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The dust has settled on some interesting supply chain advances that Toronto-based GlobalTrade Corporation (GTC) has been quietly developing over recent months and now the company is more able to speak publicly about them.

GTC develops innovative, collaborative software products for global trade finance. Under the trademark @GlobalTrade, the company services corporates that require multi-party information exchange and document management systems enabling visibility, better risk control, and cost savings, as well as financial institutions that require innovative solutions to increase their market share and protect the existing customer base.

GTC has been co-operating closely with Bayerische HypoVereinsbank (HVB), taking advantage of the bank’s extensive coverage of mid-caps and large multinational corporates.

@GlobalTrade as a multi-bank and multi-entity application that facilitates the uniform, real-time and secured exchange of information between all parties has been an important tool in HVB’s trade services business strategy. HVB is hosting the platform for its customers, and supports the full range of trade services business as well as agent services for guarantee facilities through this platform. As a web-based, modular, interface it can be easily customised. Major investments or changes to the user’s IT infrastructure are not required.

HVB is the third largest private bank in Germany with 5% market share, over 26,000 employees, 680 branches, and more than 4mn customers. As a member of UniCredit Group it holds a leading position in the economic hubs of Italy, Germany, Austria, and Central and Eastern Europe with over 140,000 employees, 7,000 branches, and more than 28mn customers.

Its wide network allows the bank to be close to its customers wherever they are. HVB combines its skills as a lender with in-depth industry knowledge and solutions oriented towards the capital market. Corporate finance and foreign trade competence complement the product range with customised and also cross-border financial solutions.

EADS, a global leader in the aerospace and defence industry with revenues of €34.2bn in 2005, was the first customer that mandated HVB in September 2005 to implement the @GlobalTrade Guarantee Platform in connection with its €
2.9bn letter of guarantee umbrella facility which closed at the 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.

“We have chosen @GlobalTrade for its remarkable flexibility and ease of use,” says Jrg Weber, manager of EADS group’s guarantee activities. “Despite the complexity of this transaction and the multitude of banks involved, we have been able to considerably improve the transparency and efficiency of our L/G activities.”

“Our main task was to fully satisfy EADS’ needs,” adds Markus Wohlgeschaffen, managing director and head of trade and payment products at HVB. “We wanted to create a truly multi-bank and multi-entity solution taking into account our customer’s organisational set up and its prevailing internal processes. We even managed to set up additional features, making the processes easier, more transparent, and secure.”

“EADS and HVB management knew exactly what they wanted and had a tight timeline for going live,” says Jacob Katsman, GTC’s CEO. “I am proud to say that our company has delivered a true multi-bank platform that is now being used in daily business by the world’s most innovative companies and banks. Other companies and banks will soon follow the HVB-EADS example, having realised that electronic multi-bank applications are possible in reality and are not only a dream of the future.”

“The technology requirements of the project included flexible workflows connecting multiple EADS subsidiaries and banks and covering full guarantee management cycle from application to release, automated multi-company and multi-bank billing, multiple authorisation levels, delegated user management, various security models of the participating banks, and quick roll-out and adoption,” explains Nick Pachnev, GTC’s CTO. “Those requirements were a perfect match for @GlobalTrade platform. The platform’s comprehensive functionality, modular design, high degree of customisation, and web-based access allowed our company to meet all user requirements on schedule.”