Crown Agents Bank (CAB) is pushing past the payments and FX label and focusing on growing its trade finance portfolio as a takeover battle for its parent company ensues.
Emerging markets-focused CAB is looking to expand into new “high-potential markets” amid growth in its trade finance lending, said its global head of trade and working capital finance, Duarte Pedreira.
The London-based lender reported a 50% jump in trade finance lending to £270mn in 2025 following the launch of an “enhanced ‘originate to distribute’ model”, according to GTR’s annual analysis of banks’ trade finance results.
“The fact that we have embarked on an originate-to-distribute model is justified by our efforts being around the creation of network and influence,” Pedreira said. “We are not a balance sheet player – our balance sheet is what it is, it caters for the needs of our direct clean lending.
“But to have a meaningful impact with our clients, we have to scale that up by bringing that network into the equation through distribution and also through primary syndication.”
CAB appointed Vikrant Yadav as new head of origination for trade finance, working capital and structured finance solutions, in January this year.
Pedreira also noted the syndication and distribution team, led by Claudia Lopes for the past year, is responsible for “building relationships with all these different partners that share a risk appetite that is similar to ours, and that then amplifies the reach that we’ve got with our clients downstream” and expands “revenue streams”.
CAB is now looking to “spread our wings”, Pedreira added, after securing a permit from UAE regulators for its Middle Eastern subsidiary early this year, as well as opening a New York office in June last year.
Two weeks ago, the FX and payments provider announced a new commercial partnership agreement with South Korea’s Hana Bank to allow CAB clients to settle directly in Korean won.
“We’re heading into emerging Asia and emerging Europe, and Latin America has become a big focus,” Pedreira said, adding he wants to “move away” from the idea that CAB mostly focuses on Africa, the Caribbean and Central America by going into other “high-potential markets”.
“I want to augment the reach that our capital base can have, and that is done through the network effect.
“We are starting to lead syndications for African, Latin American, and Asian banking groups that wouldn’t otherwise have access to the syndications market. That will continue to be the focus for this year,” Pedreira said.
Pedreira told GTR there was “in the past a certain perception that Crown Agents Bank was solely a payments fintech or solely an FX provider”.
The bank’s lending activity, including deploying trade finance on a “profitability-only basis”, has helped it gain new customers among emerging market financial institutions, he added.
Bidding war
However, Crown Agents’ trade finance growth comes as the bank’s holding company CAB Payments fends off a series of takeover attempts.
CAB Payments, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2023, has rejected multiple bid approaches by its largest shareholder, Helios Investment Partners, as well as American financial services group StoneX, in recent weeks.
The latter made an offer of 95p per share last month, which the CAB Payments board said “fundamentally undervalued the business” and failed to reflect “significant improvement” in the company’s performance and forward guidance.
CAB Payments’ IPO was London’s largest of 2023, with shares debuting at £3.35. However, the share price soon collapsed, and the company’s stock has not traded higher than £1.65 since mid-2024.