Marc Lim

Global foreign exchange (FX) and trade finance fintech Ebury has hired Marc Lim as a Head of Desk at its rapidly growing Sydney office.

He has 20 years of experience working as a dealer, team leader and sales manager in the financial services industry in Melbourne, London and Sydney helping corporate clients deal with risk management with employers that have included Corpay and Western Union Business Solutions.

As Head of Desk at Ebury in Sydney his responsibilities include providing advice and using Ebury’s range of sophisticated FX hedging products, to assist importing and exporting clients hedge currencies in a volatile and challenging market.

Ebury Australia Managing Director Rick Roache said Lim’s appointment comes as Ebury has continued to enjoy a sustained period of rapid growth. The firm had recently opened offices in Brisbane and Perth and revenue had increased by more than 120 percent over the past 12 months as export markets shook off COVID-related supply chain issues.

Ebury established its Australian operation in 2018. It has FX and trade finance capabilities in more than 130 currencies and offices in 20 countries linked by a single best-in-class platform.

“Ebury has rapidly built a reputation as a market leader in Australia with our core products of spot FX, hedging, cash management and trade finance for importing and exporting SMEs.  Having invested in our brand, developed a deep base of clients and with our experts on the ground right across Australia we are seeing a significant uptick in demand,” Mr Roache said.

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Rick Roache

Ebury, the global non-bank leader in cross border finance for SMEs, has launched foreign exchange (FX) options to broaden its market-leading Australian product suite and meet the needs of its increasingly sophisticated corporate client base.

Sydney-based Ebury Asia Pacific Managing Director Rick Roache said FX options were more complicated than traditional currency hedging instruments, but gave sophisticated exporters and importers access to a wider range of hedging products, allowing them to not only protect themselves but to also participate in currency movements in certain circumstances.

“This is very much a client-led development. As Ebury has grown and developed a leading reputation in the market, we gained clients that wanted more sophisticated hedging instruments. At the same time we have noticed banks retreating from putting in the time and effort to truly offer a tailored hedging service and solutions.

“At Ebury each of our clients has a dedicated relationship manager who works with the client to build a customised hedging solution based on what the client needs. To meet growing demand we felt we needed to broaden our hedging product suite. With this launch Ebury Australia now has the most complete value proposition of any player in our space.”

Mr Roache added that Ebury Australia was the first market in the Ebury Group to offer FX options. The capabilities and expertise of the Ebury Australia team as well as the strength and growth rate of its Australia business made it a natural test bed for the wider group, which would benefit from the roll out of FX options in other markets, he said.

Ebury is one of the fastest growing non-bank lenders in Australia and has foreign exchange and trade finance capabilities in more than 130 currencies and offices in 20 countries linked by a single best-in-class platform.

It recently launched the ability to finance cross-border freight and advertising for e-commerce businesses that buy and sell over the internet and used its successful Australian business as a launch pad to enter Hong Kong’s non-bank trade finance lending market.

Ebury is the major partner for the Melbourne Rebels rugby union team in the first ever Super Rugby Pacific competition.

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Rick Roache

Ebury, the global non-bank leader in cross border finance for SMEs, is using its successful Australian business as a launch pad to enter Hong Kong’s non-bank trade finance lending market.

Sydney-based Ebury Asia Pacific Managing Director Rick Roache announced that using its Australian strategy as a blueprint, Ebury had started competing head-on with bank and non-bank lenders to meet the funding needs of credit-starved Hong Kong SMEs who exported and imported. It was doing this by offering companies unsecured trade finance as a complementary product for their payables, with line sizes of up to US$5 million per client.

Mr Roache, said he expected strong demand and that the Ebury Hong Kong loan book would grow quickly because of the suitability of Ebury’s trade finance product for Hong Kong clients’ needs.  “Our experience in other similar markets is that growth in our book accelerates over time. In Australia, the book has grown more than 300% in 2021 with the majority our clients using it to finance supply chains into North Asia,” he said.

With a valuation of more than US$1 billion, Ebury is a ‘unicorn’ and has offices across Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Canada. The company began offering foreign exchange (FX) and risk management solutions to Hong Kong SMEs in 2019.

The global fintech has FX and trade finance capabilities in more than 130 currencies and offices in 20 countries linked by a single best-in-class platform. It recently launched the ability to finance cross-border freight and advertising for e-commerce businesses that buy and sell over the internet.

Mr Roache said that many Hong Kong SMEs faced great difficulty getting capital for their business because of red tape, rigid systems and complex lender demands, especially those with volatile revenue and cash flow. Regular rejection of SMEs’ trade finance applications had contributed to a global trade finance gap that the Asian Development Bank estimated was around USD1.5 trn in 2020.

“Ebury is immediately competitive in the Hong Kong market because the features of our trade finance product make it the best available. We offer clients an easy-to-use online platform, complete cost transparency, with absolutely no fees except for the interest charged for credit used. In contrast, competitors often have upfront, draw-down or utilisation fees on top. In addition, our payable finance line offers an up to 150-day repayment period, which is much longer than the industry standard 90-120 days,” Mr Roache said.

“Our clients are increasingly becoming e-commerce-focused businesses which are looking for greater flexibility in working capital solutions. Our trade finance product enables them to pay for advertising and for freight, which are not typically able to be financed cost effectively by traditional lenders. Quite simply, you can use Ebury trade finance longer and for more things, without having to provide security over balance sheet or goods,”.

“This Hong Kong trade finance launch is an important part of our regional growth strategy. Once this business is established it will serve as a launch pad for Ebury into mainland China,” Mr Roache added.

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Rick Roache

The Australian arm of global foreign exchange (FX) and trade finance fintech Ebury has signalled its intention to boost services for the FX and hedging needs of Australian funds and financial institutions with a senior hire.

Ebury Australia has appointed James Swerling as Senior Dealer, Funds and Institutional Sales, and tasked him with spearheading efforts to significantly grow the firm’s fund and financial institutions client base. Mr Swerling has joined Ebury from AFEX, a global non-bank payment and risk management solutions provider. Swerling was with the firm for almost 12 years, finishing as Senior Dealer, Funds and Institutional Sales.

Ebury Asia Pacific Managing Director Rick Roache said servicing the transactional FX and hedging needs of Australia’s growing fund sector would become a key pillar of Ebury’s business in the region.

“Ebury has built a reputation as a market leader with our core products of spot FX, hedging, cash management and trade finance for importing and exporting SMEs. Through the addition of James and increased investment we will be significantly boosting our compelling offering for venture capital funds and private equity firms as well as their underlying portfolio companies,” he added

Mr Roache said Ebury Australia had successfully supported multiple funds’ currency risk management through hedging and currency swaps when the funds made investments in overseas assets or received investment from entities dealing in a foreign currency.

“In our first foray into this segment we have shown how we can provide funds with a more competitive proposition than traditional incumbents due to our more sophisticated product offering and our ability to price our balance sheet more competitively, translating to either collateral or margin improvements for our clients. We see this as a major growth engine for Ebury across the Asia Pacific region,” Mr Roache said.

Ebury, which established its Australian operation in 2018, is the largest non-bank in the world that focuses on SME and funds trading internationally. It has FX and trade finance capabilities in more than 130 currencies and offices in 20 countries linked by a single best-in-class platform. It has grown rapidly in Australia competing head-on with in particular large banks, growing it’s revenues by more than 100% last year alone.

Mr Swerling said “I am very excited to be joining Ebury due to its already strong footprint in the funds space in Europe. The business’ experience and expertise in dealing with the complex requirements of these entities will stand us in great stead as well build out our footprint in Asia Pacific”.

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Rick Roache

Ebury, a global fintech and new entrant in Australia’s corporate banking services sector has opened an office in Melbourne’s Collins Street after a period of exceptional nationwide growth.

Ebury Australia managing director Rick Roache said three months after entering Australia’s non-bank lending market by launching trade finance for importing and exporting SMEs, Ebury Australia had become the fifth largest of 22 Ebury trade finance markets across the world.

Support from customers was so strong that Australia could become the number three market for Ebury trade finance globally, according to loan value, by 2020, he said.

Ebury is the largest non-bank in the world that focuses on SMEs that trade internationally. It set up in Australia a year ago, based in Sydney, initially offering foreign exchange related products and services. With a valuation of more than $1 billion, Ebury is a ‘unicorn’ and with offices across Europe, the Middle East and Canada, and is expanding across Asia. It opened its US operation last month.

Mr Roache said Ebury came to Australia as part of its global expansion and because it saw a huge opportunity in supporting Australian SMEs, which research showed were experiencing a collective $80 billion funding gap and faced great difficulty getting capital, especially those with volatile revenue and cash flow.

“That has proved to be the case. Our ability to provide trade finance for unsecured payables and receivables with line sizes of up to $5 million per client has been welcomed by a broad range of importing and exporting SMEs.

“Our sweet spot is that we combine FX and trade finance in one place, which is a strong and compelling proposition. We expect to grow significantly as we build out our client footprint. Having people on the ground in Melbourne will help us develop deeper relationships with Victorian clients and better understand the nuances of their businesses, which is at the core of our offering.

“Melbourne and Victoria are very important for Ebury’s growth plans in Australia. Melbourne is growing faster than Sydney and in 2018 generated almost 20% of Australia’s GDP. This increases to 23.3% of national GDP if regional Victoria is included,” Mr Roache said.

Apart from trade finance for a company’s buying and selling cycle, Ebury offers a variety of transactional banking services in more than 130 currencies, including FX solutions for collecting, hedging and payment challenges.

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Rick Roache

Ebury, a global corporate banking services provider for SMEs, is entering Australia’s non-bank lending market.

Ebury has announced that it had started competing head-on with large banks and Australia’s growing number of non-banks by offering trade finance for unsecured payables and receivables with line sizes of up to $5 million per client.

The fintech, which has 22 offices globally, is the largest non-bank in the world that focuses on SMEs that trade internationally. Ebury set up in Australia just under a year ago, based in Sydney, initially offering foreign exchanged related products and services.

Ebury Australia Managing Director Rick Roache said yesterday that the company had now plugged Australia into its global trade finance platform and was targeting SMEs looking for capital to grow.

“We see a huge opportunity in supporting Australian SMEs, which research shows are experiencing a collective $80 billion funding gap. SMEs have faced great difficulty getting capital for their business, especially those with volatile revenue and cash flow.

“It is not surprising then that more than 90% of SMEs are considering alternative lenders who provide rapid credit approval, especially those like Ebury who do not require security for funds borrowed. The market is there for the taking,” Mr Roache said.

“Ebury is disrupting both established banks, non-banks and so-called neo-bank lenders, who use outdated operational processes relating to factoring, invoice finance and import finance,” Mr Roache said. He added that while there had been innovation in the non-bank lending space, a lot of that disruption had been targeted at the smaller end of the market.

“Our clients require larger credit lines and have more complex needs. Most retail business lenders can’t or won’t meet these needs and are targeting business borrowers with smaller loan sizes, higher interest rates and longer terms.”

Mr Roache said Ebury was immediately competitive because the features of its trade finance products made them the best in the Australian market. Ebury offered clients an easy to use online platform, complete cost transparency, no additional fees and only charged interest for credit used. The payable finance line offered an up to 150-day repayment period and the firm’s receivable finance product a 120-day repayment period and financed 90% of funds to be received.

Ebury could also integrate clients into its deliverable FX platform, allowing clients to collect, hedge and make payments all in one place. This negated the need to use a traditional transactional bank for cross-border business, Mr Roache said.

With a valuation of more than $1 billion, Ebury is a ‘unicorn’ and has offices across Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Canada and is expanding across Asia.

Apart from trade finance for a company’s buying and selling cycle, Ebury offers a variety of corporate banking services in more than 130 currencies, including FX solutions for collecting, hedging and payment challenges, as well as bespoke risk-management and cash management strategies.

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