Trade finance debt totals $3 trillion a year.
But institutional investors largely ignore it.
Complicated, non-standardized documents that require physical
delivery are enough to deter all but the most dedicated
specialists. Now three former Deutsche bankers have re-emerged from
obscurity to break that trend, with the world's first internet
trading platform for this asset class.
This time last year, if Richard Tull invited you to his office,
you could be pretty sure of a gin and tonic in the plush
surroundings of Deutsche Bank's Bishopsgate building in London. His
colleague, Luigi La Ferla, was a dab hand at offering round the
cigars after lunch.
For 10 years, Tull, La Ferla and James Parsons were three of the
best-known senior trade Finance bankers in London. They made a
profit during the Asian downturn of 1998. La Ferla is as well known
for his booming Italian voice, whose accent 20 years in the UK...
