The International Commerce Committee released its annual Global Survey on July 2, with data from 298 banks across 127 countries. According to the results, international trade growth has decreased significantly when compared to the years before the global financial crisis.
ICC Banking Commission Executive Committee member Vincent O'Brien explained in the report that the ICC remained "casually optimistic," however, the optimism is "framed within a fragile international trade environment."
"The fragility is magnified by unpredictable political developments on the fringes of Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia and other part of the emerging world."
According to the report, global trade growth was just above 3 percent during 2013, and increased to an annualized growth rate of 4 percent during the first quarter of 2014. However, 68 percent of respondents reporting positively that the availability of trade finance increased by value compared to the previous year.
Those surveyed also reported that because of the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, they had to decline transactions. Specifically, 68 percent of respondents had to decline transactions because of the regulations, while 31 percent had to close down correspondent account relationships.
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