The TradeSun network of global and regional banks will use Coriolis’s independent ESG ratings-based platform that scores, monitors and verifies supply chain participants against UN and EU sustainable development goals
TradeSun has acquired data company Coriolis Technologies to speed up the prevalence of environmental, social and governance (ESG)-compliant trade.
The US-headquartered trade finance tech firm said the acquisition will enable its network of global and regional banks to benefit from Coriolis’s independent ratings-based platform developed with more than 50 financial institutions.
The platform, which scores, monitors and verifies supply chain participants against UN and EU sustainable development goals, measures ESG impact throughout all tiers in trade supply chains.
It and other Coriolis products will “support both financial institutions as well as supply chain players to assess and modify their businesses to meet industry and sovereign ESG goals,” according to Nigel Hook, chief executive officer and founder of TradeSun.
He added: “With regulations evolving fast to mandate sustainable commerce, banks will increasingly play a more central role in facilitating and guiding the trade ecosystem to adopt more sustainable practices.”
Andy Hindley, TradeSun chief operating officer, spoke to Fintech Intel about the benefits of the acquisition: “Coriolis is a leader in automated ESG scoring for business. TradeSun will leverage this expertise, as well as its own in trade automation, to develop and scale solutions that support players across global trade and business.”
The acquisition comes after the two companies partnered earlier this year to allow banks to better measure the ESG performance of their trade finance activity.
“There was much synergy between the companies and the recent development was the next natural step,” Hindley explained.
Going forward, Hook told Fintech Intel that TradeSun plans to scale its core business of automating trade compliance and the operational processes of banks.
Hook said: “In terms of the ESG business, we plan to accelerate Coriolis’s vision for automated ESG scoring in banking and beyond. ESG is increasingly becoming a matter of compliance, and so that will be a focus for our team.”
‘Better ways of measuring the ESG impact’
Hook went on to explain how the complexities of trade finance make it difficult to measure for sustainability purposes.
He said: “For instance, a wind turbine export that is being financed is widely considered as sustainable, but how it was made, for example parts suppliers, may not be considered sustainable.
“Ultimately, what trade needs is better ways of measuring the ESG impact of those involved in transactions to understand how sustainable transactions are, which is what TradeSun will strive to support and facilitate.”
Dr Rebecca Harding, founder of Coriolis, commented: “Global trade must have the tools to better measure ESG impact in order to meet increasingly ambitious sustainability targets set by governments and industry.
“The acquisition of Coriolis will support and take forward the vision and roadmap for automated ESG scoring and more sustainable trade. This is an exciting development and a significant measure of the importance of ESG in trade finance.”
Hook added: “Dr Rebecca Harding and I concur that with sustainable financing becoming more prevalent, parties across the trade ecosystem will naturally strive to gain better ESG scores.”
Image: Canva