Money laundering and terrorism financing are serious issues that banks must address, especially as too many financial institutions are complicit in enabling the flow of unlawful funds. Unfortunately, the need to act decisively has also resulted in a disabling tightening of trade finance, sorely needed for economic growth. The new Asian Development Bank Scorecard seeks to ameliorate the inadvertent consequences of AML and CFT compliance.
When considering the world’s fastest-growing economies, the usual suspects of China and India invariably crop up in most discussions. Of course, this is to be expected given that, despite its recent slowdown, China’s GDP (gross domestic product) still grew by 6.7 percent in 2016
Across the world, governments are increasingly acknowledging the need to raise the levels of investment in infrastructure projects within their respective countries.
Global trade growth depends on trade finance, which is not meeting demand. Regulatory compliance, protectionism, costs and complexities of technology have restricted banks’ willingness to provide trade finance. Measures such as collaboration, innovation, improved attitudes are a must if this fuel for the global trade engine is to be adequately supplied.
Human beings tend to believe that after hitting a bump in the road, their route will eventually go back to “normal”. But when it comes to global economic and trade growth, this assumption may lead to a complacency that ultimately allows conditions to deteriorate to levels that everyone dreads.