FCI: Views from the Board, Factoring and Receivables

One year ago, FCI members gathered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, at FCI’s Annual Conference. Reflecting back, the 2018 factoring volumes stood at 2.7tn euros. For 2019, the volumes increased once again, by just over 5% YoY, at 2.9tn euros.

What were the biggest challenges to the industry in 2019? 2019 saw extreme economic and political volatility, the rise in nationalism and protectionism, and of course, this led to a general slowdown in global trade. 

This was all before the coronavirus pandemic. Fast forwarding 12 months, the geopolitical and macroeconomic factors continued, even heightened, coupled with the crippling effects of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Receivables finance industry now plays a critical role in recovery and the turn towards eventual growth in global trade, particularly by continuing to finance SMEs during this challenging period. TFG’s Deepesh Patel caught up with FCI’s Chairman, Mr. Patrick de Villepin, and FCI Vice Chairman, Mrs. Daniela Bonzanini, joining virtually at the FCI Annual Conference.

In this podcast we heard from FCI on:

• The legality of delivering a Dutch based association’s Annual Conference online
• Response from the factoring industry - how the pandemic has affected factoring volumes amongst FCI and FCI members
• Factoring in 2019 recap - factoring volumes grew 5% last year to just under 3 billion euros, also reaching 4.05% global penetration, a rise from the previous year
• The likely impact of factoring volumes as a result of Covid-19
• The role of factoring in a real economy crisis
• The Bangladesh Policy on Factoring and FCI’s involvement
• The UNIDROIT Model Law on Factoring 
• How can governments support and backstop the credit insurance market, why is this important, and what success have we seen so far?
• What is edifactoring and how does it help factors?
• Short- to medium-term focus for FCI

Full transcript here: https://www.tradefinanceglobal.com/posts/podcast-s1-e53-fci-views-from-the-board-factoring-and-receivables/