Trade finance revenue reported by banks remained steady last year despite pockets of growth in some regions, as the industry looks set for a turbulent 2025 defined by the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies.  

Banks in European and Asian financial hubs largely reported stable revenue or slight dips in earnings, according to a review of financial results released between late January and early March. Although most European lenders report little information about their trade business, the overall sentiment appeared more positive than in 2023.   

Meanwhile, lenders in the Middle East and Brazil generally recorded strong results from their trade finance businesses.  

Many lenders warned of an uncertain outlook for the remainder of 2025, with importers and exporters caught up by unpredictable tariff announcements from the White House and retaliatory measures from US trading partners.  

The impact on underlying goods trade movements is unclear. HSBC, for example, said that “already, it appears that the improvement in world trade growth may be starting to falter”, after signs of recovery during the first half of 2024.  

The World Trade Organization said in December that trade was performing well in the final few months of the year, but the outlook for 2025 was “clouded” by “possible shifts in trade policy”. 

There are wide discrepancies between how banks report volume or income from trade finance, if at all, and review only covers large lenders and markets, meaning annual results only provide a snapshot of the global picture. Most large US and European banks, for example, do not break down income from trade-related lending or services. Lenders in major economies China and India report full-year results later in the calendar year. 

Europe 

Revenue at HSBC’s recently renamed Global Trade Solutions (GTS) division remained largely flat in 2024, rising by US$23mn to US$1.99bn, a 1% increase compared to 2023.  

The bank attributed the figure to “growth in fee income from guarantees, higher balances and improved margins”, which it said were offset by the sale of its Canadian banking business to Royal Bank of Canada in March.  

In the final quarter of the year, HSBC’s GTS revenue jumped by 10% quarter-on-quarter due to higher income from guarantee and receivables finance fees, as well as higher margins and volumes in the Middle East and Asia.  

Although the bank is headquartered in London, it makes a large chunk of its revenue in Asia and said the possible impacts of “changing global trade policies” on export demand from mainland China and Hong Kong “is a key area of concern”.  

Chief executive Georges Elhedery said during a results presentation that global trade routes have fragmented and “reconfigured”, noting the growing trade links between Southeast Asia and China, and longer supply chains.  

“This reconfiguration segmentation is playing to our strength, because many of these new jurisdictions that have become major participants in global trade are jurisdictions where we have deep presence and, in some cases, leading presence as an international bank,” he said.  

Standard Chartered also said it could benefit from trade shifting into the emerging markets in which it specialises, saying “opportunities arise from the diversification of intra-Asia trade and other global trade routes, and growth acceleration in South Asia, especially India”. 

But the lender reported a 2% drop in trade and working capital operating income in constant currency terms for 2024, recording US$1.27bn in earnings compared to US$1.32bn in 2023, which the bank put down partly to weaker margins.  

Standard Chartered was the only lender surveyed that reported income from “sustainable” trade and working capital lending, which was US$128mn in 2024, up from US$99mn a year earlier. The bank also said emissions from its oil and gas portfolio fell by 9% year-on-year to 9.4 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Portfolio exposure decreased by the same percentage, partly driven by “a decrease in short-term trade funding”.  

In France, Société Générale said volumes of both “trade notes” and “export loans” volume remained steady at €7.7bn and €13bn respectively. Income on both products was also stable at €785mn and €560mn.  

BNP Paribas reported “good business activity” and “good momentum” in trade finance, without disclosing figures. Similarly, Natixis reported that “robust momentum” in trade finance pushed up revenue in its global finance business.  

ING said “growth in daily banking and trade finance” in its wholesale banking unit during the year was largely offset by “ongoing efforts to minimise capital usage”. Asked for further details, ING’s head of trade product management Anthony van Vliet tells: “In ING we are quite focused on the return on capital metrics. In some cases this might come at the expense of some revenue growth.” 

While Deutsche Bank did not report trade figures for 2024, chief executive Christian Sewing said it was targeting 5.5% growth in its corporate bank this year, which would come from “scaling of commissions and fee income, predominantly in trade finance and fee-based institutional businesses” as well as “repricing of existing clients”.  

Across the year, Commerzbank’s net commission income from corporate clients tracked slightly higher than in 2023, although the bank said in a presentation that such income attributable to trade finance was “stable” year-on-year, despite a “sluggish Germany economy”.  

At Italy’s UniCredit, fees from trade and correspondent banking grew to €1.1bn, a 5% jump compared to 2023.  

Santander reported a €2.74bn profit for its overall corporate and investment bank. The lender said its global transaction banking unit contributed “strong activity in export finance and, to a lesser extent, in trade and working capital solutions”.  

In the Nordics, SEB said “trade finance-related products remained high in demand” from large corporate customers, and overall net fee and commission income from those clients, as well as financial institutions, was SEK7.7bn (US$748.5mn).  

Handelsbanken reported a more than tripling in outstanding irrevocable letters of credit (LCs) at the end of 2024, to SEK665mn, its annual report shows. The lender’s head of trade finance for Sweden Stefan Carleke tells the uplift is due to strong export performance of large Swedish companies. 

Asia 

In the trade financing hub of Singapore, mixed results reported for the first half of 2024 were also borne out in full year earnings.  

DBS said trade income ebbed by 4% to S$638mn (US$477mn), “due to lower average volumes and net interest margins”.  

Average balance of trade assets in 2024 stood at S$42.3bn, a drop of almost S$2bn compared to 2023, although average interest charged remained steady. Growth in trade loans earlier in the year was offset in the final quarter, when volumes fell by S$1bn, DBS chief financial officer Chng Sok Hui said. 

But net fee and commission income from transaction service fees, which include trade, remittances and guarantees, lifted by 2% to S$918mn. 

Asked about Trump’s planned tariffs before the imposition of steeper duties on Chinese imports in March, deputy chief executive Tan Su Shan said China is “better prepared this time”.  

“Moreover, there is potential upside from better intra-regional trade, especially with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership countries, and we will be focusing more on the trade opportunities between Asean and North Asia, as well as Europe.”  

In addition to its home market of Singapore, DBS also has a sizeable presence in other Asian markets such as Hong Kong and Indonesia. 

At OCBC, another of Singapore’s “big three” banks, trade-related and remittance income slowed by 2% to S$271mn (US$202.7mn) last year, but the bank reported “growth in both trade and non-trade loans” without disclosing specific trade volumes. UOB, meanwhile, said trade loans rose 20% compared to 2023.  

In Hong Kong, Hang Seng Bank’s earnings showed the value of its trade finance loans dipped to HK$30.5bn (US$3.9bn) last year compared to HK$33.1bn a year earlier. Documentary credits and short-term trade related transactions stood at HK$2.3bn compared to HK$3.4bn at the end of 2023.  

Banks in Japan, China and India are yet to report full year earnings. 

Middle East 

Earnings and volumes reported by lenders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia remained healthy, continuing a trend seen in 2023.  

Net fee and commission income from trade finance at First Abu Dhabi Bank increased by 17% year-on-year to just over AED1bn (US$408.4mn). 

The lender said the value of its trade-related loans had grown by almost 57%, reaching AED50.5bn. Although the value of LCs declined compared to last year, higher guarantee volume pushed the bank’s total trade contingencies to AED177.9bn at the end of the year, a rise from AED165.3bn as at December 31, 2023.  

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank noted a similar trend of lower LCs but higher guarantees, as it reported improved trade finance commission income to AED695mn (US$189.2mn). But Rakbank, headquartered in Ras Al-Khaimah, reported a sharp rise in LCs to AED365.6mn. 

At Mashreq, loans and advances to trade customers stood at AED21.9bn (US$6bn), steady compared to 2023, although Islamic financing for trade customers dipped by almost 40% year-on-year to AED1.2bn. The value of issued LCs at the end of the year was AED14.6bn, higher than the AED13.3bn reported at the end of 2023.  

In Saudi Arabia, SAB disclosed net fee and commission income of SAR889.6mn (US$237.2mn) for the year, a jump of around SAR100mn year-on-year. It also reported a substantial uplift in both LCs and guarantees at the end of the reporting period, with both products and acceptances growing by a combined 27%. 

“Our trade-related revenues account for approximately 10% of the bank’s revenue and is a critical driver of the fee revenue line,” chief financial officer Lama Ghazzaoui said, adding the bank has a 24% of the kingdom’s trade finance market.  

Net fee income also grew at Saudi National Bank, rivalling SAB’s at SAR813.47mn (US$216.9mn), a 24% uptick. The bank says its strategy for the next two years includes targeting “high teen” compound growth rate in trade finance fee income.  

Al Rajhi Bank reported SAR9.3bn (US$2.5bn) worth of LCs at the year’s end, up on SAR7.37bn a year earlier, but did not disclose income from the products. 

Americas 

Trade finance volumes at major Brazilian lenders continued the upward trend reported in half-yearly results. 

Import LCs on the books of Bradesco at the end of 2024 totalled R$897bn (US$152.4bn), more than double that of December 2023, while loans for both imports and exports also showed strong growth. Overall, the bank said in an earnings presentation that “foreign trade finance” had climbed by 50.7% year-on-year.  

Banco do Brasil posted income from export financing of R$4.1bn (US$696.5mn) for the year, an 11.4% bump. Confirmed export credits as of the end of 2024 also rose.  

The corporate loan book at Itaú Unibanco was up 16.4% from 2023, which the bank said was partly down to “significant increases” in trade finance, as well as working capital.  

In the US, Citi is the only big lender to break out income from its trade business. Revenue at its treasury and trade solutions (TTS) unit rose by 6% to US$14.5bn, with both interest and non-interest revenue growing.  

Average loans in TTS were up 5%, which was “primarily driven by continued demand for export and agency finance as well as working capital loans”, chief financial officer Mark Mason said on an earnings call.