When Euromoney sits down with HSBC’s global head of global trade and receivables finance (GTRF), Vivek Ramachandran, in London recently, he does not shy away from extolling the strengths of a bank that has again topped this year’s Euromoney Trade Finance survey.
Describing how HSBC has launched ‘the trade finance platform for the future’ in the last 12 months, he reveals the extent of his ambition: “We are the best trade finance bank in the world, and now we want to be the leading facilitator of commerce in the world.”
Ramachandran, who exudes energy as he enters the room, becomes even more enthused when talking about HSBC Trade Solutions (HTS), the new digital platform the bank developed in partnership with CGI and launched in October last year.
The platform was initially launched in the UK and Hong Kong, and is scheduled to go live in the Middle East in the first half of 2023 and in the US later this year.
HSBC’s aim is to make all products – from letters of credit to supply-chain finance to guarantees and trade loans – accessible to more clients digitally. This is no small undertaking and has involved a lot of investment and commitment, from chief executive Noel Quinn all the way down the chain.
It
