At SIBOS the banks and suppliers are announcing new partnerships, deals and services as they compete for business.

Voltron formally launches open platform on Corda blockchain

Bangkok Bank, BNP Paribas, CTBC Holding, HSBC, ING, NatWest, SEB and Standard Chartered in partnership with Bain, CryptoBLK and R3 launch open industry platform, corporate customer pilot programme and technology partner programme on the Corda Network

The Voltron initiative launched the open platform for documentary trade, targeting production on R3’s Corda Enterprise blockchain platform in 2019. Founding members of Voltron include Bangkok Bank, BNP Paribas,  CTBC Holding, HSBC, ING, NatWest, SEB and Standard Chartered. Voltron’s initial aim is to use blockchain technology to bring significant efficiencies to transacting letters of credit.

Corporate customers

There was a successful live transaction with Cargill in May 2018 demonstrating the viability of the platform. Voltron is continuing to extend its corporate customer programme to undertake more live transactions and is in active discussions with a number of corporates.

Corporate customers will be able to connect with their banks and trading partners via a single, simplified channel, for both issuance of letters of credit and presentation/exchange of documents across an open network. In addition, trade documents produced on external networks by a corporate’s supply chain partners can be digitally sent, verified and processed in Voltron. This new model provides legal enforceability of title documents and greater digitisation across business networks on Corda, addressing the challenge of today’s digital islands bridged by paper-based processes. The Bolero network and electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) functionality is included at launch. The essDocs network and eBL solution will start the initial design and integration with the Voltron solution, with others to be added on a rolling basis.

Banks

Voltron will enable banks to speed up financing decisions and enhance the customer experience. The banks’ corporate clients can reduce internal operational procedures through less reconciliation with their trading partners and banks.To help lower barriers of adoption and create an open ecosystem, a unique partner programme is available to enable trade finance platform providers to offer a Letters of Credit solution on the Voltron business network. Voltron is working with four of the leading trade finance platform vendors to design and build a solution that will offer a Voltron-enabled service to their existing bank and corporate customers.

Voltron extends an open invitation to all banks and corporates to apply to join the network

Commerzbank

Commerzbank announced plans to automate selected compliance relevant pre-checks in trade finance transaction processing by 2020

• The Bank has partnered with fintech Conpend to automate selected compliance relevant pre- checks processes for trade finance transactions
• The solution will reduce transaction processing times while improving risk controls and interaction with clients
• Enno-Burghard Weitzel: “We are leading the change towards a new era for trade finance processing. Our aim is to focus the expertise of our trade finance specialists to the crucial and complex parts of the business, while using artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and further optimise risk controls.”

Commerzbank plans to automate around 80% of the selected compliance relevant checks of the bank’s trade finance processes by 2020. In October 2018, Commerzbank started a pilot phase to automate the anti-money laundering processes which are an essential part of any trade finance transaction review. After an evaluation of the pilot phase, it is planned to roll out a further stage of the sanctions checks in trade finance during 2019.

PrimeRevenue’s complete set of technology-enabled solutions

PrimeRevenue have more than 60 global financial institutions as funders on its supply chain finance platforms. The company has worked with several major FIs over the past 15 years to co-design and perfect their reseller program, including the provision of services to accelerate FI reseller success. Today, PrimeRevenue have launched a new comprehensive reseller programme designed to enable global financial institutions (FIs) to better compete for supply chain finance opportunities.  

“A financial institution will invest millions of dollars and years of time to build and maintain their own working capital technology solutions,” states PJ Bain, CEO of PrimeRevenue. “PrimeRevenue is offering these institutions a more cost-effective, scalable approach by opening access to a complete set of technology-enabled solutions for the banking industry.”

Now, FIs have another option for offering their enterprise customers market-leading solutions: independently managing the sales and operations process by licensing PrimeRevenue’s working capital solutions, including expert training, analytics and operational support.

---

CTMfile take: Trade finance is one of the most competitive areas in cash and treasury management.