third-party platforms for trade finance operations. BNY Mellon offers tailored trade outsourcing services, helping US regional and international banks transition to a more efficient trade finance model. These services address staff resource concerns and the loss of subject matter specialists by leveraging BNY Mellon’s trade portal, global network and expertise.

BNY Mellon also offers comprehensive risk and balance sheet mitigation services, which help correspondent banks manage insufficient credit capacity and high funding hurdles, the bank says.

 

Best trade finance bank in Asia: HSBC

The scale of HSBC’s trade activity in Asia Pacific and its efforts to develop innovative digital products for its clients secured its crown as the top trade finance bank in the region. Data from analytics provider Coalition Greenwich shows HSBC ranked as the largest trade finance bank by revenue in Asia Pacific in 2023, with the lender present in 19 regional markets.

Yet the bank is not resting on its laurels and has shown a desire to continue to innovate its trade finance offering.

In September, it established HSBC TradePay to accelerate the digitisation of trade finance and initially rolled the product out to customers in Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE.

HSBC Trade Pay enables users to draw down trade loans and pay suppliers document-free, with a loan processing speed of under a minute. Today, over 170 users are onboarded globally.

The bank is also gearing up to roll out its digital platform, HSBC Trade Solutions, across Asia. It was first launched in 2022 and has since been made available to most clients in Hong Kong. Via the platform, customers can originate and manage all of their trade finance products online.

Earlier in the year, HSBC also embedded the automation tool Avvoka into its systems. Through this solution, clients and the bank can collaborate in real time and edit documents such as guarantees or standby documentary credits, thereby reducing time, effort and potential errors.

Significant investments into the bank’s digital offering are paying off. More than 85% of HSBC’s trade transactions are now initiated through its digital platforms, the lender says.

 

Best trade finance bank in Eastern Europe: Ukrgasbank

The Ukraine crisis has stretched into a third year and Russia’s invasion of its neighbour is showing little sign of ending.

Yet even as battles rage to the east, Kyiv is working to reboot its economy and local banks are playing a key role in facilitating imports and exports of vital goods. Chief among these financial institutions is Ukrgasbank.

In 2023, the bank executed 758 transactions and maintained a substantial trade finance portfolio size of US$418mn, backing trade in key sectors such as energy, agriculture, food, medical and textiles.

In one facility, which won a GTR Best Deal award, Ukrgasbank teamed up with insurer Ascot Underwriting, DZ Bank and broker Marsh to restart grain and other exports via the dangerous Black Sea route.

Insurance had been a key stumbling block for many shipowners looking to load agricultural goods at Ukraine’s Black Sea ports after Russia withdrew from a humanitarian pact in mid-2023, which for a year had allowed nearly 33 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain to be exported.

But in November, Marsh created a mechanism to insure vessels using a maritime corridor established by Ukraine’s navy. Under the deal, Ukrgasbank is issuing a US$10mn standby letter of credit (LC) to Ascot Underwriting. Ukraine’s export credit agency is the applicant, while the LC is being confirmed by Germany’s DZ Bank. It will reimburse insurers when claims arise and is backed through a guarantee issued by Ukraine’s economy ministry.

“This will make the sea route more accessible to a wide range of exporters – not only agricultural ones – which is extremely important, especially during the war,” Ukrgasbank says.

 

Best trade finance bank in Western Europe: Deutsche Bank

In a fiercely competitive field, Deutsche Bank’s award for the best trade finance bank in Western Europe reflects a strong year of performance across a broad range of trade finance products in the face of an increasingly challenging macroeconomic environment.

In the traditional documentary trade space, the bank handled around 85,000 collections, letters of credit and guarantee transactions in Q3 alone. Highlights include coordinating a mammoth €11bn syndicated guarantee facility to Siemens Energy in support of its green transition technologies, backed by a German government counter-guarantee worth €7.5bn.

Deutsche Bank also partnered with UK Export Finance to provide a €242mn loan in support of much-needed infrastructure upgrades in Zanzibar, carrying a hefty tenor of 13.5 years.

In the working capital space, the lender increased the value of purchased receivables by nearly 19% across 2023.

It delivered vital working capital to Paris-based soft commodity trader Sucden with a US$25mn multi-drawing trade facility, and upgraded an existing supply chain finance facility with transport safety system supplier Knorr Bremse to a sustainability-linked programme, showcasing its appetite for ESG improvements.

Another highlight was the renewal of Trafin, a synthetic securitisation programme that provides credit protection for a US$3.5bn portfolio of trade finance assets – a highly innovative transaction that was also a GTR Best Deals winner. The bank describes the programme as “a unique structured trade finance product that is going down well with investors”.

 

Best trade finance bank in the UK: Barclays

Barclays has been awarded best trade finance bank in the UK based on its commitment to supporting clients across a wide range of industries. To do so it leverages a storied history, strong international network and solid suite of products.

The bank’s submission explains how Barclays has maintained a steady approach during challenging economic conditions, namely the steep interest rates which were a feature of 2023 and contributed to corporate financing costs. Throughout the period Barclays remained committed to providing tailored trade finance and working capital solutions.

Barclays has been keen to spread trade knowledge throughout the bank. The lender’s submission notes a 6% increase in relevant headcount and the implementation of an international trade accreditation programme for 200 colleagues in partnership with the Institute of Export. Around 80 staff from a range of sectors and roles have already been accredited under the programme and add to the existing “significant technical expertise” of the team.

Barclays continued to develop a “cutting-edge” trade platform that has improved client service and connectivity. By the end of the year, it was handling more than 80% of trade transactions. Barclays also takes an active interest in trade digitisation initiatives in the UK.

In export finance, Barclays partners with the Department for Business and Trade to promote UK exports and has taken full advantage of the general export facility, which was established by UK Export Finance to boost trade finance for SMEs.

 

Best trade or supply chain finance law firm: A&O Shearman

The newly established A&O Shearman takes home the award for best trade or supply chain finance law firm for the second consecutive year, reflecting its leadership in helping the market adapt to legal reforms around digitalisation and sustainability.

In a landmark year for trade digitalisation, not least following the enactment of the UK’s Electronic Trade Documents Act, the law firm has been at the forefront of efforts to help market participants understand and respond to the new environment.

A&O Shearman assisted new tech-focused market entrants aiming to bring efficiencies to the trade finance space, including advising a foreign exchange solutions company on a template loan agreement for the e-commerce sector and building a digital platform to help clients manage large numbers of trade finance agreements across multiple jurisdictions and templates.

The firm is also heavily involved in sustainability and ESG-linked financing arrangements, acting on “a number of landmark transactions that are helping to shape the market standard”, it says. These include a US$1.1bn global borrowing base facility provided to Macquarie, which incorporates UK, European and Californian emissions allowances under their respective carbon trading schemes.

A&O Shearman also helped Santander agree a sustainability-linked supply chain finance programme with Tesco, the first such programme provided to a UK retailer, and advised Swedish electronic car brand Polestar AB on an inaugural £350mn green trade finance facility to support its working capital needs.

This award also reflects the firm’s support to clients operating in a shifting trade landscape, characterised by growing demand from non-traditional trade finance borrowers and players looking to increase market share.

Its submission does not just demonstrate support for financing immediate-term trade flows, but also for longer-term capex transactions, acquisitions and event-driven situations.

 

Best export finance law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright’s submission stood out for the wide scope of its export finance advice across a diverse range of geographies and industries.

The London-headquartered firm has acted for borrowers, sponsors and export credit agencies, and worked on projects involving international organisations such as the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (Miga).

For example, Norton Rose advised JP Morgan and HSBC on a big-ticket hydropower rehabilitation project in Mexico, backed by Miga, as well as a sovereign loan to the government of Senegal which also benefited from Miga support.

The firm’s submission also highlights complex matters such as a deal for Norwegian offshore wind turbine installer Cadeler, which included acquisition finance facilities to help implement the company’s merger with Eneti Inc, another listed company.

The deal, in which Norton Rose advised Norwegian lender DNB Bank on two syndicated green financing packages, included revolving facilities to help refinance Cadeler and Eneti’s legacy debt and was backed by Denmark’s export credit agency.

Africa is an important and complex market for ECA-backed financing, and Norton Rose acted for the Angolan finance ministry on all such deals in the last year, a notable feat given the variety of financings across a broad range of lenders, ECAs and sectors, such as solar, roads, water and food processing.

 

Best export credit agency: EKN

Export finance is undergoing a period of upheaval amid a push by export credit agencies (ECAs) to develop new products aimed at driving the energy transition and local manufacturing.

Sweden’s agency, EKN, has been at the forefront of these efforts and has grown its business volumes accordingly.

In 2023, the ECA achieved record volumes of activity, extending guarantees and financing worth SKr95.7bn (US$8bn) for Swedish exports in a range of sectors including telecommunications, defence and transport.

EKN’s activity in the 5G sector is particularly noteworthy, with the ECA signing its largest-ever private deal last year.

Under the transaction, which was awarded a GTR Best Deal, Ericsson is delivering equipment worth over US$2bn to Reliance Jio for the rollout of 5G technology across India.

Such technology “enables large volumes of data transfer with minimal lag and plays an important role in achieving India’s digital inclusion goals, especially in bringing broadband to rural and remote homes”, EKN says.

EKN also signed notable guarantees backing exports from power cable supplier NKT to large-scale projects, such as Hornsea 3, which will help transport green energy over long distances.

Elsewhere, EKN showed a desire to co-operate with other ECAs in driving important change within the industry. For instance, it was part of a core team led by Belgium’s Credendo tasked with exploring upgrades to the OECD Country Risk Assessment Model, and in late 2023, was a founding member of the Net Zero Export Credit Alliance.

 

Best fintech in trade: Komgo

With approximately US$1bn in transaction value flowing through Komgo’s network each day, the Geneva-headquartered software development and technology services company has established itself as a leader among trade finance fintechs.

2023 marked the successful integration of Global Trade Corporation (GTC) – a multi-bank trade finance platform provider acquired the previous year – into Komgo’s operations and product suite. The result is the first aggregation of platforms in production for banks to work with their commodity and non-commodity clients.

“Together we’re building a trusted, transparent and automated global trade environment, where financing is quick and easily accessible,” Komgo’s submission says.

Komgo also continued to expand its network, with DBS, Commerzbank, Qatar National Bank and Rand Merchant Bank among the international lenders to join over the course of last year. The company welcomed Santander and Emirates NBD as shareholders, which it says will accelerate digital transformation in strategic regions, from Spain to the Middle East.

Landmark transactions include a US$600mn borrowing base facility secured by Gunvor Singapore in support of its Asian oil business, in which Komgo was deployed as a digital agent for the first time in any of the energy trading giant’s financing arrangements.

The company’s digital agent technology was also deployed by Sucafina and ING on a US$725mn borrowing base facility. It pulls together receivables and inventory data, as well as broker reports and balances, to provide analytical insight across the full facility agreement.

Komgo has also supported trade finance front-end overhauls at both Société Générale and Bank ABC, through its Konsole interface.

 

Best fintech startup in trade: Impactsure

Impactsure has emerged as the deserving winner of this category, showcasing its exceptional contributions to the trade finance and corporate banking sectors. The company’s innovative solutions, centred on AI and intelligent document processing, address some of the most pressing challenges in managing complex documents and workflows.

Mumbai-headquartered Impactsure’s flagship product, the Secure Unified Responsive Engine, leverages advanced AI, machine learning, natural language processing and other cutting-edge technologies to interpret and manage vast amounts of structured and unstructured data efficiently. This engine powers a suite of specialised tools: SureXtract, SureMatch, SureAutomate and SureFlow, which collectively streamline data extraction, document verification, workflow automation and customisation. These tools significantly reduce the time and effort required for processing trade finance documents, which the company says traditionally involves handling 50 to 60 sheets per transaction manually.

Impactsure says it has made a deep investment in R&D, leading to solutions that not only enhance operational efficiency but also ensure stringent regulatory compliance across various jurisdictions. This is particularly crucial in sectors like trade finance and corporate banking, where adherence to financial crime regulations is paramount.

Impactsure says leading financial institutions have implemented its solutions. These implementations have led to remarkable improvements in turnaround times – from days to minutes – demonstrating the tangible benefits of its technology. By offering their products as software as a service, Impactsure also ensures scalability and cost-effectiveness, making advanced document management accessible without heavy capital investments.

 

Best trade finance software provider: Conpend

Throughout 2023, Conpend debuted a string of compliance-focused product innovations across a wide range of trade finance and supply chain functions, helping the industry’s march towards digitalisation.

The company’s submission demonstrates a focus on practical achievements and tools that can help their clients deal with the complexity of both government and industry rulebooks relevant to trade finance.

Among those achievements is the introduction of Contract AI, a solution that automates stamp and signature detection and conducts meticulous document analysis. The company says the tool significantly enhances efficiency and accuracy in contract reconciliation processes.

Helping clients navigate the labyrinth of technical requirements in trade finance, Conpend also launched an AI document-checking tool to help regulatory compliance with letters of credit, and another for complying with rules on collections.

Vessel Check AI, another solution dealing with the increasingly complicated area of shipping sanctions and compliance, integrates vessel checking and tracking capabilities into supply chain management, reducing risks and ensuring smoother logistics.

Alongside what Conpend describes as a “comprehensive suite of solutions”, these products demonstrate a commitment to helping clients make their trade finance processing and compliance processes more efficient.

 

Best trade or supply chain finance platform: CGI

Last year saw a string of achievements for CGI’s supply chain finance platform. The company added Barclays and US Bank as clients, joining a customer book anchored by the world’s largest trade bank, HSBC.

Throughout the year CGI also handled merger and acquisition situations with three clients. US Bank integrated parts of MUFG’s business which were acquired at the end of 2022, BMO bought Bank of the West, and Royal Bank of Canada took over HSBC’s Canadian bank. CGI says it either completed or made significant process adjusting to these changes within “tight and unchangeable deadlines”.

Globally, HSBC also continued to expand its use of the CGI Trade360 platform over the year. “CGI prides itself on a flawless delivery record with our trade clients, which differentiates us in the market,” the company says in its submission.

The Canadian consulting and technology company also invested in innovation, expanding its API gateway service for existing customers to help clients integrate with other third-party providers in the trade space, which it calls the “future of trade”.

In the same vein, CGI impressed with its approach to partnerships and willingness to work with other fintechs to help serve its financial institution clients and promote interoperability between digital trade enterprises. CGI says it is working alongside providers such as Komgo and TradeLedger and deploying new capabilities with third parties, including Conpend and Taulia.

 

Best non-bank trade finance provider: DP World Trade Finance

As a global port operator and logistics provider, DP World was well-positioned to launch a trade finance offering in 2021 and has made the most of that market position in the following years.

Since then, its range of products has grown to include invoice factoring and discounting, reverse factoring and trade payables. The UAE-headquartered company also plans to launch inventory financing and pre-shipment finance and expand beyond its current markets of India, South Africa and the UAE into countries such as Brazil, the UK and the US.

While starting out as a platform connecting financiers with borrowers, DP World secured a lending licence in mid-2022 and now also provides short-term working capital.

It is unique in the trade finance landscape while also being able to provide its platform users with products attached to its range of port assets, such as inland container depots, freight stations, free zones and warehouses.

“By giving trade finance users access to these extensive trade networks, we offer customers a one-stop-shop experience on the platform that brings not only additional cargo volumes to DP World, but also new opportunities for small and large businesses to make trade accessible for everyone,” the company says.

DP World Trade Finance also prides itself on speedy onboarding processes, noting that applications can be processed swiftly and onboarding handled in “mere minutes” thanks to a Modifi partnership.

 

Best trade credit and political risk insurance underwriter: Allianz Trade

Allianz Trade is a well-established leader in trade credit and political risk insurance.

To keep on top of a global portfolio exposed to an array of economic and political risks, the company deploys a 24/7 intelligence framework, monitoring risk across 240 countries and 18 sectors, and managing a vast database of 83 million buyers, it outlines in its submission.

Leveraging AI-powered models, Allianz Trade makes real-time decisions on pricing, underwriting, risk assessment and fraud detection. Its team of over 1,000 credit risk analysts and underwriters processes 22,000 credit decisions daily, with a 90% query resolution rate within 48 hours.

The most important factor for any insurance client is that their claims get paid, and Allianz Trade says it indemnifies around 1,500 claims per week, across the €1tn-odd commercial transactions it covers.

In 2023, Allianz Trade says it grew all its global business lines and developed new products for SMEs and mid-sized corporates, the former a sector that can find trade credit insurance prohibitive.

The broader Allianz group was also the highest-ranking insurer in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, with Allianz Trade also targeting net-zero emissions across its proprietary investment and business by 2050, and its own operations by 2030.

Allianz Trade’s meaningful efforts on sustainability also helped secure its prize. The insurer uses 100% renewable energy to power its own facilities and is making commendable efforts to champion gender equality, with women holding 41% of management roles. The company is also mindful of community impact, helping fund over 70 NGOs and investing in green bonds.

 

Best trade credit insurance broker: WTW

Several big-ticket deals within the renewables and energy transition sectors reached financial close last year, in large part, because of the efforts of WTW and its credit insurance partners.

In one notable deal, WTW says it “overcame significant barriers” to secure credit risk insurance for a wind farm in Eastern Europe that will supply electricity to over 1.5 million households.

Some insurers had initially refrained from covering the offshore facility, WTW says, as developers felt the impact of the Ukraine crisis and opted to delay or even cancel projects globally.

Nonetheless, the trade credit insurance broker achieved a “good outcome” and secured the requisite capacity for its client, who required a policy valued at €100m and a tenor of 23 years.

Separately, WTW also helped supply credit risk insurance for a US$1bn project financing – a green loan facility that will fund an “always on” renewable energy project with battery storage.

Elsewhere, the broker participated in a “strategically important” deal that helped a major UK electric vehicle infrastructure firm develop its pipeline of more than 3,700 new chargers by 2025.

The transaction was one of the first project finance deals in the electric vehicle charging sector, the broker says.

GTR’s award also recognises WTW’s role in driving regulatory change within the trade credit industry. In the past year, the broker has been working on an initiative to shape the current US regulations on capital relief and the so-called Basel III endgame.

 

Best political risk insurance broker: Aon

Aon’s political risk team was incredibly active in 2023, helping broker several deals in some of the world’s most challenging markets, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

In one transaction, Aon was tasked with sourcing insurance for a US$500mn infrastructure project in West Africa that promises to bring “significant economic benefit” to the region.

Aon faced numerous challenges in its quest to insure the facility, not least a lack of market capacity, the necessity for a 12-year tenor, and a complex deal structure that included a mix of Islamic and local currency financing. Even so, a syndicate of 15 credit and political risk insurers ultimately joined.

This was a remarkable feat, given insurers are generally wary of such structures – especially in times of economic volatility – and eight of the insurance providers had not participated in Islamic financing before.

“Our solution will support global trade, GDP and social development dynamics in the region,” Aon’s submission says.

Elsewhere, Aon brokered a contract frustration insurance policy worth over US$300mn that enabled a large client with multi-billion-dollar revenues to sell equipment to Iraq’s oil industry.

The broker also demonstrated its political risk M&A expertise last year, despite a slowdown in the market. The firm put in place political risk cover that enabled a global corporate to acquire a network of logistics assets in Latin America, across Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica.

 

Best development bank in trade: Asian Development Bank (ADB)

In a highly competitive awards category, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) emerged as a worthy winner.

Last year, ADB’s trade and supply chain finance programme supported US$4.7bn in global trade and funded over 21,000 cross-border transactions, nearly a third of which involved SMEs.

Ultimately, the bank proved nimble when it needed to be. For instance, in May, as Sri Lanka grappled with a mounting economic crisis, ADB moved swiftly to provide an emergency trade finance facility that propped up essential imports such as medicines, fuel and fertiliser.

Beyond its day-to-day trade finance activities, ADB was instrumental in pushing for broader changes within the industry, whether related to digitalisation, the ESG agenda or combatting fraud.

In one notable transparency initiative, the ADB ran a pilot project in South Asia alongside the UN to improve the identification, reporting and combating of trade-based money laundering (TBML).

Preliminary findings show a significant increase in suspected TBML reports submitted by banks to regulators – 133% for Bangladesh and almost 200% for Pakistan – resulting in improved data quality that enabled regulators to better identify commonly affected trade routes and goods.

ADB also released a green equipment facility to help companies buy energy-efficient equipment and, in December, jointly developed an innovative QR-based solution that will track and digitally report emissions within global supply chains. The solution will help SMEs maintain access to important export markets, the bank says.

Meanwhile, ADB published an update to its influential and much-referenced ‘Trade finance gap, growth and jobs’ survey. It finds that the trade finance gap – the difference between supply and demand – has grown to US$2.5tn.

 

Best bank for ESG: BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas has been awarded the best bank in ESG across trade and export finance, a testament to its commitment to sustainable finance and innovative approach to ESG integration.

The award recognises the bank’s comprehensive efforts and strategy to support the global transition towards a more sustainable economy. In 2023, BNP Paribas accelerated its energy transition roadmap, demonstrating a strong commitment to reducing fossil fuel exposure. It aims to decrease its upstream oil exposure by 80% before 2030 while also boosting its support for the low-carbon economy. By 2030, low-carbon initiatives are expected to represent 80% of the bank’s energy portfolio.

BNP Paribas’ trade and supply chain finance products are designed to support clients across all industries in their ESG transitions.

“For BNP Paribas, it is not only financing the transition of our corporate client’s operations, but their entire ecosystem,” the bank says in its submission.

This is facilitated through partnerships with organisations like Ecovadis and the Carbon Disclosure Project, which enable clients to gather ESG data on their supply chains and incentivise suppliers to improve their ESG performance.

BNP Paribas offers a range of sustainability-linked trade finance solutions, including sustainability-linked trade lines, which connect trade facilities to sustainability performance targets, encouraging clients to meet predefined ESG objectives; sustainable supply chain finance programmes, which incentivise and reward suppliers’ ESG improvements, fostering a sustainable supply chain ecosystem, and green receivable/payable programmes, which fund projects with clear environmental benefits, supporting both standalone and complementary project finance initiatives.

BNP Paribas also recognises the importance of internal knowledge and culture in driving sustainability. Through its Sustainability Academy, the bank has set out to train all 190,000 employees on ecological transition issues.

 

Best bank for digitalisation: Lloyds Bank

For long a fierce advocate for trade digitalisation, Lloyds Bank had a remarkable year in bringing the benefits of technology and legal reforms to the market.

The same day that the UK’s Electronic Trade Documents Act entered into force, the bank announced a first-of-its-kind digital transaction.

Working in partnership with tech firm Enigio, it used a digital promissory note in a documentary collection to facilitate the purchase of garments by retail giant Matalan.

This transaction cut out two previously paper-based document transfers – from the bank to the client and vice versa – reducing the transaction time by two days, lowering associated costs and shrinking its carbon footprint.

Matalan’s head of financial reporting and control, Ed Collier, has hailed the “move to digitisation as it will allow us to trade with our suppliers faster, more seamlessly and in a more sustainable way”, Lloyds notes in its submission.

But this award does not recognise one transaction alone. Lloyds Bank’s vision – to replace paper financial negotiable instruments with digital common law instruments, and to digitise bills of lading – holds the potential to bring a well-established product into the digital age.

The bank’s submission emphasises that this journey is one of collaboration, and promises to continue sharing knowledge and experience gained with corporate, bank and industry group partners.

Lloyds is also providing financial backing to this process, including a €3mn investment in Enigio to accelerate the use of digital documentation in trade.

 

Best supply chain finance bank: Bank of America

For Bank of America (BofA), 2023 proved a stellar year in terms of supply chain finance (SCF) growth. The volume and value of supplier invoices financed grew by 72% and 60% respectively, while its overall portfolio grew 12%, its limits reaching a combined total of US$1.8bn.

The lender’s supplier adoption rate remains over 70%, while retention is more than 99%.

BofA’s submission attributes its strength to a combination of a strong balance sheet, fruitful relationships with export credit agencies and development finance institutions, and pioneering use of technology.

2023 saw the launch of SCF APIs, enabling clients to integrate enterprise resource planning systems directly with the bank. This allows buyers to automate the process of sending approved invoices and credit memos, while also enabling clients to obtain real-time details on financing status. Embedding these functionalities, it says, is a new concept dubbed ‘SCF-as-a-service’.

BofA is also working to broaden access to finance, with SCF uniquely positioned to provide funding to suppliers at more favourable rates than other products.

It has simplified background checks for suppliers in key locations across the world, bringing turnaround time for supplier onboarding down by five weeks and accelerating the gains from optimising working capital.

ESG considerations are a priority for the bank. Last year, BofA issued a second US$2bn bond used to support green energy and transportation loans, and to bring financing to minority business-owned enterprises – typically smaller businesses that may not have previously been prioritised for SCF.

This iteration of the bond expanded targets to include women and Asian American, Pacific Islander and Indigenous people, along with Black and Hispanic-Latino people.

 

Best commodity trade finance bank: Société Générale

This award reflects Société Générale’s achievements in a dynamic and rapidly evolving commodity trade finance market. The bank led or joined numerous bumper financing facilities for some of the world’s largest trading houses, but at a time when many lenders are reticent to finance mid-sized or smaller traders, provided significant financing to regional borrowers as well.

At the larger end, three highlights – among many – include leading roles in a flagship US$3bn facility provided to Mercuria’s Swiss business, a US$5.4bn multi-currency syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF) for Trafigura, and a three-year US$8.6bn RCF for Vitol.

Société Générale’s submission also cites numerous facilities provided to regional trading houses, including BB Energy, Castleton Commodities International, Met Group and Texla Energy. Offerings spanned from RCFs and term loans to borrowing base facilities and senior structured credit facilities.

The importance of sustainability looms large across many of the facilities cited by Société Générale. It is trailing a greenhouse gas emissions tracking tool in partnership with MRI Trading, using CarbonChain’s platform, which will be used to identify carbon hotspots and set targets for transition. The bank also took on sustainability coordinator roles in several sustainability-linked loans, including for Viterra, Puma Energy, Gunvor and Sucden.

And as reflected by this year’s GTR Best Deals, Société Générale has co-arranged multiple deals backed by export credit agencies, including for Mercuria and Vitol, as governments increasingly look to support critical commodity flows, ensuring energy stability in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

 

Best export finance bank: Standard Chartered

It was hard to overlook Standard Chartered in the export finance category, given the bank’s record activity and the innovative nature of many of its transactions.

In 2023, Standard Chartered closed more than 37 landmark deals with a value in excess of US$40bn, the largest amount ever arranged by its export finance team.

These helped finance projects in various sectors, such as transport and port infrastructure, renewable and clean energy, telecommunications equipment and healthcare.

Export credit agency (ECA)-backed facilities were also spread across several markets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, and included an array of complex structures.

In 2023, the bank helped relative newcomer Abu Dhabi Exports Office strike transactions in Angola and Nigeria; and also arranged a €533mn facility from the African Development Bank for socially and environmentally beneficial projects in Côte d’Ivoire.

In Asia, the bank participated in a US$3.9bn dual-currency financing in the Philippines covered by China’s ECA, billed as Sinosure’s largest-ever telecommunications deal in the Asean region.

The bank also demonstrated its expertise in delivering untied and “out of the box” solutions in developed markets.

In November, UK Export Finance (UKEF) and K-Sure backed a £367mn loan from HSBC and Standard Chartered for SeAH Wind UK to build the world’s largest factory for wind turbine monopiles.

The transaction, which combined UKEF’s export development guarantee product and K-Sure’s Overseas Investment Cover Programme, ensured a “unique 100% ECA guaranteed financing” that will strengthen the UK’s renewables supply chain, Standard Chartered says.

 

Best trade finance bank: Citi

Citi’s submission rightly notes that the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have had a lasting effect on global trade. After those crises exposed the fragility of supply chains, companies have prioritised resilience, while reshaping their inventory management strategies and seeking diverse, longer-term partnerships.

This award – a first for the bank – reflects Citi’s ability to support clients and suppliers through this upheaval, with a combination of local expertise, strong relationships across the entire trade ecosystem and significant deployment of innovative technology.

In 2023, the bank completed its first blockchain-enabled letter of credit transaction, carried out via the Contour network. The transaction, for industrial manufacturing company Cummins

India, reduced document presentation times down from five to 10 days to just three hours.

Citi also unveiled a digital asset service designed to streamline bank guarantees for vessel transit fees, completed a pilot with Maersk, and worked with Stenn Technologies to execute its first pre-shipment financing deal via the Trade Information Network.

The bank achieved several milestones in its supply chain finance (SCF) and working capital offering. Working with SME funding platform Stenn, Citi delivered deep-tier financing for suppliers of retail giant Gap, boosting access to funding across complex global supply chains.

In April 2023, it supported the rollout of a sustainable SCF offering for a Finnish technology company and its Turkish suppliers, provided in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The same month, it announced the addition of environmental sustainability criteria to Vodafone’s SCF programme.

As Chris Cox, global head of trade and working capital solutions, says: “Delivery of frictionless financing and high-tech as well as high-touch solutions to clients, is something we’re focused on and committed to at Citi.”