By Anita Hawser and Paula L. Green
NORTH AMERICA
Citi
In North America, Citi has closely aligned itself with government efforts to leverage supply chain finance as a means of funneling much-needed working capital to SMEs. It is a major contributor to the US Ex-Im Bank’s Supply Chain Finance Guarantee Program, which enables the bank to offer US-based suppliers to major US exporters financing under more favorable terms. Its PayPort Express platform is being used to help the US General Services Administration streamline its payables and leverage best practices in supply chain management.
LATIN AMERICA
Citi
With a business that spans 23 countries in the region, Citi is well placed to meet the supply chain financing needs of local companies and global multinationals. As trade flows between China and Latin America grow, Citi’s LatAm Trade Desk in Shanghai will provide importers and exporters with tailored finance solutions. Its Web-based supply-chain finance platform is available in a number of countries across the region, and the bank supports a number of programs encompassing a wide range of buyers and suppliers.
WESTERN EUROPE
RBS
The MaxTrad platform remains the cornerstone of RBS’s supply-chain financing offering to clients in Western Europe. Recent modifications to the platform have enhanced and simplified supplier onboarding and information reporting pertaining to invoice discounting. By more closely integrating MaxTrad with e-invoicing, the bank is able to help companies remove paper from the purchase order and invoicing process. Anil Walia, head of trade & supply chain finance advisory, EMEA and UK, commented: “We have invested a substantial amount of resources in our supply-chain finance business, listening to our clients to deliver an ever-improving value proposition.”
NORDIC REGION
SEB
SEB says its supply-chain finance unit has a 70% market share in the Nordic/Baltic region and that it continues to invest in systems to reinforce its position as a North European leader in this space. “It is extremely rewarding yet again to win this award for the Nordic market, with its highly international global corporates, strong growth, increasing demand and fierce competition,” says Niklas Callerstrom, global head, supply-chain services product management. The bank continues to focus on working capital efficiencies and risk management by more closely integrating its supply-chain finance, cash management and trade finance offerings. As more Nordic companies look to do business in other markets, SEB has expanded its offering in North America and Asia.
CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE
UniCredit
UniCredit’s Global Trade Management suite of products takes a holistic approach providing different solutions—forfaiting, Trade Purchase for suppliers and buyers, warehouse and goods-in-transit finance—at different points in the working capital cycle. “At UniCredit, we view supply chain finance as a key financial innovation to be further developed and promoted to meet the future requirements of the real economy, as it allows us to support our clients’ liquidity needs in a sustainable way,” says Enrico Verdoscia, head of trade finance, CEE. Also, from a risk/portfolio management perspective, Verdoscia says, supply chain finance is considered the logical response to ever-tighter capital requirements as it promotes transaction-based financing as a viable substitute to abstract lending. “Ultimately, SCF represents a perfect product opportunity to leverage UniCredit’s vast commercial network and realize synergies among the different local banks of the group, especially when it comes to rolling out large cross-border deals for multinational corporates,” says Verdoscia.
ASIA
Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered manages supply-chain finance programs for companies across a wide range of industry sectors, including retail, technology and automotive. Its financing solutions encompass a wide spectrum of clients in the supply chain, from tier-one and tier-two suppliers to distributors and dealers. It provides financing at different stages in the production cycle, including warehouse financing. It is also an early adopter of SWIFT’s Bank Payment Obligation, which provides letter-of-credit-type payment certainty for open account transactions.
MIDDLE EAST
HSBC
Customers of Saudi British Bank, which is part of the HSBC Group, benefit from its ability to leverage HSBC’s extensive global network and expertise when it comes to trade and supply chain finance. SABB is an integral trade bank in the kingdom and is able to combine both traditional and Islamic trade finance capabilities to meet the needs of local customers. The bank offers a wide range of financing solutions including receivables finance, traditional trade finance.
AFRICA
Standard Chartered
In Africa, Standard Chartered offers a wide range of SCF solutions including both pre- and post-shipment finance, buyer finance for dealers and distributors, and warehouse finance. The bank differentiates itself from other providers by adopting a well-rounded approach to understand in the needs of buyers and suppliers, the strength of their trading relationships and order history. It has the ability to structure complex solutions to meet the financing needs of African companies in the commodities sector.
| North America | Citi |
| Latin America | Citi |
| Western Europe | RBS |
| Nordic Region | SEB |
| Central & Eastern Europe | UniCredit |
| Asia | Standard Chartered |
| Middle East | HSBC |
| Africa | Standard Chartered |
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