- SGTraDex, Singapore’s public-private trade data partnership, has launched an industry support initiative to digitize bunkering transactions.
- The new trading platform went live on June 1st after a month of “soft launch” testing.
- The purpose of this initiative is to use digitalization to thwart further oil trading fraud scandals, such as the prominent failure of Hin Leong Trading in 2020.
- By increasing transaction transparency and making document forgery difficult, this initiative aims to attract.
A recent news article published in the Singapore Times states that New Singaporean Venture Digitalizes Bunker Trading to Prevent Fraud.
More bankers return to the refueling department
Many financial companies have avoided paper-dependent bunker transactions after billions of dollars in losses caused by Hin Leong’s fraudulent trade finance schemes.
Singapore prosecutors allege that Hin Leon did not repay the money after using the counterfeit documents to obtain tens of millions of dollars in trade funding. By the time the company’s volatile finances finally collapsed, the business empire had $ 3.5 billion in debt to creditors, but since then only a small portion has been recovered.
The newly launched SG TraDex platform may help prevent similar fraud by digitizing transactions, ensuring security and efficiency, sponsors say. Flow data from a physical bunkering supplier’s bunkering vessel is used to generate a unique digital bunker delivery note that is automatically delivered to multiple players in a transaction. Bankers can use digital notebooks to verify the authenticity of transactions, making it difficult for suppliers to forge transactions by manipulating paper trails. The result is a fully digitized transaction without the need to manually enter data.
Equatorial Marine Fuel
This platform is gaining popularity. UOB, Singapore’s top bunkering lender, provides trade finance to about half of its local market and requires its clients. Equatorial Marine Fuel, Singapore’s leading bunkering supplier, has installed a system on one-third of bunkering vessels to capture flow data and generate digital bunkering invoices. SGTraDex also automates equatorial marine fuel invoices and orders, reducing paperwork and allowing the company to save more than 50,000 man-hours per year (if fully deployed).
“Successful registration of more than a quarter of all licensed bunker suppliers, even before today’s official launch, is a testament to their efforts and dedication to support our success. It’s a first-year free use to digitize the process as quickly as possible, “said Antoine Cadoux, CEO of SG TraDex.
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Source: Singapore Times
