The Baft Crystal Ball Series Recording

December 5, 2020 by Jessica Moore

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November 24, 2020 by Jessica Moore

On November 24 BAFT’s Board Chair, Mark Garfield, published his monthly communication to the wider BAFT membership.

Like many of you, I just attended the 2020 Virtual International Convention. Wow. What a powerful conference with excellent content, outstanding panelists and speakers and a format that provided access to experts and colleagues around the world. The event was the largest ever hosted by BAFT…750 attendees from 120 institutions across 30 countries engaged with 55 sessions and 120 panelists, speakers, and moderators. At one point, the programming went for 24 straight hours with a specific emphasis on geographic-oriented sessions that moved around the globe. More exciting than the 24 hours of the Le Mans race. Vroom!

(Don’t forget you can continue to access the plenary sessions and selected workshops on-demand until December 4)

This week in the U.S we will celebrate one of our most popular and historic holidays, Thanksgiving. It centers around a meal with family, friends, food, and faith with a focus on thankfulness and gratitude. A few years ago, I was fortunate to be in Istanbul during Ramadan. Each evening, family and friends gathered to share a wonderful meal with the express purpose of thankfulness. I reflected that it was like a Thanksgiving at home, but better as the evening meal occurred over multiple days!

In that spirit, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the BAFT staff for their tireless effort in managing the International Convention. I would also like to thank the planning committee, moderators, and subject matter experts who make it worthwhile and valuable.

I am grateful to be a part of the global banking community. Thankful, for the role that each of you play in our crucial responsibility in connecting societies, delivering goods and services, and facilitating trade. We may have to meet virtually rather than in person, but thanks to BAFT we can connect frequently, more easily, and in greater numbers.

I am most thankful for the friendship and associations I have with many of you around the globe. As I reflect upon the unique obstacles we face today, I continue to marvel at how my banking colleagues have the talent, optimism, and determination to navigate and overcome these challenges.

Mark Garfield
BAFT Chair
Head of Global Financial Institutions
Zions Bancorporation

November 24, 2020 by Jessica Moore

Officially announced at the 2020 Virtual International Convention and for the third year running, BAFT is honored to recognize individuals for their invaluable assistance provided to the association throughout the past year.

In an effort to publicly recognize individuals from member organizations who have volunteered their time and worked diligently with the association throughout the previous calendar year, BAFT annually awards select members with the BAFT Ambassador of the Year Award.

Ambassadors of the Year, are individuals nominated by BAFT staff. Potential recipients are chosen by the BAFT Ambassador of the Year Committee following nomination submissions from BAFT staff. Awardees are then selected from the list of potential nominees following a weighted voting process.

Officially announced at BAFT’s 2020 Virtual International Convention on November 16, BAFT is honored to recognize the following individuals for their invaluable assistance provided to the association throughout the past year and for helping to continually drive the mission of BAFT forward.

Daniel Pinho, senior vice president and assistant group manager, trade finance, PNC
Kristine Siebel, vice president & standby letter of credit officer, Societe Generale
John Taylor, international advisor, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London

Once again, thank you for your hard work and going above and beyond in the past year to support BAFT and its overall objectives. Recipients’ awards will be mailed to them in lieu of an official awardee ceremony due to the pandemic.

November 18, 2020 by Jessica Moore

New report examines the implications of transitioning away from LIBOR to SOFR for the trade finance industry.

WASHINGTON — BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, today announced the publication of SOFR: Trade Finance Priorities to inform the policy community and the industry on the impact of a possible transition to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) from the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR).

Trade is essential to GDP growth and supports commercial flows and supply chain sustainability globally. In 2019, global trade flows totaled $18.1 trillion, with an estimated $9.77 trillion of that sum comprised of bank intermediated trade. USD LIBOR is the most widely used benchmark across the trade finance industry globally. As the market prepares to transition away from LIBOR to Risk Free Rates (RFRs) by the end of 2021, BAFT member institutions have been working steadily to prepare for the change.

“This report examines the impact of the transition from LIBOR on the trade finance business and concludes there is an imperative for a forward-looking term rate to ensure the uninterrupted provision of financing to support cross border trade,” said Diana Rodriguez, vice president, international policy at BAFT. “We were pleased to see the Alternative Reference Rate Committee’s (ARRC) September publication of a Request for Proposals for a Term Rate administrator, and we welcomed subsequent dialogue with the Federal Reserve Board on the findings of this paper. We look forward to continued progress toward the publication of a forward-looking term SOFR in the first half of 2021 for use by the Trade Finance market.”

The white paper is the culmination of several months of analysis by the BAFT IBOR Transition Working Group’s Suitability of Rates subgroup, as well as input from a global BAFT member survey. The working group also considered findings from the BAFT Future Leaders’ Group on IBOR Transition and incorporated elements of their work in this paper. Though members have made progress in identifying areas where overnight SOFR could be used, BAFT believes most transactions require a forward-looking rate to provide certainty to trade buyers and sellers.

“As experienced trade finance professionals, the working group members have provided market views stressing the critical importance of a forward-looking term rate from a trade finance practitioners perspective,” stated Priyamvada Singh, managing director & regional head, product, propositions & structuring, global trade and receivables finance, HSBC Bank USA. “Considering trade finance products are globally used to finance a significant volume of merchandise trade, and that users of trade finance products globally span a wide range of companies, especially a majority of Small and Medium companies (SMEs), the members recognize the need for industry consensus for a workable solution that can provide cost certainty and pricing transparency for robust adoption.”

“Establishment of a SOFR term rate and clarity on the timing of its launch are critical for the trade market to finalize conventions and support the transition away from LIBOR,” said Doug Laurie, director, global programme lead- LIBOR transition loans at Barclays. “Getting the SOFR transition right will have an impact on banks and their customers globally given the dominance of the U.S. dollar for trade transactions.”

Rodriguez of BAFT and Laurie of Barclays will host a workshop on the implications of the transition to SOFR for trade finance on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. ET during BAFT’s International Convention.

To read the full white paper, visit our Library of Documents under the BAFT Guidance and Industry Practice section or click here.

About BAFT
BAFT is the leading international financial services association whose membership includes large global and regional banks, service providers, and fintech companies headquartered around the world. BAFT provides advocacy, thought leadership, education, and a global forum for its members in transaction banking, including international trade finance and payments. For nearly a century, BAFT has expanded markets, shaped policy, developed business solutions, and preserved the safety and soundness of the global financial system.

BAFT Media Contact:
Blair Bernstein
[email protected]
+ 1 (202) 663-5468

November 18, 2020 by Jessica Moore

On November 16, BAFT, along with BPI and others, submitted a letter to FinCEN supporting regulatory action that would permit entities to enhance the effectiveness of their AML programs.

BAFT along with seven other trade associations submitted a response to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) related to AML program effectiveness.

The associations communicated their view that regulatory action is necessary to enable the allocation of resources to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of AML programs, while remaining compliant with the legal requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”). They offered several high-level recommendations to FinCEN as it moves forward with the rulemaking process.

To read the joint letter and learn more about the associations’ recommendations, visit our Library of Documents under the Comment Letters section or click here.

November 13, 2020 by Jessica Moore

BAFT and CGI recently conducted a survey of more than 200 BAFT members in an effort to better understand the current state of technological advancements in trade, and how the pandemic has accelerated their importance and need.

WASHINGTON – More than 70 percent of bank respondents reported a culture of increased innovation in trade finance during the last year, according to a new survey conducted by BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, and CGI, a multinational, independent IT and business consulting services firm. In fact, nearly 85 percent of survey participants reported increased digitization efforts at their financial institution in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BAFT and CGI conducted its survey of more than 200 BAFT members in the summer of 2020 in an effort to better understand the current state of technological advancements in trade, and how the pandemic has accelerated their importance and need.

The survey found that banks have been driving new digitization efforts, forming consortia with financial and corporate partners, searching for compliance solutions, and re-examining existing processes to create efficient operations.

“Over the last 10 years of my career, we have been discussing automating trade finance processes,” said Stacey Facter, senior vice president, trade products, BAFT. “COVID-19 has underscored the need to move away from paper and seemingly expedited the transition. BAFT works to identify barriers to innovation and address them head on to continue driving the global trade finance industry to embrace digitalization.”

Digitization initiatives are underpinned by technologies such as blockchain/DLT platforms, intelligent process automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, and robotic process automation.

“The BAFT and CGI survey reveals that while banks continue to face legal, regulatory, and compliance challenges, the industry is making advances with newer technologies that support integrated platforms and provide seamless transactional workflows,” said Patrick DeVilbiss, director of consulting, trade and supply chain solutions, CGI.

The full survey and results will be presented at BAFT’s 2020 Virtual International Convention on Thursday, November 19 at 10:35 ET / 15:35 GMT during the ‘Trade Technology: Today’s Focuses, Tomorrow’s Promises’ session. This session will discuss the results of the survey and provide insight on the current state of technological advancement in trade featuring Normand D’Arcy, senior manager, international services, National Bank of Canada; Patrick DeVilbiss, director of consulting, trade and supply chain solutions, CGI; Stacey Facter, senior vice president, trade products, BAFT; and Marc Smith, CEO & founder, Conpend.

To view the survey’s results including respondents top technology investments over the next five years, top challenges in meeting shifting business needs, culture of innovation, fintech collaboration, and more, visit our Library of Documents under the Surveys section or click here.

About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 76,000 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2020 reported revenue is C$12.16 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.

BAFT Media Contact:
Blair Bernstein
[email protected]
+ 1 (202) 663-5468

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