A new study by Demica measures the level of SCF-dedicated roles in the European banking community, this study examined job titles at the top 50 largest banks in Europe The results of this analysis revealed that:

• Close to 45% of top European banks have created SCF-specific roles/job titles;
• 30% of top European banks have created SCF-specific roles with directorial status;
• 18% have sales functions specifically related to SCF; 
• 16% have SCF-specific product managers; 
• 10% have job titles focused on nurturing SCF client relationships.

Read the full report here.

The volume of trade finance transactions continued to increase in 2011, suggesting a slow but steady recovery in world trade, according to the 2012 ICC Global Survey on Trade Finance. The report, which can be downloaded here, polled 229 banks in 110 countries, a greater response than in any previous year, and found that, while world events such as the Arab Spring and Japan's earthquake had impacted on trade volumes, the trend was still upwards.

Almost three quarters of banks say they know of and  understand Swift's new Bank Payment Obligation, according to new research from The Aite Group.
The figures will make comforting reading for Swift and the ICC, which have championed the new instrument, although only 2% of banks are already using it.
The Bank Payment Obligation is effectively an electronic replacement for Letters of Credit (LoC) and should help speed up trade finance transactions.

“The BPO represents a fresh entry to trade finance,” said report author  Enrico Camerinelli, senior analyst with Aite Group and a Transaction Banking Academy tutor. “Its current, lukewarm acceptance by banks and corporations will turn into full endorsement only after real examples prove its use as a payment instrument and risk mitigation tool for trade transactions in any part of the trade lifecycle.” 

The report is available from Aite Group:  http://www.aitegroup.com/Reports/ReportDetail.aspx?recordItemID=930 

BAFT-IFSA has updated its trade finance definitions, which offer standard ways of describing trade finance transactions. More details are at BAFT-IFSA, but the definitions can be downloaded below. BAFT-IFSA  welcomes input on thse definitions!