EG:  In what ways does Euro Exim Bank assist small to medium enterprises who may wish to enter into lucrative new markets? 

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Graham Bright:  Our specialisation is assisting corporates, offering fast creation of instruments, appropriate collateral requirements and comprehensive compliance allowing them to compete with unmatched rates and low liquidity impact.

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EG: What advantages may RippleNet and XRP present to the processes of banking institutions with mass adoption?
 

GB: Prefunding fiat currencies is costly and burdensome in de-risked jurisdictions. Ripple is key to enabling secure real-time payments through interconnected ledgers, reducing cross-border transaction processing times, for fiat and non-fiat currency, specifically its XRP digital asset. Immediate client benefits are fast, guaranteed, immutable, frictionless flows, with efficient 3rd-party liquidity provisioning, without the need for costly correspondent relationships.
 

EG: Tell us more about the Euro Exim Foundation and your philanthropic endeavours? 

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GB: Our CSR policy is about making a difference for underprivileged, disabled and disadvantaged communities, and the environment, with fundraising events raising thousands of pounds benefitting causes at home and abroad.

EG: What impact do you think that recent Basel III requirements will have on the velocity of global trade flows?

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GB: Under the leverage ratio regulation, as banks only need to hold 5 times less capital for trade instruments compared to more volatile instruments in capital markets the velocity of trade flows should not be adversely affected, as long as there is cost effective access to finance and proximity of trading partners.
 

EG: What future prospects do you see for cryptocurrencies as a way of facilitating international payments for banking institutions?

GB: We see significant growth in crypto coins and fintech companies with optimised processes, competitive money transfers and low-cost alternatives to conventional correspondent banking, led by Ripple as market leaders.  
 

However, whilst not all economies embrace cryptocurrency, some countries are looking to alleviate dollar dependency, using cryptocurrencies as viable alternatives to fiat currency, allowing them to access financing for transactions currently under strict embargo.  
 

Once the hype has subsided, regulatory requirements addressed, trust issues and consumer protection legislation ratified, use of cryptocurrency will be as ubiquitous as use of mainstream fiat currencies today.  

EG: Are there any key challenges that may be presented with the greater adoption of distributed ledger technologies in banking? 

GB: Not so much challenge as opportunity. DLT can reduce time on processing documents and data, providing immutability, negating database and golden record corruption, accelerating trustworthiness, auditability, and accessibility to all transaction elements.
 

DLT is a systems efficiency enabler, recognised as an integral part of financial institutions’ technology and operational infrastructure, providing the trusted architecture as standard for application delivery as the electricity that runs the computer on which it resides.

EG: What opportunities do you see for banking the unbanked in Africa and the Far East? 

GB: Immense. Whilst issues of dependency on cash and delivery of services to over 3 billion adults currently unbanked remain, new technologies are changing the payment landscape.
 

Driven by increased acceptance and trust in digital and mobile platforms and applications encouraging financial inclusion and Ripple enabled real-time payments and currency transactions, the tools are available now to elevate Africa and the Far East to be empowered global market players.
 

Market leaders of tomorrow will be institutions able to scale operations with 5G networks better serving low value high volume transactions, with the ‘value-add’ of simpler transfers, cheaper savings and pensions products, for regular transactions and also safeguarding and promoting long term financial welfare.

EG: Are there any particular strategies Euro Exim Bank may deploy to stay abreast of new technologies in banking within the next 5-10 years?

GB:  We are building on our RippleNet usage and continue digitalising our trade processes to be future-ready. And, we are extending our simplified blockchain enabled client on-boarding and information sharing, providing interoperable immutable, guaranteed, rapid data flows, for seamless trade ecosystem efficiency.
 

As a specialist provider, we also plan geographic expansion, card issuance offerings and development of mobile trade finance applications standing ready to meet the challenges and opportunities as the trade arena evolves.   EG