EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme

🎉 Successful Compliance Workshop in Baku! 🌍💼 The EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), in collaboration with the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Argos, recently concluded a highly successful two-day compliance workshop at the Four Seasons Hotel Baku on 17-18 October 2024. The event was a fantastic opportunity for the banking sector in Azerbaijan to explore the latest developments in financial crime compliance and international sanctions. 💡 The sessions were highly interactive, providing deep insights into: • International sanctions risks and challenges. • Regulatory frameworks, enforcement examples, and the latest updates from foreign jurisdictions. • Financial crime compliance control frameworks, corporate governance, and Know Your Customer (KYC) best practices. The training was welcomed by Zaur HAJILI, Director of the Financial Monitoring at Policy and Regulation Department Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Nataly Mouravidze, the EBRD Head of Baku Resident Office. Special thanks to Martial N. Smets, Director at Argos and EBRD consultant, for delivering another successful and engaging session, packed with case studies, practical insights, and recent trends in Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML). We are proud to have brought together industry experts and stakeholders to foster a stronger compliance culture in international trade. Thanks to all who participated and contributed to making this event a great success! 🙌 #EBRDImpact #EBRDTFP #Compliance #Sanctions #FinancialCrime #TradeFacilitation #EBRD #Azerbaijan #BankingCompliance #TFP #Sustainability #Regulation Nana Khurodze Ikbol Hakimov Ziya Alili Jim Hsieh Mikhail Grechikho

🚀 Advanced Trade Finance Workshop in Skopje! 🚀 We are excited to announce the successful completion of our Advanced Workshop on the Certificate for Documentary Credit Specialists (CDCS) focused on Export, held in Skopje, North Macedonia on 26-27 September 2024. This two-day intensive training, supported by the EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), was made possible through our collaboration with the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia. Bringing together a diverse group of bankers, exporters, and logistics providers, participants gained valuable insights into Incoterms, International Contracts, Documentary Credits, and Trade Loans—all critical components for enhancing export development. The workshop was facilitated by Vincent OBRIEN, Director of ICC United Arab Emirates and EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme Trade Finance Trainer. A heartfelt thank you to all the attendees including all our partner banks - Komercijalna Banka AD, NLB d.d., Sparkasse Bank, Stopanska banka AD - Skopje and members of the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia for contributing to the success of this event! 🎓 We look forward to seeing the positive impact of this training on strengthening the trade finance landscape in the region. Nana Khurodze Angaaraa Enkhbayar Naum Ribaroski Tijana Koljozova Antoneta Manova Stavreska #EBRD #TFP #TradeFinance #CDCS #Skopje #InternationalTrade #ProfessionalDevelopment #Exports #Logistics #Incoterms #DocumentaryCredits #Collaboration

Exciting news !!! The EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme, has provided TBC Bank with GEL 3 million to help corporate clients invest in solar panels. This is the first time TFP resources are available in local currency for green projects, making it easier for businesses to take part in the renewable energy revolution. It's inspiring to see how TBC is leading the way in sustainability, with their sustainable portfolio reaching GEL 1.23 billion in 2023 – a remarkable 57% growth compared to last year! Investing in clean energy is crucial and we are excited to see Georgia is taking bold steps toward a greener economy. #EBRDImpac #EBRDTFP #TradeFinance #Sustainability #CleanEnergy #GreenFinance #TBCBank Nana Khurodze, Mikhail Grechikho, Ikbol Hakimov, Jim Hsieh, Mariam Javakhishvili

🚀 Successful Trade Finance Workshop in Pristina! 🚀 We are excited to share that our latest EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) workshop on the Certificate for Documentary Credit Specialists (CDCS) was successfully held in Pristina, Kosovo on 24-25 September 2024. This comprehensive workshop was led by Vincent OBRIEN and focused on equipping participants with the skills and expertise needed to excel in documentary credit processes and support secure international trade. 🌍 We were pleased to welcome around 30 representatives from such commercial banks as Banka për Biznes, NLB Banka Prishtina, ProCredit Bank Kosova, Raiffeisen Bank Kosova, TEB Kosova and Central Bank of the Republic of Kosova to the workshop. Their dedication and engagement throughout the training were truly impressive! This workshop, developed by the EBRD Trade Facilitation Programme team, provided in-depth knowledge for trade finance professionals from front, middle, and back offices. Participants explored documentary credit operations, legal perspectives, and the practicalities of using documentary credits in international trade. A huge thank you to everyone who participated and helped make this event a success. Congratulations to all attendees on receiving their certificates! 🏅 Stay tuned for more training opportunities as we continue to support trade finance professionals across the region. Nana Khurodze Angaaraa Enkhbayar Daors Sahatçiu #EBRD #TFP #TradeFinance #CDCS #ProfessionalDevelopment #Kosovo #InternationalTrade #DocumentaryCredit

That's a wrap! Thank you to all of our participants (both in person and online) for joining the EBRD TFP in #Bratislava last Thursday 10 October. Many of those in person attended Global Trade Review (GTR) in Vienna, Banking Association for Central and Eastern Europe (BACEE)'s Event on Wednesday and showed up for a third conference the same week! 👏 It shows that de-risking in Correspondent Banking is an important topic.   We would like to thank the tech providers which presented their solutions to address the challenges faced by the industry. - LexisNexis Risk Solutions - Elucidate - IMTF - Excellence in RegTech Solutions - Fenergo - Swift - TENSIG and Iron Mountain #EBRD #WTO #ADB #ITFA #EuropeanComission #BACEE #TradeFinance #CEE #Bratislava #Digitilisation Shona Tatchell, Anna Brod-Ohana, Marco Nindl, Ikbol Hakimov, Angaaraa Enkhbayar, Charlie O'Mulloy, Oren Mizrahi

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 OBRIEN, Director of the 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! #EBRDTFP #TradeFinance #ISP98 #InternationalTrade

The countdown is on! Don’t miss the FCI 15th CEE & SEE Regional Conference on Factoring & Supply Chain Finance in Prague, 24-25 October 2024. Join industry leaders for in-depth discussions on fraud prevention, Tradetech innovations, and sustainable finance, and connect with top companies from across the region. We are thrilled to announce that many leading companies have already confirmed their attendance. These companies represent some of the biggest players in the factoring and supply chain finance industry, making this conference an excellent opportunity to connect with key decision-makers and industry leaders. 🔔 Extended registration until 16 October — secure your spot now and start networking with the best in the business on the FCI App! Learn more and register via https://lnkd.in/ez69iQ4C #Factoring #SupplyChainFinance #CEESEEConference #FinanceInnovation #Networking #Tradetech #Prague2024 #FraudPrevention #SustainableFinance #fci

“Why digitise and automate?” Our final panel of the day here in #Bratislava explored this. There is a collective view that digitisation and digitalisation is a must - but there are steps which can make this challenging. So where is the friction that is stopping uptake? Panellists shared their perspectives on the fast pace of changes in the industry influenced by regulatory frameworks - KYC has evolved to KYT - this means more monitoring and more data. Making data quality extremely important and processing speeds critical. Banks can use tech solutions to help with these challenges. Charlotte Pardou of Swift moderated an excellent panel of EBRD banking partners: Ana Kavtaradze of Basisbank Hans-Joerg Krohn of Commerzbank AG Nelli Kocharyan, CITF of Converse Bank Stefan Wichtl of Raiffeisen Bank International AG Thank you to our esteemed partners and friends for your insights! #EBRD #Digitalisation #TFP #CEE Shona Tatchell Anna Brod-Ohana Marco Nindl Ikbol Hakimov Angaaraa Enkhbayar Charlie O'Mulloy

🚨Correspondent banking relationships have been steadily decreasing since 2014! A decade on - what are the current challenges now? There is no simple answer to a complex question ❓ Focusing on KYC, CDD, AML are all critical for relationships to flourish. Moreover, investing in the right technologies to support your bank ✅. Addressing this collectively is important to achieve goals in the long term. In our second panel of the day our own Anna Brod-Ohana or EBRD moderated the panel and was joined by key stakeholders and partners to discuss this topic: - Anzhela Barseghyan of ARMSWISSBANK CJSC - Ben Arber representing ITFA - Paul O'Hara Int.Dip(AML) Dip PFS of International Compliance Association -Tsolmon Bat-Erdene of Khan Bank - Zuzana Franz of ODDO BHF A fantastic session, thank you to all the panellists for their contributions. #EBRD #TFP #CEE #tradefinance Shona Tatchell Marco Nindl Ikbol Hakimov Angaaraa Enkhbayar Charlie O'Mulloy

We are here in #Bratislava to discuss #digitalisation in de-risking of correspondent banking 🤝. The first panel tackled the big question: regulate, mitigate, advise - how can organisations and regulators support correspondent banking and keep trade moving. Thank you to our own Marco Nindl for moderating an excellent panel and for the valuable insights from Adam Lewis of EBRD, Martial N. Smets of Argos, Alessandro Nardi of the European Commission, Marc Auboin of the World Trade Organization and Shiu Raj Singh of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for joining us virtually from the Phillipenes! #EBRD #TFPConference