Media Appearances

via Global Trade Review by Jacob Atkins

Baft (the Bankers’ Association for Finance and Trade) has named Alexander Malaket as its head of trade following the retirement of Craig Weeks.

Malaket took on the role last month, the Washington-based transaction banking industry association said.

Read the full article here.

via Trade Finance Global by Tod Burwell, Mahika Ravi Shankar, and Silvia Andreoletti

E2: What’s front of mind for bankers right now?

• Geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain fragmentation are now a permanent feature of banking, making resilient risk and liquidity management more important than ever.
• Banks are embracing AI to improve efficiency, but they are equally focused on governing, controlling and defending against AI-driven fraud while preserving human judgement.
• Stablecoins and other digital assets are moving from theory to practical banking applications, with partnerships and clear regulation seen as essential for safe and inclusive adoption.

Deepfake-driven fraud, the rise of stablecoins, whiplash regulatory changes, and artificial intelligence (AI) that is developing so quickly, it may well have replaced us all next week… It’s not easy being a 21st-century banker.

At the BAFT’s (Bankers Association for Finance and Trade) Global Annual Meeting, held in Orlando, Florida, in May 2026, these themes were front and centre. BAFT’s flagship conference brought together transaction bankers from across the trade and payments industry in a ‘mini-SIBOS’ where attendees combined bilateral business meetings with sessions exploring the sector’s latest developments.

For the second episode of Trade Finance Global (TFG) and BAFT’s podcast series, ‘Banking on the present’, Mahika Ravi Shankar, Deputy Editor at TFG, spoke with Tod Burwell, BAFT’s President and CEO, to get an insider view on the conference and delve into its hottest topics.

Listen to the full episode here.

via Global Trade Review by Jacob Atkins

Proposed changes to US bank capital rules could make supply chain finance less attractive for large lenders and more expensive for corporate users, BAFT (the Bankers’ Association for Finance and Trade) has warned.

Under draft reforms unveiled in March, banks could be required to set aside 10% of supply chain finance (SCF) exposures as up-front capital due to a broadening of the definition of a bank’s “commitment” to extend credit, purchase assets or issue credit substitutes, Baft said in a comment letter to regulators seen by GTR.

Read the full article here.

via Global Trade Review by Shannon Manders

Banks are rapidly accelerating AI experimentation across trade finance and transaction banking operations, but discussions at the BAFT (Bankers’ Association for Finance and Trade) Global Annual Meeting in Orlando revealed an industry increasingly torn between excitement over efficiency gains and unease over security, governance and the long-term implications for banking jobs. 

Across multiple panels on transaction banking, embedded finance and trade digitisation, speakers described AI as one of the few realistic ways to modernise a heavily manual industry still dependent on document checking, fragmented data and operationally intensive workflows. 

Joon Kim, global head of trade finance and cash management platform at BNY, said banks without clear AI strategies risk falling behind competitors already embedding automation into trade operations. 

“If you do not have an AI initiative at your respective organisations, and do not have a use case, I think that’s sort of like… a red flag,” Kim said at the May 3-6 event. “AI is going to be a fundamental element that’s going to drive our business so that we can build the scale and do more trade transactions for our clients.”

Read the full article here.

via Trade Finance Global by Flora Prideaux

Foreign exchange (FX) poses a unique problem for the trade finance industry. The global scale of commodity finance leaves vendors negotiating a huge variety of international jurisdictions, regulations, and currencies daily. 

While the speed of payments has skyrocketed, commodities themselves are still moving with ships. Financing multi-currency transactions that rely on assumed conversion rates is increasingly difficult amid the volatility of this decade. 

At BAFT Europe 2026, a panel moderated by Vanessa Manning, Head of Transaction Banking EMEA at MUFG, titled ‘Navigating the Future of FX: Innovation, Risk and Client Experience Transformation’ discussed the innovation led by corporates, the challenges of market integration and instant payments, and the future of FX. 

Read the full article here.

via Trade Finance Global by Doğa Usanmaz, Joanne Fraser, Edward Collis, and Alina-Elena Pauna

Trade finance events tend to centre on the trials and tribulations of banks, analysing how developments in the industry – be it because of digitalisation or geopolitical mayhem – impact those on the financing side of international trade.

Corporates are viewed through the eyes of banks, a sight blurred by clouds of rigid regulation and tight liquidity. Banks are investing in automation and new payment infrastructure, but the perspective of the corporate end user is often missing from the equation.

During this year’s BAFT Europe Forum, hosted in London, a panel titled ‘The Voice of The Ultimate End User – The Global Corporates’, brought together representatives from across the corporate and non-profit spectrum – all the way from the charity end with Save the Children to global energy company Shell and consumer goods company British American Tobacco.

Read the full article here.