On 27 March 2019, the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BATF) announced jointly with The Wolfsberg Group and the International Chamber of Commerce, the publication of appendices to its 2017 Trade Finance Principles guidance document.

The guidance document addresses the due diligence required by global and regional financial institutions of all sizes in the financing of international trade, and will now feature information on open account trade and financial institutions’ trade loans.

The new appendices provide guidance on the specific application of controls by banks in the context of open account trade transactions and specifically elaborate on receivables purchase techniques as defined by the Global Supply Chain Finance Forum. They also provide guidance on the application of controls by banks in the context of Financial Institutions Trade Loans, also called Bank-to-Bank Trade Loans.