The Finextra / Eastnets report warns that trade-based financial crime costs the global economy around $1.6 trillion a year, driven by opaque supply chains, data silos, and fragmented compliance systems. It urges banks to adopt AI-driven, end-to-end visibility tools and cross-border data-sharing to detect over-/under-invoicing, phantom shipments, and other hidden frauds more effectively.

Global corporate insolvencies are projected to rise by about 5% in 2025 (following a 19% increase in 2024) before declining by roughly 3% in 2026, as companies continue to struggle with high interest rates, elevated input costs, and trade-tariff uncertainties.

Recent failures in trade finance firms highlight inherently high fraud risk (fake invoices, phantom counterparties, doubly-pledged assets), combined with light regulatory oversight over non-bank lenders, creates a vulnerable model unless robust controls are enforced.