DLT, Blockchain and International Trade – Where are we at today?

#News(General) [ via IoTForIndiaGroup ]

Open Account Trade
we.trade Innovation DAC is a joint-venture company owned by 12 European banks. we.trade is the first blockchain- based trade platform for banks and their commercial clients in Europe. In March 2019, we.trade and Hong Kong based eTrade Connect completed a successful PoC to connect platforms.
The Marco Polo consortium consists of over 20 banks comprising a global reachOpen APIs and legacy system compatibility allow banks to easily integrate to their corporate clients with their ERP systems. This helps to limit internal disruption and eases communication with enterprise clients. The first transaction on Marco Polo was conducted in March 2019.
Commodities
Komgo is a live commodity trade finance digitization tool.. The main features of Komgo include several digital trade finance related products allowing players to submit digital trade data and documents to financing institutions and apply for credit directly on the platform. The first transaction on the Komgo platform was announced in December 2018.
Vakt is a blockchain based post-trade platform. As a post trade platform, it connects key parties to trades allowing them to handle every step between the initiating trade and final settlement. This includes deal recap, logistics, and invoicing. Partnering with Komgo’s commodity trade financing network, Vakt will concentrate on the raw material transaction, allowing for deals to be processed through the platform. Since launching in 2018, it has grown to 12 major shareholders.
Shipping and Freight
CargoX is an independent supplier of an on-chain bill of lading (B/L). Additionally, they have created a Blockchain Document Transaction System (BDTS) open source protocol to tokenize, encrypt, and transfer the B/L along with any additional documents required for trade processes.
TradeLens, formed in August 2018 and jointly owned by IBM and Maersk, is a trade platform for containerized shipping, connecting the entire supply chain ecosystem. The current TradeLens ecosystem consists of carriers, ports, terminal operators, and freight forwarders..
Letters of credit and e-bills of lading
eTrade Connect is an Asia-Pacific consortium managed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Launched in September 2018, eTrade connect has grown to 12 banks and signed a memorandum of understanding with the European we.trade consortium, potentially strengthening the trade corridor between Asia and Europe.
Voltron is a coalition of over 50 banks and corporates delivering a platform to create, exchange, approve, and issue L/Cs.. Launched in October 2018, this globally reaching consortium completed its first transaction in April 2019.

Legal Challenges around Digitization
To reach this productive plateau, the issue of trade digitization must be faced. In many jurisdictions, including the USA, there are currently no regulations or laws that recognize electronic negotiable instruments in lieu of their written counterparts.
A working group spearheaded by R3, BAFT, and Shearman & Sterling LLP has delved into this issue and recommended a handful of potential solutions. The short-term solution recommended, and currently employed by several consortia, is to intertwine a written ‘Rulebook’ with the digital platforms, defaulting any disputes to the legally recognized writings.
The ideal final state proposed by this working group is to amend the legislation itself. They estimate that the timeline between preparation and enactment for such an endeavour will span years. To further complicate matters, in an international trade ecosystem, platforms must abide by the legal limitations of every operating jurisdiction. This may require the legislation of several countries to be altered. A prerequisite to this potentially necessary alteration would be a certain degree of standardization within the industry, particularly with regards to the future vision of the legislatively relevant aspects of the field.

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