The GTR Leaders in Trade awards highlight excellence in the trade, commodity, supply chain and export finance markets, as well as in technology and innovation. The winners in each category are based on submissions sent to GTR and, where relevant, Best Deals signed in 2025 were referenced as further substantiation.
GTR revealed the shortlist for the Leaders in Trade awards in February, and the winners were revealed for the first time at the GTR Charity Awards Dinner on June 25.
Congratulations to the winners! A full write-up of their achievements will appear in Issue 3 of GTR magazine.
Regional awards
Best trade finance bank in East Africa
Shortlisted nominees: Equity Bank (Kenya), Mauritius Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Kenya
Winner: Standard Chartered Kenya
Best trade finance bank in West Africa
Shortlisted nominees: Ecobank, First Bank of Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC, Zenith Bank UK
Winner: Zenith Bank UK
Best trade finance bank in Southern Africa
Shortlisted nominees: Nedbank, Rand Merchant Bank, Standard Bank
Winner: Rand Merchant Bank
Best trade finance bank in North Africa
Shortlisted nominees: BACB, National Bank of Egypt
Winner: BACB
Best trade finance bank in the Middle East
Shortlisted nominees: Arab Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Rakbank, Standard Chartered
Winner: First Abu Dhabi Bank
Best trade finance bank in North America
Shortlisted nominees: BNY, MUFG, Scotiabank, TD Securities
Winner: BNY
Best trade finance bank in Asia
Shortlisted nominees: Bank of America, DBS, HSBC, Mizuho, SMBC
Winner: DBS
Best trade finance bank in Western Europe
Shortlisted nominees: BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB
Winner: Crédit Agricole CIB
Best trade finance bank in the UK
Shortlisted nominees: Barclays, Lloyds Bank, NatWest
Winner: Barclays
Global awards: Other industry players
Best trade or supply chain finance law firm
Shortlisted nominees: A&O Shearman, Norton Rose Fulbright, Sullivan & Worcester
Winner: Sullivan & Worcester
Best export finance law firm
Shortlisted nominees: Norton Rose Fulbright, Sullivan & Worcester
Winner: Norton Rose Fulbright
Best trade & supply chain platform
Platforms used directly by corporates to access working capital, receivables finance or supplier finance programmes, typically connecting corporates with banks and investors
Shortlisted nominees: CredAble, Finverity, Orbian, PrimeRevenue, SAP Taulia
Winner: CredAble
Best trade technology provider
Technology providers used by banks or insurers to process and manage trade finance transactions and trade operations
Shortlisted nominees: CGI, China Systems, LiquidX, Premium Technology, Surecomp
Winner: CGI
Winner: Surecomp
Best trade finance & automation fintech
Fintech solutions helping banks or corporates automate trade finance workflows, document checking, analytics and transaction monitoring
Shortlisted nominees: Cleareye, Conpend, Digital Vault Services, Mitigram, Monetago, Traydstream
Winner: Cleareye
Best fintech enabling digital trade
Companies enabling digital trade documentation and connectivity across the trade ecosystem (for example, electronic bills of lading and digital transferable records)
Shortlisted nominees: CargoX, WaveBL
Winner: CargoX
Best early-stage trade fintech innovator
Early-stage companies developing new digital trade or trade finance infrastructure with emerging market adoption
Shortlisted nominees: ETR Digital, IBDIC (Indian Banks’ Digital Infrastructure Company), Paper Trader, Qualco
Winner: IBDIC
Best non-bank trade finance provider (including trade finance funds)
Shortlisted nominees: Alteia, Ebury, India Factoring, Pelorus Capital
Winner: India Factoring
Best trade credit insurance broker
Shortlisted nominees: Aon, BPL, WTW
Winner: Aon
Best political risk insurance broker
Shortlisted nominees: Aon, WTW
Winner: WTW
Best trade credit and political risk insurance underwriter
Winner: Allianz Trade
Global awards: Banks
Best development bank
Shortlisted nominees: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation
Winner: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Best bank for ESG
Shortlisted nominees: Barclays, BNP Paribas, DBS, Nedbank
Winner: BNP Paribas
Best bank for digitalisation
Shortlisted nominees: BNP Paribas, Citi, DBS, Lloyds
Winner: Lloyds
Best supply chain finance bank
Shortlisted nominees: Bank of America, Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, MUFG, Santander
Winner: Santander
Best commodity trade finance bank
Shortlisted nominees: MUFG, SMBC, Société Générale
Winner: Société Générale
Best export finance bank
Shortlisted nominees: Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Santander, Standard Chartered
Winner: Standard Chartered
Best trade finance bank
Shortlisted nominees: Bank of America, Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, Santander
Winner: Citi
