THE CONDUCT OF RISK MANAGEMENT IN TRADE FINANCING PROCESSES: EXPLORING THE PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES IN FINTECH ERA

Purpose of the study: To investigate the conduct of risk management in trade financing processes as well as to identify potential issues in risk management relating to fintech in trade financing. At the same time, this study had the opportunity to explore all possible prospects and challenges that this new era of digital could offer to the banking industry. Methodology: The study employed an interview with experts for the means of data collection with the aim of gathering a wide range of information and opinion from the industry experts on the subjects of this study. The data collected from interview transcripts are analysed contextually based on thematic analysis and framework analysis. Main Findings: The findings suggested risk management in trade financing processes is critical due to the nature of cross-country transactions and the current era of fintech has further escalated the risk exposure to fintech-related types of risk. Strategies to improve the current conduct of risk management in trade finance processes have been identified where opportunities and challenges can be managed effectively. Applications of this study: Findings from this study will give valuable insights to the banking and finance industry’s practitioners, especially those who are directly involved in trade financing processes as well as the top management of the banks to further improve current risk management practices in particular catering for the new fintech era. This is essential in facing the wave of the 4th industrial revolution. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study has contributed to the limited number of published studies in this area. Most importantly, the attempt to investigate the current practice of risk management and identify actual issues and problems in trade financing processes through financial technology platform has not been researched and explored before.