Empowering trade
By enabling companies to trade and expand into new markets and geographies, Nordea supports not only companies but societies at large to grow and develop.
Trade Finance
By building trust, transparency and predictability, companies are supported all the way along the supply chain. No matter how and where trade takes place, Nordea supports the full process, from exploring new markets and finding counterparties to offering a variety of payment and financing opportunities.
Know the risks and secure your trade
International trade is often more risky than domestic trade. Some risks can arise due to the larger distances between trading partners, while others might be associated with cultural differences or variations in political and economic environments. National and international regulations can further complicate matters.
As the leading trade finance bank in the Nordic region, we know how to help you succeed in international trade. At Nordea, we believe in working closely with our customers, getting to understand their business and helping them minimise their exposure to risks. Our comprehensive portfolio of trade finance products, combined with our unrivalled knowledge of global trade, helps you trade internationally with confidence.
Trading partners potentially face many different types of risk. We typically consider these risks in three broad categories:
- Commercial risk: Nordea can work with you to identify how reliable your trading partners are and to evaluate the possible risks of insolvency or unwillingness to pay. We can also advise on payment methods that can mitigate some of these risks. We have a range of financial trade instruments that can help you manage risks in importing and exporting.
- Political risk: Because we operate in the major financial centers across the world, we diligently track political and economic circumstances. If import or export regulations change, we’ll keep you informed.
- Currency risk: Exchange rates can fluctuate significantly over time. That in turn can affect the value of your foreign trades. Nordea offers a range of foreign exchange tools that can reduce your exposure to currency fluctuations.
The complexities of knowing who your trade partners are and whether they might be covered by sanctions are growing rapidly as are the size of the fines for breaching trade sanctions.
Global restrictions
At Nordea, we have detailed processes for capturing potential violations of sanctions, using complex matching algorithms to ensure that transactions and customers are not included on official sanction lists (OFAC, EU, UN). We have dedicated task groups and constantly train. We can even check whether potential trade partners are affiliated with companies subject to sanctions.
Our prudent approach helps you grow your business globally while managing the risks associated with international trade.
For guidance on the types of sanctions that may affect international trade, please see the information below. This list is not exhaustive information, and Nordea cannot accept any liability for the completeness or accuracy of the information.
For comprehensive updated information we refer to the information provided by the UN Security Council, EU and US (links quoted below).
Sanctions - which countries / Commodities
Although the sanction lists are specific in terms of persons, companies and commodities they are primarily focused against certain countries. See for example the list of OFAC Sanctions programs. For detailed information on sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, EU and US, please see below. Note also that there may exist local sanctions.
Sanctions against certain persons and companies
Shipping lines
Nordea will not be able to handle a transaction that indicates that the goods have been shipped with one of the above mentioned shipping lines (as well as others that may be subject to sanctions) or in a container owned by any of them.
The owner of a sea container can be located via the container prefix. See for example:
http://www.pier2pier.com/index.php?layout=prefix
or
http://www.equasis.org/EquasisWeb/public/HomePage
Both are free of charge to use, but do require sign up.
Other persons / Companies / Commodities
Information regarding sanctioned persons, companies, commodities and countries are available at:
UN:
https://www.un.org/sc/suborg/en/sanctions/un-sc-consolidated-list
EU:
http://eeas.europa.eu/cfsp/sanctions/index_en.htm
US (OFAC):
If you have questions in this respect you are welcome to contact your local Nordea Trade Finance department.
Trade & working capital
Corporates that effectively manage their working capital benefit from better cash flow, enjoy greater potential returns on invested capital and can easily reduce the cost of funding. Only with clear and complete shared ownership of working capital management at the highest levels of the company, can you orchestrate the full range of activities available to you to maximise results. We know your business has its own unique challenges, tied to organisational structures, operating models and business strategies.
Nordea takes a holistic approach to working capital management. Our full offering – including cash management, trade & supply chain finance and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) solutions – can supply you with the services and tools to help you reach your targets.
Within the area of cash management, we can help you optimise your account structure by introducing an appropriate set-up to improve liquidity management. This might be our cross-border Global Cash Pool solution or, for cash forecasting purposes, which can help you gain greater control over your working capital.
Account centralisation can also help you re-engineer your company’s liquidity structures and optimise working capital in practice, while centralisation and standardisation of payment processes and collection processes (straight through processing of receivables) can also have a positive impact on working capital.
The journey ahead can be exceptionally different – but as the biggest financial institution in the Nordics, Nordea is familiar with a wide array of challenges. If you’d like to find out more about how Nordea can help your working capital management project, get in touch with us or speak to your local Adviser.
Trade Finance Newsletter
The Trade Finance Newsletter offers Trade Finance related news as well as information about rules and practices. The newsletter focuses on the practicalities related to Documentary Credits, Demand Guarantees and Collections, e.g. how to get paid under a documentary credit, how to make a complying presentation and how to understand the provisions in UCP 600.
Trade Finance platform
Trade Finance Global
The Trade Finance Global platform offers a secure, user-friendly, single point of entry for all of your global trade finance needs.
Trade Finance
Stay up to date with the latest thinking from Trade Finance. Here you will find latest articles related to trade.
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Trade Finance News
Get in touch
For more information about how we can support your business, reach out to your Nordea adviser.