A Corporate View of Trade Finance: Structuring Guarantees and Standbys at the Bid Stage

From Banking to the Corporate Trade Finance Desk

Before joining AtkinsRéalis, I built my career within international banks: Bank ABC, BNP Paribas, and HSBC. I had the opportunity to develop my expertise in trade finance in different areas: on the operational side (mainly in processing bank guarantees, standby letters of credit, commercial LCs, and documentary collections), and in managing and organizational role, to an advisory and client-facing role. As a client service manager, I had responsibility for a portfolio of premium corporate clients, acting as their main point of contact for trade finance related matters. Interacting with corporate clients, understanding their needs and challenges, helping them find tailored solutions to mitigate their risks and ensure a smooth and fast processing of their transactions, inspired me to leverage my experience and knowledge on the corporate side.

I have been working at AtkinsRéalis, a world-class engineering services and nuclear company, for the past eight years, where I am currently managing the Trade Finance Team. In this role, I focus on optimizing financial risk management, strengthening good relationships with our bankers, and supporting our company through structured and efficient trade finance solutions.

Why Trade Finance Matters for Corporates

Trade finance plays a critical role in mitigating risks for both buyer and seller, while facilitating trade of goods and services between parties.  As applicant, a bank guarantee or a standby LC provides the following advantages:

Bid security: enables a bidder to submit a bid offer without requiring cash collateral or other securities to backup the bid offer and avoid disqualification.

Retention security: improves the company’s cash position by releasing funds that would otherwise be retained until the contract is fully executed.

Advance payment security: allows payment of funds usually necessary to start the job and reduces strain on the cashflow during the early stage of the project.

Performance security: supports commencement of the project and permits the presentation of invoices for payment as contract milestones are achieved. It is sometimes required as a prerequisite for finalizing the execution a contract.