Innovation

Banking in an uncertain world: How geopolitics and technology are rewiring transactional finance

Via Trade Finance Global by Doga Usanmaz

  • Geopolitical tensions and shifting trade corridors are requiring banks to adapt to political risks and regional economic changes.
  • Europe’s focus on financial sovereignty is driving strategic investment into sectors like energy and defense.
  • Regarding digitalisation, challenges remain in balancing technological innovation with social impacts, particularly in developing regions

Rerouted trade corridors, regional fragmentation, a currency arms race… these are no longer distant possibilities. They are active geopolitical and macroeconomic forces, reshaping transactional banking. 

At this year’s BAFT Global Council’s Forum in Frankfurt, Germany, a panel of senior leaders from prominent global and regional banks explored how shifting political tensions and economic dynamics are creating deep uncertainty for the industry, and how banks are adapting their strategies, infrastructure, and client relations in response.

The panel, moderated by Nick Smit, head of financial institutions at ING Bank and chair of BAFT’s board, found that transactional banks are being rewired to confront political risk, digitisation, and technological disruption. The panel provided a region-by-region exploration of the subject, and some interesting parallels came up.

Read the full article here.

10 lessons banks have learned from the ISO 20022 migration

Via Trade Treasury Payments by Deepesh Patel

The shift to ISO 20022 marks one of the most significant changes in global financial infrastructure in decades. ISO 20022 is a universal messaging standard that uses structured, machine-readable XML data to describe financial transactions. It replaces SWIFT’s legacy MT (Message Type) format, which has been in use for more than 40 years and relies on unstructured text fields with limited capacity for automation and analytics.

SWIFT introduced ISO 20022 for cross-border payments and reporting (CBPR+) on 20 March 2023, launching a three-year coexistence period in which both MT and ISO 20022 (MX) messages could be exchanged. This period ends on 22 November 2025, when SWIFT will retire MT messages in Categories 1, 2, and 9 in bank-to-bank communication. After that date, all cross-border payments, bank-to-bank transfers, and cash-management messages must be sent and received in ISO 20022 format.

These categories include common flows such as MT103 (customer credit transfer) and MT202 (bank transfer), which are being replaced by pacs.008 and pacs.009, as well as MT940 statements, now superseded by camt.053.

For banks, corporates, and treasurers, the migration enables richer, more consistent data for reconciliation, sanctions screening, and analytics. For the wider trade, treasury, and payments (TTP) ecosystem, ISO 20022 creates opportunities to enhance supply-chain visibility, improve straight-through processing, and align cross-border and domestic systems under a single standard.

BAFT’s ISO 20022 Migration Lessons Learned paper, drawing on insights from leading global banks, outlines key takeaways from this transformation. The following ten lessons summarise what has worked, where challenges remain, and how institutions can prepare for the final phase.

Read full article here.

BAFT Releases Third White Paper in ISO 20022 Series Focused on Lessons Learned in Sanctions and Compliance

Washington, D.C. – BAFT, the leading global industry association for international transaction banking, has published a new white paper titled “ISO 20022 Migrations: Lessons Learned in Sanctions & Compliance.” This latest publication is part of BAFT’s ongoing efforts to support the financial industry in navigating the complex landscape of global payment modernization and regulatory compliance.

The white paper captures practical insights from early adopters of ISO 20022, specifically focusing on the challenges and strategies related to sanctions screening and financial crime compliance. As financial institutions transition to richer data formats and structured messaging, the paper highlights both the operational and regulatory implications, and provides actionable recommendations for compliance professionals and technology teams.

“ISO 20022 has introduced new dimensions to data quality, transparency, and risk management,” said Deepa Sinha, senior vice president of payments & financial crimes, BAFT. “This white paper addresses a critical area—how the migration impacts sanctions and compliance operations—and offers lessons that can benefit banks still undergoing or preparing for the transition.”

Key themes explored in the white paper include data truncation and translation issues, evolving regulatory expectations, technology enablement, and the need for cross-functional collaboration between compliance, operations, and IT. The white paper is available to BAFT members and the broader industry community on the BAFT website.

Click here to read BAFT’s ISO 20022 Migrations: Best Practices & Guidance. The white paper is also available within BAFT’s Library of Documents under the Guidance and Industry Practices section.

About BAFT

BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, helps bridge solutions across financial institutions, service providers and the regulatory community that promote sound financial practices enabling innovation, efficiency, and commercial growth. BAFT engages on a wide range of topics affecting transaction banking, including trade finance, payments, and compliance.

BAFT Media Contact:
Blair Bernstein
Senior Director, Public Relations
[email protected]
+1 (202) 663-5468

Follow Us: @BAFT

BAFT Elects ING’s Nick Smit to Lead Board of Directors

WASHINGTON — BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, has announced that Nick Smit of ING will serve as the chair of its board of directors for the 2025-2026 association year. Smit is the global lead of financial institutions banks at ING.

Based in New York, Smit heads a team of relationship managers covering U.S., Canada, Latin America and global banks, and their in-house asset managers. His specific areas of sales expertise are financial markets, global transaction banking, sector-based finance, and debt capital markets.

“I really appreciate this vote of confidence by the BAFT community,” said Smit. “BAFT has grown into the leading global forum for not only trade, but payments and cash management, and working capital solutions, too. I am very much looking forward to continuing the good work done in the past as we operate and grow further as an independent organization in the future. I value the thought leadership that BAFT brings and also the wonderful networking opportunities it creates.”

Smit has held several roles throughout his 30-year career with ING including lead positions in New York, Amsterdam, Brussels and Geneva. He has served on the BAFT board since 2022. Additionally, Smit has served on the Board of Friends of the University of Stellenbosch in the USA since 2000. Smit received postgraduate degrees in law and economics from University of Stellenbosch (South Africa), as well as a master’s in economics from Cambridge University.

Also re-elected to serve on the BAFT board as officers were:

  • Vice Chair: Michelle Knowles, ABSA
  • Secretary / Treasurer: Miriam Ratkovicova, Deloitte

Other directors include:

Suresh Subramanian, BNP Paribas

Tod Burwell, BAFT         

Ashutosh Kumar, Mizuho

Julie Patterson, National Bank of Australia

Jean François Mazure, Société Générale

Dean Sposito, Deutsche Bank

Ricardo Velázquez, Banco Mercantile del Norte SA (Banorte)

Andy Arduini, Huntington Bank

Oscar Sanz-Paris, CQUR

Ayaz Kamlani, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

Derryn Faure, Investec

John Kinyangi, Standard Bank   

Patrick Devilbiss, CGI

Dyanne Carenza, Scotiabank

Paolo Muzzarelli, UBS

Rob Hostler, Citi

Brian Gordon, Commerce Bank

Mike Katergaris, JPMorgan

Maurice Iskandar, Banque Libano Française

Patrik Havander, Visa

Amy Sahm, Fulton Bank

George Lee, Standard Chartered

About BAFT

BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, helps bridge solutions across financial institutions, service providers and the regulatory community that promote sound financial practices enabling innovation, efficiency, and commercial growth. BAFT engages on a wide range of topics affecting transaction banking, including trade finance, payments, and compliance.

BAFT Media Contact:
Blair Bernstein
Senior Director, Public Relations
[email protected]
+1 (202) 663-5468

Follow Us: @BAFT

BAFT Announces Future Leaders Program Class of 2025

Launched in 2015, the 2025 Future Leaders class includes 40 individuals from 17 countries representing a variety of disciplines within transaction banking around the globe.

WASHINGTON — BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, today announced its Future Leaders Program class of 2025. Now in its tenth year, the program recognizes upcoming talent in the global transaction banking industry.

This year’s pool of applicants who were nominated by their respective institutions broke last year’s previous record. The selected class of 2025 includes 40 individuals from 17 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, MENA and Africa, representing a variety of disciplines within transaction banking.

The class of 2025 was divided into five project teams tasked with addressing current industry issues, including artificial intelligence threats for trade finance fraud, accelerating cross-border real-time payments across major corridors, BRICS, operating model for corresponding banking, and an update on the almost 300 graduates from the program.

BAFT board and regional council members serve as project sponsors and future leader alumni support the teams as mentors. The class will meet in person at the BAFT Europe Bank to Bank Forum in March and will graduate at the BAFT’s Global Annual Meeting in May. 

“Over the last decade, this program has recognized and facilitated the continued growth of some of the top talent in our industry,” said Tod Burwell, president and CEO, BAFT. “The participants have a unique opportunity to expand their knowledge of industry topics outside the scope of their day-to-day responsibilities and provide insights that collectively lead to innovative approaches.”  

BAFT congratulates the following individuals who were selected to this year’s program:

  • Elif Seray Akin, ING Bank
  • Adel AlZarooni, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)
  • Mafalda Arnaud, Société Générale
  • Viktor Bakkioui, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB)
  • Ayush Bhandari, Crown Agents Bank
  • Peyton Boles, First-Citizens Bank
  • Daranee Bolger, NatWest
  • Saad Chemseddine, BNP Paribas
  • Kevin Chu, RBC Capital Markets (Royal Bank of Canada)
  • Maximillian Chua, Standard Chartered Bank
  • James Deneault, TD Securities
  • Olivia Ellis, BNP Paribas
  • Laura Ernst, StoneX
  • Serena Fazzini, UniCredit
  • Harrison Gutman, PNC Bank
  • Gentiana Halimi, Banka Kombetare Tregtare Kosove
  • Jeronimo Hernandez, Bank of America
  • Ajay Joshi, Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank
  • Tina Kim, JPMorgan Chase Bank
  • Srushthi Kshirsagar, ANZ Bank
  • Tapiwa Kuipa, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)
  • Carmen Landeras Cabrero, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking
  • Audrey Lees, HSBC Bank
  • Xiaosu (Charles) Liang, American International Group (AIG)
  • Yuriy Lobanov, Commerzbank
  • Carlos Martínez Illán, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)
  • Wan Chung Arick Ng, Bank of America
  • Awuzhaer Nijiati, ING Bank
  • Abigale Ning, Standard Chartered Bank
  • Oskar Nordlander, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB)
  • Álvaro Ocampo, Banorte (Banco Mercantil del Norte)
  • Israel Ortigas, Bank of New York
  • Heidi Pun, ANZ Bank
  • Carmen Maria Ramirez Ortiz, Asian Development Bank
  • William Rattray, JPMorgan Chase Bank
  • Renan Reinoso, SMBC
  • Erik Rost, Citi
  • Elena Rozas, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking
  • Christopher Selfe, Barclays
  • Yang Wu, Bank of China

Learn more about BAFTs Future Leader Program here.

About BAFT

BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, helps bridge solutions across financial institutions, service providers and the regulatory community that promote sound financial practices enabling innovation, efficiency, and commercial growth. BAFT engages on a wide range of topics affecting transaction banking, including trade finance, payments, and compliance.

BAFT Media Contact:
Mike Townsend
Senior Director, Public Relations
[email protected]
+1 (202) 663-5471

Follow Us: @BAFT

BAFT Releases New White Paper on Transaction Banking Sustainable Finance Product and Reporting Matrix

WASHINGTON – BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, today released a new white paper, Transaction Banking Sustainable Finance Product and Reporting Matrix. The paper provides guidance on transaction banking sustainable finance products currently being offered to both corporate and financial institution clients.

The reporting matrix is intended to capture, consolidate and display in a simplified, readable format the industry best practice for labeling sustainable finance transaction banking products. Similarly, it highlights the types of reporting necessary for each type of ESG-labeled product.

“The transaction banking industry needs more refined standards tailored to our specific products,” said Andy Price, vice president, international policy, BAFT. “Our hope is that this matrix will serve as a starting point for framework development and ultimately, improve the design of sustainable finance transaction banking products.”

“We believe this resource is the first of its kind, specific to the transaction banking industry, and can be used by transaction banking practitioners and clients looking to further educate themselves on what is currently available in the market, as well as novices looking to learn more about sustainable transaction banking best practices”, said Anna Plewinska-Pijl, director, FI transaction services Europe, ING .

The white paper and reporting matrix were completed with the help of BAFT’s working group on sustainable finance, as well as several industry professionals, including:

  • Nataša Kovač, ING
  • Natasa Pudic, ING
  • Anna Plewinska-Pijl, ING
  • Dorene Martinez, BNP Paribas
  • Kaushik Mukherjee, Wells Fargo
  • Laura Wilson, Investec
  • Maxwell Chesky, MUFG
  • Chithra Badri, CICB
  • Riaan Meyer, Royal Bank of Canada

BAFT intends to update the document as industry developments occur. Click here to read Transaction Banking Sustainable Finance Product and Reporting Matrix, or visit BAFT’s Library of Documents under BAFT Guidance and Industry Practice section at www.BAFT.org.

About BAFT

BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, helps bridge solutions across financial institutions, service providers and the regulatory community that promote sound financial practices enabling innovation, efficiency, and commercial growth. BAFT engages on a wide range of topics affecting transaction banking, including trade finance, payments, and compliance.

BAFT Media Contact:
Blair Bernstein
Senior Director, Public Relations
[email protected]
+1 (202) 663-5468

Follow Us: @BAFT