DBS teams up with StanChart in new trade finance venture

Transactions need to be simpler.

Standard Chartered Plc is working with DBS Group Holdings Ltd. on developing distributed ledger technology for trade finance in Singapore, in a bid to make such transactions simpler and more transparent, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The banks have successfully tested the technology with each other, and will invite other companies into the system next year, Shirish Wadivkar, head of payables, receivables & flow FX at Standard Chartered and Lum Yin Fong, DBS’s global head of client management and implementation, said on a call with Bloomberg on Thursday. Estimates on development costs aren’t available yet, they said.

In pursuing the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, Standard Chartered and DBS are developing a new approach that could improve the trade finance business by speeding up banking transactions, while cutting costs and boosting transparency. This is the world’s first application of distributed ledgers in trade finance, the banks said in an e-mailed statement also released Thursday.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia