EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme

On 02 October 2024, EBRD’s TFP team has delivered one day trade finance workshop in Amman, Jordan on the use of Standby Letters of Credit and ISP98. The training was delivered by Mr. Vincent O’Brien, Director of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) UAE. The workshop targeted trade finance professionals (front, middle and back office), relationship managers and risk officers.
The workshop was well attended by banking professionals from Central Bank of Jordan, Arab Bank, Housing Bank, Bank al Etihad, Capital Bank, Jordan Ahli Bank, Investbank and Safwa Islamic Bank.

Thank you for your participation!

INVITATION!

The Tfp Programme is delighted to partner with the Banking Association for Central and Eastern Europe (BACEE) to organise a one day conference on “Digitalisation in De-risking of Correspondent Banking”. This exclusive, in-person event will take place on Thursday, 10th of October 2024, at HOTEL DEVÍN Bratislava.
The conference will gather Western correspondent banks, respondent banks from EBRD Countries of Operation, regulators, and other key stakeholders to discuss the challenges of meeting regulatory requirements. The conference will also highlight digitalisation in correspondent banking as a potential solution to significantly enhance the level of comfort and reduce costs related to transaction due diligence and sanctions compliance for correspondent banks. You can find the draft agenda here: https://lnkd.in/eevuPuFi
The attendance is invitation only. If you wish to participate, please submit your registration request using this link: https://lnkd.in/eWQ-kXeV

We hope to see you there!

Anna Brod-Ohana
Marco Nindl
Angaaraa Enkhbayar
Ikbol Hakimov
Charlie O'Mulloy
Oren Mizrahi

On Monday 29th of April 2024, EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme, in collaboration with the FCI and the Association of Banks in Jordan, hosted a conference focused on advancing the understanding and utilisation of factoring and supply chain finance. The event was opened with welcoming speeches from Gretchen Biery, Director, Head of Easter Mediterranean Region, EBRD, Maha Abdallat, Head of Finance Companies and Credit Bureaus Supervision, Central Bank of Jordan, and Dr. Maher al Mahrouq, Director General of the Association of Banks in Jordan. The event aimed to foster awareness and share the exchange of best practices within the realm of trade finance, and hosted over 60 participants from banking and industry sectors.

We are looking forward to assisting the development of factoring and reverse factoring in Jordan!

On 19th and 20th of March 2024, TFP delivered two-day workshop on the Certificate for Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS) for TFP partner banks in Chisinau, Moldova. The workshop was delivered by Vincent O’Brien, a consultant from the EBRD and hosted 22 banking professionals from 5 partner banks and the National Bank of Moldova. Participants were welcomed by Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, Head of Moldova, followed by TFP presentation.

The workshop provided current and aspiring documentary credit professionals with the necessary skills and expertise in the processes and rules so that they could professionally deliver documentary credit services to support secure international trade. The CDCS is a professional qualification recognised worldwide as a benchmark of competence for international trade practitioners in documentary letters of credit.

Thank you for your participation!

The EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme collaborated with the National Bank Of Georgia, Icc Georgia, and Argos advisory to orchestrate a two-day workshop on compliance in , Georgia, held on December 4-5, 2023. The workshop, skilfully guided by Martial N. Smets, delved into a comprehensive exploration of various compliance facets, encompassing international sanctions risk, regulatory frameworks, correspondent banking, financial crime compliance, and trade-based money laundering.
On the first day, Davit Tutberidze, Head of Macroeconomics Research Division at the National Bank of Georgia, presented macroeconomic updates and Eka Goglidze, Head of Division for International Sanctions’ Implementation and Inspection from the National Bank of Georgia updated participants on the local regulatory changes to mitigate the current environment. This was followed by a presentation on global regulatory changes and circumvention risks, local regulatory changes, and preventive measures by Martial N. Smets, along with a presentation by Adam Lewis on the ’s compliance approach. A panel discussion on business trends and shifts in international trade in 2023 concluded the day.
The second day delved into the banking control framework on financial crime compliance and relevant typologies on international sanctions, supported by a thorough review of business cases. The workshop saw active participation and engagement from over 60 banking professionals in the Georgia banking sector and their corporate clients. The event commenced with warm greetings from Alkis Drakinos,Regional Director at EBRD, Sophia Asanidze, acting head of AML/CTF Department at the National Bank of Georgia and Fady Asly, Chairman of the Regional Consultative Group at the ICC Banking Commission Georgia

TFP continues to deliver series of workshops in Caucuses!

The EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme collaborated with the Central Bank of Armenia, ICC Armenia, and Argos Advisory to organize a two-day workshop on compliance in Dilijan, Armenia, held on November 30 and December 1, 2023. The workshop, facilitated by Martial N. Smets, comprehensively addressed various aspects of compliance, including international sanctions risk, regulatory frameworks, correspondent banking, financial crime compliance, and trade-based money laundering, illustrated through real-life case studies. As part of the workshop, the EBRD's Adam Lewis presented to enlighten the audience about the EBRD’s compliance approach, followed by key highlights from the U.S. Treasury regarding the OFAC program and presentation from the National Bank of Georgia on the regulatory enforcement in Georgia. Over 60 banking professionals from the Armenian banking sector participated and actively engaged with the consultant during the workshop. The participants were warmly greeted by Armen Nurbekyan, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia; Anna Khachatryan, CFA, Associate Director at EBRD; and Innesa Amirbekyan, Chair of the ICC Banking Commission Armenia.

Stay tuned and wait for more updates from other countries!

On 16th and 17th of October 2023, EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme organised a two-day workshop on the Certificate for Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS) for TFP partner banks in Cairo, .

The event was jointly organized by ICC DUBAI and was delivered by EBRD's consultant Vincent OBRIEN. The workshop hosted 62 banking professionals from 14 TFP Partner banks and the Central Bank of Egypt. Hashem Abd El Hakim, FI Senior Banker and Business Leader for Egypt at the EBRD, extended a warm welcome to all participants.

The workshop provided current and aspiring documentary credit professionals with the necessary skills and expertise in the processes and rules so that they could professionally deliver documentary credit services to support secure international trade.

The CDCS is a professional qualification recognised worldwide as a benchmark of competence for international trade practitioners in documentary letters of credit.

Thank you for your participation!

On 11th and 12th of September 2023, EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme organised two-day workshop on the Certificate for Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS) for TFP partner banks in .

The event was jointly organized by ICC Dubai and ICC Jordan, and was delivered by Vincent O’Brien, a consultant from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The workshop hosted more than 40 banking professionals from Central Bank of Jordan, Housing Bank for Trade and Finance, Bank Al Etihad, Cairo Amman Bank, Capital Bank of Jordan, Invest Bank, Jordan Ahli Bank, Safwa Islamic Bank, ABC Bank, Jordan Kuwait Bank and ICC Jordan.

Gretchen Biery, Head of Jordan at the EBRD and Dr. Zaki Al Ayoubi, Former Chairman of ICC Jordan extended a warm welcome to all participants.

The workshop provided current and aspiring documentary credit professionals with the necessary skills and expertise in the processes and rules so that they could professionally deliver documentary credit services to support secure international trade.

The CDCS is a professional qualification recognised worldwide as a benchmark of competence for international trade practitioners in documentary letters of credit.

Thank you for your participation!

On 12 July 2023, the TFP team has delivered one day trade finance workshop in Tunis, Tunisia. Full day workshop was held in French by one of the trade finance experts from ICC France and targeted trade finance professionals (front, middle and back office), relationship managers and risk officers.

The workshop covered advanced products in a trade finance environment, their processes and procedures, and cover topics such as: the sequences of payment instruments (collections, documentary credits, guarantees and standby letters of credit), Incoterms and transport documents in documentary credits, risks in documentary credits and how to mitigate them, and practical cases of standby letters of credit and guarantees.

The workshop was attended by twenty banking professionals from Banque de Tunisie, UBCI, Amen Bank, BIAT, UIB and Attijari Bank Tunisie.

On 22 June 2023, the TFP team has delivered one day trade finance workshop in Casablanca, Morocco. Full day workshop was delivered by one of the trade finance experts from ICC France.
The workshop covered all major trade finance topics, including letters of credit, guarantees, Incoterms as well as case studies and compliance in trade finance.
Thirty banking professionals from Bank of Africa, Banque Centrale Populaire, Credit Agricole du Maroc, Credit du Maroc, BMCI (Banque marocaine pour le commerce et l'industrie), Credit Immobilier and Hotelier and Societe Generale Marocaine de Banque took part.

Big thanks to all participants!