Banking & finance

ICC launches Global Export Finance Committee

  • 7 September 2015
Trade facilitation

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is launching today the “ICC Global Export Finance Committee” – an export finance working group, chaired by Eric de Jonge, Global Head of Structured Export Finance at ING Bank.

The launch event of the Committee takes place in Barcelona, Spain, and is supported by many leading banks across the export finance industry.

Operating under the umbrella of the ICC Banking Commission, the committee is the first step towards building a real global export finance community – representing medium- and long-term (MLT) export finance banks.

The Global Export Finance Committee has three key objectives:

1. To create a credible standing global discussion forum of banking experts in MLT export financing,

2. To create a representative body to discuss industry matters with various stakeholders,

3. To advocate for and help develop improvements and efficiencies through the standardization and harmonization of processes and regulations.

“The Global Export Finance Committee fills a much needed role in the export finance industry,” said Eric de Jonge, who chairs the working group. “It aims to not only act as a discussion forum and a body to exchange information and views on export finance but also to enable improvements and increase the efficiency of the processes and regulations governing the export financing industry as a whole.”

Daniel Schmand, Chair of the ICC Banking Commission said: “The export industry is by nature a global industry and the Committee is therefore also truly global – connecting with and gleaning information from key institutions around the world that serve the export finance business. The hope is that the forum will become a global representative body in discussions with all kind of stakeholders – representing an industry that may be small, but is certainly crucial.”

The Global Export Finance Committee aims to not only act as a discussion forum and a body to exchange information and views on export finance but also to enable improvements and increase the efficiency of the processes and regulations governing the export financing industry as a whole.

Although the export financing industry as a whole is relatively small, it serves an important purpose for OECD governments as well as governments in emerging markets – enabling and facilitating international trade and economic activity. Indeed, governments in many countries are exploring how they can more efficiently support exports, investments and trade.

Not only has the industry observed changes in regulatory requirements such as Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and Basel III, it also faces changes in the value chain concerning Export Credit Agencies (ECAs). These developments, together with the involvement of the capital markets, mean it is necessary for banks active across the industry to reach a common approach.

ICC has already made a first step towards reaching a common approach through the inclusion of MLT trade and export finance products in the influential ICC Trade Register Report. The dedicated Trade Register working group has successfully evolved into a platform of active banks that are responsible for ECAs, and that supports transaction data gathering.

While the Trade Register working group focuses primarily on data gathering, there are many more topics relevant to the export finance industry. Cooperation with ECAs, advocacy before governmental and regulatory bodies, standardization, and harmonization, as well as the exchange of views and data to the extent allowed under anti-competition laws, are just a few of the areas that can be explored further by the ICC Global Export Finance Committee.

Download ICC Global Export Finance PDF Document here.

Join the ICC Banking Commission group on LinkedIn.

Follow the ICC Banking Commission on Twitter @iccbanking.