Page 63 - Data Controller News Today

A global survey of SMEs has found a “precipitous rise” in the cost of working capital finance, as well as growing concerns over late or extended payments from SMEs’ customers. Carried out by working capital marketplace C2FO in December 2020 and January 2021, the survey quizzed more than 6,700 representatives from SMEs in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific on their working capital health. Though the vast majority said they had enough liquidity on hand to survive for the next six months...

Having received regulatory approval to acquire a controlling stake in South Africa’s Grobank, Nigeria headquartered Access Bank has outlined plans to rename the lender and expand its trade finance business. The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) announced last week that it had signed off on the transaction, which is set to be completed in Q2 2021 and will see Grobank rebranded as Access Bank (South Africa). Access Bank group managing director and CEO, Herbert Wigwe, told CNBC Africa that the ...

Work on improving the East African Community’s (EAC) single customs territory (SCT) has continued with the selection of a Singaporean technology provider to design a system for digital trade documentation flows. The EAC, which comprises Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, launched the single customs territory in 2013. It is designed to ease trade between the five member states and trim costs by clearing shipments at their first port of arrival or departure, but inefficient flows of c...

French energy major Total has been forced to  suspend operations at its liquified natural gas project in northern Mozambique for the second time this year, after a fresh attack by insurgents. In other news, Standard Chartered is launching a set of  sustainable trade finance solutions across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. We also take a closer look at R3’s decision to launch an 

Amid broader turbulence in the aviation sector, Asian public sector institutions rolled out hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of support to airlines in the region last week. In one deal, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) inked a ¥25.3bn (approximately US$232mn) guarantee agreement covering four private financial institutions for the principal and interest of their loans to Japan Airlines (JAL). In doing so, the Japanese export credit agency (ECA) is helping JAL obtain ...

Greensill’s sudden collapse in early March was triggered when billions of dollars of insurance cover expired overnight, prompting Credit Suisse to suspend investment funds relied upon by the London-headquartered financial institution. GTR has since found the company started It has emerged that Greensill’s widely publicised exposure to GFG Alliance companies – a loose network of businesses with ties to metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta – was rooted in financing it made available based on a...

Following the release of new data showing that UK exports to the EU in January plummeted by 40.7%, while imports dropped by 28.8%, business associations have voiced concerns that Brexit could have a lasting impact on trade levels. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that from December 2020 to January 2021, UK goods exports and imports to the EU plunged by £5.6bn and £6.6bn respectively, marking the largest monthly fall since comparative records began. The biggest drop...

Berlin-headquartered fintech Modifi is seeking to expand its digital trade finance business into the US, following a fresh injection of funding from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The company, whose platform enables access to finance for importers and exporters, is also expanding its presence in the Netherlands, where it says SMEs lag well behind the European average in terms of access to credit facilities. The US expansion is backed by a new US$60mn debt facility from SVB’s German branch, bringi...

Fineon Exchange, an AI-powered online marketplace for trade finance assets, has appointed Jeanette Jones as its new director of business development. Jones has over 30 years of experience in the banking sector, beginning her career at Chase in 1989.  She then moved to Standard Bank, where she remained for 20 years, holding a number of positions across business development, including within trade and corporate finance, and global financial institutions. Her most recent banking position was at S...

Data Collected Data You Provide: We collect data that you provide to us when you interact with the Site or sites owned by third-parties with whom we have contractual relationships, including sites you visit prior to coming to this Site (“ Media Partners“). In most cases when you come to the Site we will automatically gather or receive technical data about your prior journey, device and how you interact with our Site (“ Technical Data“). Technical Data may include browser type, referrer...