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Article: Making your global dollars work smarter in the age of the Internet: the changing world of trade finance.(Cover Story)
- Article from:
- World Trade
- Article date:
- April 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 BNP Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Trade finance used to be a pretty sluggish part of Cross-border transactions, an antique activity whose practices were rarely revamped. Letters of Credit, the classic tool, haven't changed since the European Renaissance. Exporters used to call it an activity for "guys wearing green eye shades."
But, things have changed, big time. Above all, the Internet has begun to revise the way that trade documents are created and transmitted, producing a dramatic improvement in the way that both information and cash are moved. The result has been an acceleration of collections that strengthens cash flow, boosts investment income, and bolsters balance sheets. Many financial ...