The Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 has the potential to transform trade finance by permitting market participants to ditch paper documentation and move to digital. Last week’s episode explored the background, rationale and implications of the Act. This time, our panel turns their attention to practical aspects of complying with the new law and next steps for digitalisation of world trade. 

Hosted by Catherine Lang-Anderson, a partner at Allen & Overy, the podcast brings together a panel of experts from the Law Commission, Lloyds Bank and current Fuse cohort member, Enigio, a tech company offering digital solutions for trade finance.

Professor Sarah Green, the Law Commissioner for Commercial and Common Law at the Law Commission of England and Wales, has been instrumental in the legal developments around the digitalisation of trade. She is joined by Rogier Van Lammeren, Managing Director, Head of Trade and & Working Capital Products at Lloyds Bank, and Alex Waites, Executive Director at Enigio.

In this second episode, the panel considers the impact of the legislation in the UK and beyond, discussing the economic and efficiency gains as well as the ripple effect it has on international developments around the world. They emphasise the need for industry-wide collaboration and cooperation to implement the shift to digital trade documents, aided by legal consistency and system interoperability across jurisdictions.