Page 27 - Personal Data Held News Today

Trade credit managing general agent (MGA) Anvil has shifted its focus towards green financing and relaunched under the new name of Tierra Underwriting. Texel Group, the MGA’s owner since it was initially set up in 2016, has moved to refocus the credit insurance underwriter towards green finance and brought in Andrew Beechey as managing director to lead the transition. Tierra is expected to formally launch in June and will initially focus on providing credit insurance to renewable transactions...

Singapore-headquartered fintech firm dltledgers has launched a platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access trade financing from alternative financiers. SmartFin is a blockchain-based system that matches SMEs that are seeking finance to funders who can provide it. According to dltledgers, over 400 companies have already signed up, and can currently access financing from a handful of non-bank financiers, including TradeFlow, Drip Capital, Funding Societies, Crowd-Genie, Stenn Inter...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced plans to ban financing of coal mining and power plants, as well as upstream oil and gas activities. But the bank has been urged to proceed with caution and avoid abandoning countries that continue to rely on fossil fuels for energy and exports. In a new draft energy policy report, released last week, the multilateral development bank (MDB) lays out commitments to end financing for “any coal mining, oil and natural gas field exploration, drilling ...

Arden Insurance Brokers has hired Richard Miller from PIB Insurance Brokers to head up its new trade credit, political risk and surety team. Starting in the London-based role with immediate effect, Miller is tasked with setting up the unit, which will have a focus on UK businesses looking to sell both domestically and abroad. “Our product suite and range of services will cater for companies of all sizes in a multitude of sectors,” he says. The unit will offer single risk, whole turnover, ex...

London-based credit asset manager Channel Capital Advisors has hired Alok Kumar in the newly created role of head of portfolio analysis for trade finance. Having started in April, Kumar has been tasked with working across all of Channel’s trade finance funds, and is responsible for the initial evaluation and structuring of deals, as well as certain aspects of portfolio management activities. He rejoins Channel after a brief stint at cross-border supply chain finance platform Finverity, where ...

The US, EU and vaccine makers are squabbling over the prospect of waiving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines. But a waiver is unlikely to have any real effect on ramping up production as it intends, and may not be a realistic prospect for global trade. The US administration last week called to waive IP rights for vaccines, stating that “the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures”. It added that it will work with the World Trade O...

Rand Merchant Bank has hired Nigel Beck to the newly created role of head of sustainable finance and ESG. Beck joins from Standard Bank, where he has held numerous sustainable trade-related roles over the past 13 years. Most recently, he was the South African bank’s global managing director of sustainable finance and ESG advisory, which saw him advise clients on sustainable products, develop and execute sustainability linked loans and debt facilities, and advise on ESG risk and compliance wit...

Fasanara Capital, a UK alternative asset manager, will lend S$50mn to small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore through peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace Validus. Fasanara is a London-headquartered quant fund, meaning it chooses investments based on quantitative analysis of data. It has already funded 2,800 loans through Validus’ marketplace since 2019, the Singapore company says in a statement. In addition to S$20mn made available through the P2P marketplace, Fasanara is also tipping S$30...

The Australian government has announced an overhaul of a grants scheme for exporters after a review found it should be streamlined. The Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) programme, which has been running for almost half a century, allows existing exporters and businesses that want to sell internationally to apply for reimbursement for partial cover of expenses such as marketing, representation and travel in overseas markets. A government-commissioned review published last year found that ...

A study of global gold trading data has uncovered signs of smuggling in several major markets, warning that metals traders, refiners and banks should pay closer attention to potential red flags. According to research by investigative campaign group Global Witness, many countries are currently exporting quantities of gold far in excess of their reported production and imports. Though this can be partly attributed to flaws in how data is recorded and presented, the report warns that in many cases...