Trade Finance Talks

At the BAFT’s (Bankers Association for Finance and Trade) Global Annual Meeting, held in Orlando, Florida, in May 2026, these themes were front and centre. BAFT’s flagship conference brought together transaction bankers from across the trade and payments industry in a ‘mini-SIBOS’ where attendees combined bilateral business meetings with sessions exploring the sector’s latest developments.

For the second episode of Trade Finance Global (TFG) and BAFT’s podcast series, Banking on the Future, Mahika Ravi Shankar, Deputy Editor at TFG, spoke with Tod Burwell, BAFT’s President and CEO, to get an insider view on the conference and delve into its hottest topics.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) forms a single market of over 1.4 billion people, making up the largest free trade zone in the world. Rooted in the philosophy of pan-Africanism, the AfCFTA unites the African Union member states as a means to build regional value chains and bolster the continent’s industrial development. 

In 2026, prices of oil, gold, wheat, beef, and other commodities hit all-time highs, fueled by the inflationary effects of the Iran war. But one global good has plummeted - cocoa. 

In the last year, prices have fallen 70%. An industry riddled by moral and social challenges, including child labour exploitation, carbon footprint, and deforestation, is now also under economic threat.

The future of West African cocoa, in particular, being subject to smuggling, storage constraints, financing challenges, and global regulatory hurdles, is falling into question. 

Trade Finance Global (TFG) sat down with Dr Tedd George, CEO of Kleos Advisory and a regional and industry expert, to discuss the regulatory, financial, and ecological frameworks needed to make West African cocoa sustainable. 

In the new normal of continuous geopolitical disruption and economic uncertainty, supply chain finance (SCF) is moving beyond its traditional remit. 

SCF encompasses a set of financing solutions designed to optimise working capital and improve cash flow for both buyers and suppliers. These solutions range from buyer-led programmes such as approved payables finance (allowing buyers to pay later) to seller-led instruments such as receivables discounting, inventory finance, or distributor finance (which let sellers be paid on time). In essence, these solutions are designed to unlock liquidity across a trade cycle.

Sweeping geopolitical disruption is making credit and political risk insurance (CPRI) ever more crucial. 

CPRI is moving away from being a reactive product, evolving into a structural, balance sheet tool that corporates need to embed into their capital relief, portfolio management, and liquidity strategies.

When corporate treasurers survey the global economic landscape for areas of future growth, one region comes up again and again: South-East Asia. The region enjoys some of the world’s fastest-growing, increasingly sophisticated export industries and an ever-wealthier population - 70% of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) population will be middle-class by 2030.  

As supply chain difficulties and volatile commodity flows once again make headlines around the world, commodity trade finance (CTF) remains the backbone of global commodity transactions. The commodities sector has undergone an impressive evolution in the past decades, driven by macro trends and short-term shocks, and is now facing some of its biggest challenges yet. However, CTF providers are supporting the industry to improve its resilience and innovation.

As supply chain difficulties and volatile commodity flows once again make headlines around the world, commodity trade finance (CTF) remains the backbone of global commodity transactions. The commodities sector has undergone an impressive evolution in the past decades, driven by macro trends and short-term shocks, and is now facing some of its biggest challenges yet. However, CTF providers are supporting the industry to improve its resilience and innovation. 

In the third episode of Trade Finance Global (TFG) and Standard Chartered’s five-episode podcast series, Future of Trade, TFG’s Mark Abrams spoke to Clemence Avril, Global Head of Commodity Trade Finance at Standard Chartered, to delve into the sector’s shifting landscape and unpack how this change is sparking opportunities.

Fully transparent, programmable, secure digital money that maintains a stable value: 20 years ago, stablecoins sounded about as realistic as flying cars and holograms. But recent technological advancements and regulatory innovation have made this once-distant dream a reality, turning it into one of banking’s hottest topics.