Stockholm, 7th March 2024 — Mitigram and Enigio are thrilled to announce their partnership aimed at propelling the digitalisation of global trade finance. This strategic collaboration enables Mitigram’s capabilities in trade, by offering a wide spectra of legally compliant electronic trade documents accessible to all counterparts. Following the recent legal adoption of MLETR in the UK and other jurisdictions, it is now possible for all companies to go paperless and transform fully digital end to end trade flows with seamless communication enabling faster and safer access to capital. 

"The collaboration with Enigio marks a significant milestone in our journey to digitalise trade finance," stated Ted Scheiman, Chief Strategy Officer of Mitigram. "Enigio's digital document technology, trace:original, aligns perfectly with our vision, setting a new sustainable document standard for interoperability while delivering excellent value to our clients and the trade finance industry." 

Amanda Evans, Chief Growth Officer at Enigio, remarked, "We are excited to join forces with another strong partner where our technology enables Mitigram’s customers to create freely transferable digital documents. By integrating with trace:original, Mitigram enhances their product offering with a seamless solution for corporates and banks to perform end to end digital transactions with all parties. “The synergy between Mitigram’s user-centric approach and Enigio’s trusted technological advancements will have a profound impact on the industry at a critical time for economic growth”, added Patrik Zekkar, CEO of Enigio.
 

The Partnership and Digitalisation's Legal Landscape 

This collaboration arrives at a pivotal moment, particularly following the recent legal adoption of the MLETR in the UK, with France and other countries anticipated to follow on shortly. This legal progression emphasises the importance of digital transformation in trade and reinforces the Mitigram-Enigio partnership's commitment to leading this shift. By aligning with these legal advancements, Mitigram and Enigio are not only responding to the evolving regulatory landscape but are also facilitating a smoother transition for the industry towards comprehensive digitalisation.
 

The Road Ahead 

The Mitigram-Enigio partnership is dedicated to setting new standards in efficiency, security, and interoperability within global trade. Our commitment to widespread adoption and interoperability, including engagement with other ecosystem providers, signals a collective effort to modernise the industry, reflecting both entities' dedication to fostering a digitalised trade finance ecosystem that is both sustainable and forward-thinking.
 

About Mitigram
 Mitigram is a global leader in digital trade financing. Established in 2014, it has transformed the trade finance sector by offering real-time insights into risks, capacities, and pricing across over 100 markets. Mitigram's innovative solutions have facilitated over $100 billion in financing flows, advancing the digitalisation of trade finance processes and data. Backed by prominent Nordic institutional investors, Mitigram continues to drive the evolution of global trade finance. 

Visit www.mitigram.com for more information. 

About Enigio
Enigio is a tech company offering solutions to ensure consistency, integrity, traceability, and possession of digital information making data available only to those who should have access to it while protecting it from manipulation. Freely transferable digital original documents is at the core of what Enigio does and the trace:original solution can be used for multiple types of commercial documents required in global trade. 

trace:original provides banks, corporates, logistic providers, and others with all the advantages of original paper documents but none of their shortcomings, without the need for joining a specific ecosystem or closed platform. 

Visit www.enigio.com for more information.

Press contacts: 

Katarina Cenner, Head of Marketing & Communications,
Enigio. katarina.cenner@enigio.com 

Nicolas Rivetto, Chief Marketing Officer,
Mitigram. nicolas.rivetto@mitigram.com 

Enigio is proud to announce that it has been awarded a new patent for the digital original document invention behind Enigio’s trace:original solution. The patent was issued by China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) in accordance with Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China on December 5, 2023

Enigio’s digital original document invention behind the trace:original solution is officially recognized and recorded by the Patent Register under patent number CN110785760B

The title of the application is:

“Method and system for registering digital documents”

The patent document describes how to securely, create, manage, trace versions and manage possession of transferable digital original documents. The patent is valid in China until December 5, 2038.

The invention behind the trace:original solution has already been granted a patent in Sweden, Singapore, the US and have pending patent applications in Europe (European Patent Office, EPO), Hong Kong and India.

“The global patents are appreciated acknowledgements and proof of the trace:original solution’s uniqueness, for the digitalisation of all types of original documents.  It´s also a recognition of Enigio’s position at the forefront in this market i.e. the digitalisation process of original documents,” says Patrik Zekkar, Enigio’s CEO.

“Enigio will continue to develop and serve various industries’ enhanced need for digitalisation, particularly in areas such as trade finance, transport, logistics, lending, and certificates. Further, moving from paper to digital documents will both reduce the carbon footprint and improve possibilities for SMEs to be financed.” 

About trace:original 

Enigio’s trace:original is a technical solution through which a digital original document can be created and possession of the original freely transferred between parties using distributed ledger technology solely for the purposes of validation, verification and recording possession. The solution has proven very suitable for negotiable instruments and documents of title, such as bills of exchange and bills of lading. It is designed to comply with current legislation and is fully aligned with UNCITRAL’s Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR). trace:original is also being used in logistics for digitising key transport documents as well as applied in the European certification market and being evaluated for other markets where digital original documents with regulatory certainty are needed to eliminate fraud risk in highly efficient document processes.

To find out more about trace:original please visit trace:original

For more details about the patent visit: http://epub.cnipa.gov.cn/cred/CN110785760B

This article is published by GTR, author Jacob Atkins

The UK Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA) has been hailed as a catalyst for the digitisation of global trade because the bulk of trade transactions are carried out under English law. The Act calls for a “reliable system” to effectively govern electronic documents and ensure they can be trusted as assets. But the law leaves the term undefined. In this Industry Perspective, Patrik Zekkar, CEO of Swedish trade fintech Enigio, says that while that has created some uncertainty, the shift to paperless trade finance doesn’t need to be complicated.

GTR: Has the lack of a clear definition for “reliable systems” in the ETDA led to uncertainty in the market?

Zekkar: I think it’s created uncertainty and some confusion, in terms of both what it means but also how to act on it. This is because the term is in the Act, but it doesn’t give clear instructions.

The Act is very clear that we are now entering into a new interface between technology and traditional trade, but maintains the strong link to paper documents by recognising specifically that only trade documents “…designed to replicate the salient features of a paper document are deemed possessable under the Act”. What we need to deliver through a reliable system is obvious from the law: the functional requirements for our solution to act and behave like a paper document and ensure singularity, absolute control and transferability.

I think the confusion comes when working out how to validate that. How do you ensure that you really manifest the requirements? That’s where I think the industry is splitting, with old meeting new. The Act says you need to have secure hardware and software and recommends third-party reviews, but that is fairly standard for technology operations.

People are finding it confusing because we’re entering into a new space, and new problems and processes are emerging that cannot be solved by the old methods alone. We need to use a combination of new and old methods.

GTR: The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is working on standards for reliable systems. Do you expect these will become the global benchmark?

Zekkar: I think it’s a little bit too early to see how this plays out. The ICC has a history of being able to deal with discrepancies and sort out issues in the market in an aligned way, but might the different chambers within the ICC approach these standards differently? There’s a risk they could do, in which case it could be quite complex and costly to adhere to varying standards in different geographies. The second issue is, if other industry bodies, in transport and logistics, for example, also start producing standards, we would deviate again and go into the same discussions we have had in relation to creating standards for structured data, and which required us as a tech provider to build a standard agnostic solution.

But I hope that it will create a harmonised and mature view of reliable systems, though some kind of acknowledgement of them will be necessary for trust in the market. If someone goes wrong and creates a system that does not hold water, there will be a significant impact on all of us. It’s in our interest to find a way to get everyone comfortable and secure so that no such system is released to the market.

GTR: Do you think there will be hesitancy to go fully paperless until there are additional pieces of UK legislation or court decisions to flesh out the meaning of reliable systems and other aspects of the ETDA?

Zekkar: This is quite a complex topic because it’s not only about reliable systems but also cross-border recognition of ETDA. My firm belief is that there will be more court cases and people will recognise that the courts will uphold trade infrastructure. When going paperless, it’s also about changing the value format of the actual assets, which are often high-value assets. This shift is having a systematic impact on the industry and the ecosystem, so I think we must have respect for that.

On a practical level, there are processes and a track record for handling assets on paper. But when changing, not only in trade but in other areas as well, those assets won’t exist on paper anymore and will instead only live in a system. The question is how to manage and deliver those assets in a prudent, secure and efficient way. That’s also part of being comfortable. I’m not sure a UK legislator should intervene right now, as market evolution is progressing well.

I think the first movers in this era will be the parties with the resources and competence to carry out assessments themselves. A company can go to a bank and say they are certified by the ICC, but it’s very likely that the bank will want to do its own assessment on whether something constitutes a reliable system. Those parties will play a very important role in this digital transition and in ensuring industry security.

GTR: Can financial institutions and corporates already carry out transactions in compliance with the Act? How long do you think it will take before this becomes the norm?

Zekkar: You can carry out transactions in compliance with the ETDA already, that’s proven. Lloyds Bank did the world’s first transaction on the morning the law was adopted. The next and ongoing steps are to increase the complexity of transactions using electronic trade documents by going from a two-party model to a four-party model and so on. We are currently working on a proof of concept for a nine-party model. The business case is very large, but starting with a two-party model is good because it allows for full oversight of the transaction and limits risk. Then you can gradually expand the complexity and thereby increase your business benefits. I think a step-by-step approach is wise, particularly because there are big organisations that need to be comfortable with all aspects of the structure.

In terms of how long it will take before this becomes the norm, this is the big question. Some products, industries, commodities or countries are in greater need of this reform than others, so I think we will see a somewhat split pace in adoption, depending on how urgently the benefits are required.

Products that change hands quickly on the water with rapid transactions are candidates for early adoption of electronic trade documents, as are those in ports or trade corridors with high fraud risk.

GTR: What did you learn from that first transaction with Lloyds following the ETDA coming into force?

Zekkar: We have done several transactions now, so if we look on a consolidated basis, it works well. The business case delivers, along with the time saving, the cost base and the improved process. I think what we are learning on a day-to-day basis is how to enhance customer experience. It’s a continuous journey in improving the efficiency and user experience and making it self-explanatory. We have an open system solution, meaning it is not a platform that requires onboarding and similar processes to manage documents. Therefore, it is important that the system is very user-friendly and self-explanatory for ease of use. That is something we are continuously developing. Once a party has tried the system and understands it, they can then start thinking about what else they could do with the same system-agnostic solution.

Tags: Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA), Enigio, Fatr

Link to the UK Electronic Trade Documents Act checklist including useful questions and considerations

Thank you to all customers, partners and friends for a fabulous 2023. We look forward to collaborating again and to continue the journey of true digital change in 2024!

Stockholm, Sweden, 12th December 2023  – Enigio AB today announced that its solution for digital original documents – trace:original is available on Temenos Exchange, the partner ecosystem of integrated technology solutions, which means that banks and corporates can now go fully paperless with all their trade documents.

trace:original enables end-to-end digitalisation of all global trade documents and data, making trade faster, cheaper, safer and more sustainable. The solution is designed to comply with current legislation and is fully aligned with UNCITRAL’s Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR).

Temenos customers can create and manage trace:original documents in Temenos Transact application without needing to onboard another application, giving an enhanced and seamless customer experience and propelling digitalisation into the future. Examples of use cases include bank guarantees, promissory notes, bills of exchange, bills of lading, warehouse receipts etc.

Temenos Exchange brings innovation to market faster, and at scale. The ecosystem offers pre-integrated and approved fintech solutions that can be easily deployed on top of Temenos open platform for composable banking, enabling banks to accelerate the creation of new financial services, while reducing the costs of development.

Martin Bailey, Director of Innovation and Ecosystems, Temenos, says: “Temenos Exchange acts as an accelerator for fintechs and software developers, helping them develop, validate and monetize new banking solutions. The integration with Temenos and joining Temenos Exchange means Enigio’s trace:original solution can be readily available to the thousands of banks globally that run on our platform.”

“With this possibility to create and manage electronic trade instruments, Temenos customers will have robust, unconditional, and independent digital assets that improve working capital and earnings, deliver financing flexibility, and provide better access to liquidity for SMEs and corporates. Additionally, the use of structured data enables straight-through-processing for all parties, delivering transformative benefits for any business and solving the paper paradox once and for all,” explains Patrik Zekkar, Enigio’s CEO. “Enigio’s trace:original availability on Temenos Exchange further extends our commitment to the banking community and enables Temenos customers to easily reap the benefits of trace:original. We look forward to leveraging the power of the Temenos platform to help us achieve our business goals.”

 

About Enigio AB
Enigio is a tech company offering solutions to ensure consistency, integrity, traceability, and possession of digital information making data available only to those who should have access to it while protecting it from manipulation. Freely transferable electronic original documents are at the core of what Enigio does and the trace:original solution can be used for multiple types of commercial documents required in global trade. The solution has also been recognised by the World Economic Forum and in June Enigio was awarded as 2023 Technology Pioneer
For more information visit www.enigio.com

Enigio media contact:
Katrin Lindholm
Marketing & Communications Advisor
Tel +46 70 528 58 15
Email: katrin.lindholm@enigio.com