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Trade Finance

We offer secure and reliable import and export Trade Finance solutions for corporate customers. Our product portfolio supports your market growth by mitigating risk and optimizing liquidity. We work together with you to find the best fit, built on standardized products as well as adapted to your needs.

International trade often includes higher risks than domestic trade. The risks could be geopolitical, regulatory, commercial, environmental and financial, among others. The trade parties also have other requirements and demands they need to manage during their supply chain. The goals might be different, for example faster payment versus extended payment terms, requiring multiple collaterals and financing solution.

SEB offers secure and reliable import and export Trade finance solutions for corporate customers. By securing or mitigating trade related risks, we enable your business to trade and improve cash flow and to optimize liquidity. SEB’s Trade finance product solutions supports your market growth. 

SEB’s Trade finance solutions includes Guarantees, Letters of Credit and Collections. In addition, financing solutions are offered under these products or independently. 

Guarantees

Guarantees offer trading partners the assurance of SEB's commitment to pay a sum of money to a beneficiary in specified situations. A guarantee can be used to back up all kinds of transactions – commercial and financial, domestic as well as international.

Guarantees may be issued directly to your trading partner, the beneficiary, or indirectly via another bank. There are internationally agreed rules that can be used for guarantees. For demand guarantees SEB recommends the use of the ICC rules URDG 758 and for Standby Letters of Credit the ISP98 rules. These are internationally accepted and balanced between the involved parties, I e your company, your trading partner, SEB and sometimes another bank. At SEB, we possess a deep knowledge and experience of the guarantee area. Our range of guarantees includes Tender or Bid Guarantees, Advance Payment Guarantees, Performance Guarantees, Retention Guarantees, Warranty Guarantees, Payment Guarantees, Loan Guarantees, Bill of Lading or Steamship Guarantees and Maintenance Guarantees, to mention a few.

Letters of Credit

Letters of Credit suits well for companies active in trading with politically unstable and economically weak countries. If you import, a Letters of Credit could minimize the risk of wrong deliveries since the bank only pay if the seller could show the documents you and the seller have agreed upon in the contract. If you export, the Letters of Credit will secure the payment from the buyer. If the exporter is not prepared to assume the risk on the buyer's bank, the exporter could ask its bank for confirmation of the Letters of Credit.

With a correct structure, the Letters of Credit will offer you financing possibilities. An importer could be offered deferred payment, but the exporter could receive funds upon delivery through discounting.

SEB can help you with the confirmation, discounting, and pre-checking of documents.

A Documentary Collection

A Documentary Collection is a payment form which can be used by a Seller/buyer in order to strengthen its position in a transaction. In a Documentary Collection, the Seller's and Buyer's banks channel the documents but they do not undertake to make any payments themselves. A Buyer does not require a credit limit at his/her bank if importing on a collection basis, unlike other methods of international trade where a suitable credit facility, such as Letters of Credit, is required.

Financing

SEB supports their clients by facilitating financing of goods and services already at early stages of supply chain. SEB’s trade financing solutions support companies to optimize their cash flow and enjoy improved returns on invested capital.  To advise a right solution SEB will not only need a good understanding of client’s unique needs, business, and industry but also on the geographical areas.  

Since financing solutions are often based on trade finance products this enables to agree well understood documentation for financing

Connect with you banks via Corporate Access over SWIFT – Trade for Corporates 

By connecting to MT798 corporates can utilise SWIFT's FIN-messages and system. MT798 is an authenticated message structure used to exchange Trade data between corporates and member banks of the SWIFT system MT978 provides a multibank solution through a centralized and secure channel for customers workings with two or more banks. 

The implementation model for the corporate requires either a client in-house solution or a third party vendor supports the format and process. 

Once this is in place SEB will set up an implementation team to support the implementation. 

Connect to SEB via Online Trade Finance, OTF

Online Trade finance is an internet-based Trade finance system which helps companies to improve and support their handling of Export LCs, Import LCs and Guarantees.

Online Trade Finance (in Swedish)