Trade finance - spreading the word
Trade finance encompasses
a spectrum of products and techniques, ranging from 'transaction'-based
instruments
such as letters of credit to 'relationship' offerings such as export credit
insurance and factoring.
Typically a service
provider will organise itself into specialist units for different activities;
however to make
the most of the sales opportunities in the business, cross-product skills
are necessary. The letter of credit
specialist may need to know about, say, forfaiting, the credit insurance
expert will certainly need to know
about factoring and collections, and both will benefit from a general
understanding of the principles
underlying lending against trade assets - whether these be goods or receivables.
This audience does
not need to know about the operational details of trade finance products,
but they
do need to know each products's general area of usefulness, and its pros
and cons in specific circumstances.
To this end, Mantissa
developed "Trade Finance
Advisor" - an e-learning product that provides
middle-office and front office staff with an overview of the following
topics:
- Letters of credit and collections
- Export credit insurance
- Factoring and invoice discounting
- Forfaiting
- Asset based lending
- Bonds and guarantees
A "matrix"
structure allow comparison of
trade finance techniques along the dimensions
of finance opportunities, risk profile for each
party etc.
How Trade Finance Advisor is being used
Royal Bank of Scotland
RBS are one of the
"Big Four" UK banks. With a large customer base of businesses
of all sizes, they
have the constant challenge of maintaining product knowledge and awareness
of international trade
services within the network of business advisors and corporate relationship
managers.
The Royal Bank of
Scotland have recently adopted Mantissa's Trade Finance Advisor for use
in a major
bank-wide initiative. In the first instance materials will be distributed
on CD-ROMs to international trade
specialists and some corporate relationship managers; though in the medium
term it is hoped to migrate
to internet and intranet delivery methods.
UPS Capital Global Trade Finance
UPS is best known
as a courier and logistics provider, but on the back of this it has built
up a major
trade finance operation, with offices in the US, Europe and the Far East.
The combination of
carrier and finance functions creates asset-based lending opportunities,
because
the goods in transit or in the supply chain can also serve as collateral.
UPS Capital Global
Trade Finance have been Mantissa customers since 2001. Our materials are
a core
component of their Virtual University, which combines training, assessment
and collaborative activities.
Students are assigned to one of four study paths
- Senior manager
- Entry level
- Cross-training
- Letter of credit specialist
each comprising a different subset of the Mantissa courseware library
Let us know if you would like to evaluate this course. Email us