Forgers Are Forcing a $9 Trillion Business Into Digital Age

  • Trade finance has to go paperless: OCBC commodity finance head
  • Bank has tripled client base, expanding in Hong Kong, U.S.
Ng Chuey PengPhotographer: Wei Leng Tay/Bloomberg
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The $9 trillion business of financing global trade needs to go digital, according to southeast Asia’s second-biggest lender.

Forgers have become so adept at faking documents used by banks that going paperless has become a necessity for the industry, said Ng Chuey Peng, managing director and head of global commodities finance at Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd., the region’s second-biggest bank by assets. Digitalization will also make the financing process more efficient, she said.