A DESK REPORT

ON
“Customer Demand in Trade Finance”
FOR

With special reference to

“360tf Trade jhalana institutional area, Jaipur”
Submitted to
BALAJI INSTITUTE OF INTERNATINAL BUSINESS

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF MASTER’S IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(MBA) 2021-2023
Submitted by
Anit Yadav
IB2119333

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to thank every individual who has assisted me in any form. The
inspiration to complete my project and the guidance available from everyone were
eminent.
The internship opportunity with 360tf.trade has provided me with a great learning
curve and benefitted me with professional development. As a result, I consider
myself fortunate to have been allowed to be a part of it. I am also glad for the
opportunity to meet so many amazing people and professionals who guided me
throughout my internship.
I would also like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my Mentors at 360tf.trade
without their guidance of whom, this project would not have been accomplished. I
am greatly indebted to them for providing their valuable guidance at all stages of the
internship, their advice, and suggestions.
I would also like to thank my faculty guide, Prof. Archana Singh, for allowing me to
write this report and for playing a major part in theoretical learning.
Finally, I would like to thank all the employees of 360tf.trade, and my parents who
have helped me in all their capacities.
 1. INTRODUCTION

Name of the organization:

360tf.trade

Corporate Office:

2nd floor, 5 E Jhalana Institutional Area JLN Marg, Tonk Rd, Jaipur, Rajasthan 342005

Backed by a decade of Trade Finance expertise 360tf is a Nimai group endeavour to

build a novel ecosphere that instantly connects businesses and financial institutions
across the globe to fund trade flows on the best of terms.
We envision offering businesses instant working capital funding through various
Trade Finance products as well as providing insightful analytics to all transaction
participants to aid strategy.
While 360tf is Headquartered in Singapore, Nimai as a group is present
in UAE, Qatar, Kenya, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & India with associate partners
and clients in more than 40 countries including significant coverage in Africa, South
Asia, GCC & Europe. Nimai group also cherishes 250+ relationships with
various Financial Institutions comprising Commercial Banks, Debt and Sectoral
Funds, Private Equity Funds, Multilateral Agencies, Alternate Financing Institutional
Funds and Development Financial Institutions with a specific focus on Trade
Financing. With a track record of facilitating trade finance transactions of USD 2
billion the group is best positioned to digitize financing in the industry through 360tf.

Management of 360tf.trade

C.A Pankaj Mundra - Co-founder & Chairman

Pankaj Mundra is a Chartered Accountant and Postgraduate in Management with
20+ years of Banking experience in the fields of Strategic & Financial Planning, Fund
Raising, Trade Finance, Debt Syndication, Re-structuring, Investment Advisory &
Risk Consulting in the Middle East and Asia region. Pankaj has served as the
chairman of the Dubai Chapter of ICAI from 2016-2017 and has also served as the
Deputy Chairperson of ITFA MENA committee among many other distinguished
assignments with reputed banks in the region.
.

Vikram Lodha - Co-Founder & CEO

An all-round career banker, Vikram Lodha comes with extensive experience in
Transaction Banking and Wholesale Banking. In his previous assignment, he helmed
the Trade Product & Supply Chain Finance business for Kotak Mahindra Bank in
India. Vikram has a demonstrated track record of creating positive business impact
by building new revenue streams and leapfrogging growth in every initiative he has
undertaken. Vikram is passionate about technology and continuously strives to
digitize Trade Finance. Academically, he is a Post-Graduate in Management from
BIMM and in Commerce from Pune University.
 Yaduvendra Mathur - Advisory Board Member
Mr. Yaduvendra Mathur, (Previously Secretary to GOI, NITI Aayog, Former CMD
EXIM Bank) Officer of the Indian Administrative Service, He comes with a wealth of
experience of over Two and a half decades of helming various mission-critical
Government Postings & Projects in key roles with Government of India like
Secretary to GOI NITI Aayog, CMD EXIM Bank, Principal Secretary to Government,
Finance Department, Public department with Government of Rajasthan, in addition
to being (retd.) IAS officer & Income Tax officer. As CMD of EXIM Bank, he worked
very closely with a very high-powered Board (Secretaries to GoI - DIPP, Commerce,
External Affairs ER, Chief Economic Adviser, Secretary DFS/Joint Secretary including
Chairman SBI, CMDs of India’s 4 other large Banks, ED RBI and CMD ECGC Ltd) In a
personal capacity, Mr. Yaduvendra Mathur is a Technology enthusiast & evangelist,
promotes new technologies with deep interest in Blockchain, Distributed Ledger
Technology, New Payment Technology, International Trade, etc.
360tf.trade is associated with Nimai Management Consultants
Nimai Management Consultants was established in 2009. We are a financial
consulting firm that offers professional financial consulting and advice to our clients.
Our team has a collective experience of 200+ years in the banking and finance
industry. We specialize in advisory on syndication of bank finance, rationalization of
finance cost and trade finance solutions globally. Our core strength is advising on
diversified range of solutions to our clients that include corporate, trade and non-
institutional fund resourcing. We enjoy healthy relations with most of the local and
DIFC based banks, and multinational banks present globally.

Trade Finance
Trade finance helps companies obtain financing to facilitate business but also it
is an extension of credit in many cases. Trade finance allows companies to
receive a cash payment based on accounts receivables in case of factoring. A
letter of credit might help the importer and exporter to enter a trade transaction
and reduce the risk of nonpayment or non-receipt of goods. As a result, cash
flow is improved since the buyer's bank guarantees payment, and the importer
knows the goods will be shipped.

In other words, trade finance ensures fewer delays in payments and in

shipments allowing both importers and exporters to run their businesses and
plan their cash flow more efficiently. Think of trade finance as using the shipment
or trade of goods as collateral for financing the companies growth.

How Trade Finance Works

The function of trade finance is to introduce a third-party to transactions to
remove the payment risk and the supply risk. Trade finance provides the
exporter with receivables or payment according to the agreement while the
importer might be extended credit to fulfill the trade order.

The parties involved in trade finance are numerous and can include:

 Banks
 Trade finance companies
 Importers and exporters
 Insurers
 Export credit agencies and service providers

Trade financing is different than conventional financing or credit issuance.

General financing is used to manage solvency or liquidity, but trade financing
may not necessarily indicate a buyer's lack of funds or liquidity. Instead, trade
finance may be used to protect against international trade's unique inherent
risks, such as currency fluctuations, political instability, issues of non-
payment, or the creditworthiness of one of the parties involved.
Below are a few of the financial instruments used in trade finance:

 Lending lines of credit can be issued by banks to help both importers and
exporters.
 Letters of credit reduce the risk associated with global trade since the
buyer's bank guarantees payment to the seller for the goods shipped.
However, the buyer is also protected since payment will not be made
unless the terms in the LC are met by the seller. Both parties have to
honor the agreement for the transaction to go through.
 Factoring is when companies are paid based on a percentage of their
accounts receivables.
 Export credit or working capital can be supplied to exporters.
 Insurance can be used for shipping and the delivery of goods and can also
protect the exporter from nonpayment by the buyer.

Although international trade has been in existence for centuries, trade finance
facilitates its advancement. The widespread use of trade finance has contributed
to international trade growth.

How Trade Financing Reduces Risk

Trade finance can help reduce the risk associated with global trade by
reconciling the divergent needs of an exporter and importer. Ideally, an exporter
would prefer the importer to pay upfront for an export shipment to avoid the risk
that the importer takes the shipment but refuses to pay for the goods. However,
if the importer pays the exporter upfront, the exporter may accept the payment
but refuse to ship the goods.

A common solution to this problem is for the importer’s bank to provide a letter of
credit to the exporter's bank that provides for payment once the exporter
presents documents that prove the shipment occurred, like a bill of lading.
The letter of credit guarantees that once the issuing bank receives proof that the
exporter shipped the goods and the terms of the agreement have been met, it
will issue the payment to the exporter.

With the letter of credit, the buyer's bank assumes the responsibility of paying
the seller. The buyer's bank would have to ensure the buyer was financially
viable enough to honor the transaction. Trade finance helps both importers and
exporters build trust in dealing with each other and thus facilitating trade.

Trade finance allows both importers and exporters access to many financial
solutions that can be tailored to their situation, and often, multiple products can
be used in tandem or layered to help ensure the transaction goes through
smoothly.
Other Benefits to Trade Finance
Besides reducing the risk of nonpayment and non-receipt of goods, trade finance
has become an important tool for companies to improve their efficiency and
boost revenue.

Improves Cash Flow and Efficiency of Operations

Trade finance helps companies obtain financing to facilitate business but also it
is an extension of credit in many cases. Trade finance allows companies to
receive a cash payment based on accounts receivables in case of factoring. A
letter of credit might help the importer and exporter to enter a trade transaction
and reduce the risk of nonpayment or non-receipt of goods. As a result, cash
flow is improved since the buyer's bank guarantees payment, and the importer
knows the goods will be shipped.

In other words, trade finance ensures fewer delays in payments and in

shipments allowing both importers and exporters to run their businesses and
plan their cash flow more efficiently. Think of trade finance as using the shipment
or trade of goods as collateral for financing the companies growth.

Increased Revenue and Earnings

Trade finance allows companies to increase their business and revenue through
trade. For example, a U.S. company that can land a sale with a company
overseas might not have the ability to produce the goods needed for the order.

However, through export financing or help from private or governmental trade

finance agencies, the exporter can complete the order. As a result, the U.S.
company gets new business that it might not have had without the creative
financial solutions that trade finance provides.

Reduce the Risk of Financial Hardship

Without trade financing, a company might fall behind on payments and lose a
key customer or supplier that could have long-term ramifications for the
company. Having options like revolving credit facilities and accounts receivables
factoring can not only help companies transact internationally but also help them
in times of financial difficulties.
6. Economy Industry Analysis

The global trade finance market size was valued at $44,098 million in 2020, and is
projected to reach $90,212 million by 2030, registering a CAGR of 7.4% from 2021 to
2030.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the capacity of banks in emerging
markets to supply trade finance and has experienced an increase in failures by
traders to fulfil payments, including in industries such as airlines, aeronautics, and
tourism.

Trade finance is the financing of international trade flows, acting as an intermediary

between importers and exporters to mitigate the risks involved in transactions and
enhance working capital efficiency in businesses. It deals with activities related to
financing of domestic and international trade.

Trade finance includes issuing letters of credit (LCs), receivables &invoice finance,
credit agency, export finance, bank guarantees, and insurance. It is used by traders,
buyers, sellers, manufactures, importers, and exporters to ease financing activities
and deal with cash, credit, investments, and other assets for trade purposes. The key
advantage of trade finance is that it facilitates easy way to arrange short-term
finance.

Rise in need for safety & security of trading activities, surge in adoption of trade
finance by SMEs in developing countries, increased competition, and new trade
agreements are the major factors driving the trade finance market growth.
Moreover, surge in trade wars and high implementation of cost hamper the growth
of the market. Furthermore, integration of block chain technology in trade finance is
expected to provide lucrative trade finance market opportunity during the forecast
period.

The importers segment acquired major trade finance market share during the
forecast period owing to rise in market abuse and irregularities in trading activities in
the companies result in generation of massive volume of unstructured data, which
drives the demand for trade finance in this sector. However, the traders segment is
expected to grow at the highest rate during the trade finance market forecast period.
Rise in multiple communication channels, trading technologies, regulatory
compliances, and managing wealth accounts of an individual are expected to emerge
as growth opportunities for traders in the trade finance market.
7. 360tf.trade OFFERINGS: -
With more than a decade of Trade Finance experience behind us, we have set out to
build a robust marketplace that would connect every LC issuer and/or receiver across
the world thereby bringing our corporate customers, partner banks and Trade
intermediaries on a common platform. We also provide confirmation , discounting on
to client LC and also provide bank guarantee.

Other value-added services:

 Instant access to a wide pool of banks across the globe
 Vastly improved probability of financing trade flows
 Significant savings on trade financing cost
 Opportunity to build and improve credibility on a global scale
 Improved connectivity, information transparency and reduced turn-around
times
 Easy & hassle-free web-based platform
 Advanced dashboards and analytics.
9. CONCLUSION

360tf aims to disrupt the manual, inefficient, and expensive task of scouting LC
financing for these stakeholders by creating a ubiquitous digital platform.

The platform brings market efficiency to a largely offline, ad-hoc, and unstructured yet
crucial piece of trade financing.

It brings several benefits such as non-recourse financing, low single digit interest, and
market confidence to high-risk countries.

360tf network banks are domiciled across the globe and include international banks with
robust balance sheets as well as regional and domestic banks.

For the omni-sector corporates on the platform, a process that was previously a tedious
multi-channel exercise is now a simple single-channel access to a world of trade
finance.

360tf is a scalable cloud-based platform that will leverage new technology trends to
solve pressing problems in trade finance such as the tokenization of trade assets for
distribution to untapped non-bank liquidity sources.