Trade Finance in Singapore: summary

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Trade finance in Singapore rests on self-liquidating credit secured on identified goods, delivered through documentary credits, collections, trust receipts, guarantees and receivables finance, and supplemented for the large trading houses by borrowing base facilities, inventory and repurchase financing, prepayments and syndicated revolving credits. The Court of Appeal’s decision in Winson Oil in 2024, arising from the collapse of Hin Leong, confirmed that the fraud exception to the autonomy of letters of credit extends to reckless misrepresentation. The three local banks, DBS, OCBC and UOB, form a stable core of lenders alongside European, Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Gulf banks, whose relative weight has shifted towards Asia since several European banks left the business in 2020. Singapore adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records through Part 2A of the Electronic Transactions Act in 2021 and built public infrastructure for digital trade documents in TradeTrust, SGTraDex and the Trade Finance Registry of 2023. The frauds of 2020 led to a Code of Best Practices adopted by 28 banks with the support of MAS, which has made finance more demanding for mid-sized traders while keeping Singapore one of the two leading centres of commodity trade finance alongside Geneva.

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Of Counsel, KGP Legal LLC

I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

I operate across the key financial centres in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Switzerland, with a particular focus on asset protection, international tax and estate planning, as well as trusts, company administration and other fiduciary services. My philosophy is to serve as a trusted advisor working closely with my clients and to help them achieve their commercial objectives.

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SingaporeIQ is edited by Dr Alexander Ressos, an international business lawyer with more than 15 years of local experience in Singapore as a permanent resident, a Singapore registered foreign lawyer and managing partner of a Singapore foreign law practice. In addition to significant experience in cross-border investments and transactions, UHNWI private client work and sanctions/export controls, Dr Ressos has extensive experience in cross-border business and in crypto and digital-asset projects in Singapore, drawn from more than 700 projects since 2017.

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