About us
CREATING THE BLUEPRINT FOR GLOBAL TRADE FINANCE DISTRIBUTION
About TFD initiative
Connecting trade with capital
Institutional investors want to invest in trade finance but do not always have efficient access to the asset class. Banks want to expand the distribution of trade assets and the universe of trade finance investors beyond today’s scale. To date, both sides are not yet properly connected, resulting in very limited participation of institutional capital in the trade finance space.
most important
The main innovations in trade over the past 100 years have been linked to standardisation.
The shipping container was the most important development in that respect, significantly reducing loading times and costs, making the worldwide transport of goods dramatically more efficient. The TFD Initiative wants to have a similar impact on the distribution of trade finance assets.
Our Focus
The ambition:
To contribute to financial inclusion and the SME funding gap by attracting institutional liquidity to the trade investment class.
The community:
To connect capital markets players to alternative lenders, factoring companies, banks and e-commerce platforms.
The deliverables:
To deliver client testimonials and design new tradetech market practices to scale the trade distribution space.
TFDi Leadership
André Casterman is a Fintech consultant, advising clients on payments, trade finance, and capital markets. André spent 20+ years at SWIFT, leading various innovations in the inter-bank payments, corporate treasury, and trade finance markets. During that time he established an institutional partnership between SWIFT and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and created the first digital trade settlement instrument. André chairs the Fintech Committee of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) with a focus on helping banks establish trade finance as an investable asset class.