Global trade finance sits where complexity meets opportunity. Markets shift, regulations evolve, and risks emerge overnight, but for leaders like Lucas Sant’Anna, that’s where work becomes meaningful.
With nearly two decades in banking, he’s helped companies move from domestic dependence to global growth, using trade finance tools manage risk, unlock working capital, and open new markets. Lucas is now an International Business Development Manager, serving as team lead for Brazil, for RTS International – a trade finance company providing customised funding solutions for exporters around the world.
From supporting coffee exporters with innovative factoring structures to navigating LIBOR transition and rising protectionism, Lucas combines technical expertise with a simple principle: “Listen first – to clients, to teams, and to the market.”
In this interview, he shares how he leads in a fast-changing environment, how digital platforms and data are reshaping trade finance, and what skills the next generation will need to turn global challenges into long-term opportunities.
Shaping a career in global trade finance
What defines leadership in a challenging banking landscape?
With nearly two decades in banking, what does a typical day look like in a trade finance leadership role?
In a trade finance leadership role, no two days are exactly the same, because you’re operating in a very complex and constantly changing environment. Whether you’re leading a sales team or an operations team, the first thing is to really understand what’s happening in your business: what’s affecting it, where the risks are, and where the opportunities lie.
I often say that working in international trade is exciting because…
…your opportunities are as big as the world. When something changes or a challenge appears in one region, it might open up a completely different opportunity in another.
That’s why you need to stay very aware of what’s going on globally.
At the same time, a big part of the role is about your team. You need to know their strengths, involve them in finding solutions, and create space for them to share their ideas.
In trade finance, the risks will always be there, but so will the opportunities. Listening to different perspectives helps you navigate both and deliver on your goals and projects.
What experiences have most shaped your approach to international banking and trade finance over the years?
Over the years, what has shaped my approach to international banking and trade finance has been listening closely to clients – from small businesses to large corporates.
Talking to CEOs, CFOs, finance managers, and operations managers provides perspective. In a financial institution, we tend to look at products, risks, and structures, but they are looking at how to run and grow their business day to day.
Hearing about their challenges, how they overcome them, and how they use international trade to expand has kept me very connected to the real impact of trade finance. It’s shown me how important it is for companies not to rely only on domestic sales.
When you look beyond your own country, you diversify your risk and open up new opportunities. I’ve seen that repeatedly across different clients and industries, and it’s reinforced my belief in the value of this work.
Companies are specialists in their products and services. We, in financial institutions, are specialists in providing the tools and structures that support them; things like trade finance solutions that make it safer and easier to do business internationally. Understanding their challenges and seeing how these tools help them grow is really what has shaped my whole approach to international banking.
Which global trade or financial market shifts have had the biggest impact on your work recently?
One of the most significant recent shifts that impacted my work, especially with mid to large corporates, was the LIBOR cessation and transition to new reference rates like SOFR.
Many existing contracts had to be reviewed, renegotiated, and updated with new language and terms. That required a lot of explanation to clients so they could understand what was changing, why it mattered, and how it would affect their financing. It was a technical shift, but it touched a large portion of the portfolio at the same time.
Another important trend in recent years has been the rise in protectionism. Some countries are increasingly protecting their local markets through tariffs and other trade barriers, and certain products and sectors have been directly affected by that.
When you work in trade, you quickly see how a new tariff or restriction in one country can suddenly close a door for a client.
In those situations, our role is to help clients adapt rather than stop trading altogether. Many of them are very used to working with one specific market, and when that market becomes less accessible, it’s not easy to simply pivot to a new country. Different regions – Asia, the Middle East, Europe, for example – have different requirements, risk profiles, and buyer expectations.
That’s where trade finance tools become very important. We work with clients to understand how these market changes affect their business and then propose solutions that can support them in entering new markets or adjusting their terms.
Related reading: Mitigating tariff risk with letters of credit
Certified Trade Finance Professional (CTFP)
Driving innovation: From concept to execution
How do big ideas in trade finance become reality?
Can you share an example of a trade finance initiative you led from idea to implementation? What made it successful?
One example I can share comes from my work with the coffee industry.
Coffee exporters typically rely heavily on banks for two key needs: pre-export financing to get cash in advance, and credit facilities to support their derivatives positions, such as NDFs or futures used for coffee price hedging. In other words, they are funding their exports while also needing room on their credit lines to manage price risk.
We introduced a factoring solution that allowed these exporters to use their sales – their invoices – as a source of working capital, instead of relying only on traditional bank credit lines. With factoring, they can bring cash into the company based on confirmed receivables, rather than waiting for payment only when the coffee arrives at the destination, or even later, which is often the case. That waiting period creates a big working capital gap for the exporter.
By monetising their invoices, they free up their bank credit facilities, which can then be used more strategically. For example, to support their derivatives transactions when coffee prices are high and margin calls increase. We’ve applied this model successfully with coffee exporters in Brazil, Colombia, and other countries.
What made this initiative successful was that it was built around a very real pain point for clients: the strain on their credit lines and working capital. By aligning the trade finance solution, in this case, factoring, with both their export cycle and their risk management needs, we helped them improve liquidity, preserve credit capacity, and manage volatility more effectively.
When rolling out new solutions across multiple regions, how do you balance innovation with compliance and risk management?
When you roll out a new solution globally, the first thing you need to understand is the risk and regulatory environment in each country.
Every market has its own laws, trade finance frameworks, customs requirements, and local practices. All of that can determine whether a project is actually viable in a particular country. You can’t assume that a product that works well in one or two markets will automatically work everywhere.
That’s why it’s essential to work closely with local specialists in each country: legal, compliance, risk, and product experts who really understand the local framework. They help you assess how feasible it is to introduce a solution in that specific market and at what stage.
Often, you start with a few regions, learn from the initial rollout, map all the potential issues and risks, and only then expand gradually to other markets. It’s very much a step-by-step, phased process rather than a “launch everywhere at once” approach.
A good example is blockchain. It’s a great innovation that has transformed international payments in some markets.
In Brazil, for instance, a cross-border payment that used to take one or two days can now be done almost instantly using blockchain-based solutions. But not every country is ready for that. Some markets don’t yet have a clear legal or regulatory framework for blockchain, and local authorities may not even recognise those solutions as valid. So even if the technology is innovative and effective, you still need to respect the local environment and only implement it where the regulatory and legal conditions support it.
In international trade, which is already a very complex environment, balancing innovation with compliance and risk management means knowing where it is feasible to start, adapting the solution to local realities, and expanding in phases.
Truly global “one-size-fits-all” products are rare – most successful initiatives grow region by region, based on careful mapping of legal, risk, and operational requirements.
Related reading: Trade compliance in motion: Inside the role of a Regional Trade Compliance Leader
Risk, regulation and resilience
How do banks balance opportunity and oversight in global trade?
How are digital platforms and data analytics changing the way banks manage risk and compliance in trade finance?
Digital platforms and data are really starting to change the way banks manage risk and compliance in trade finance. Blockchain is one piece of that puzzle, but it’s not the only one. In fact, we’ve seen some blockchain initiatives that looked promising at the beginning but didn’t really take off, often because of resistance or a lack of readiness in the market.
What I see making a big difference now are digital platforms that bring different solutions and parties together in one place.
When you can connect banks, buyers, and sellers on a single platform, you create more transparency and, over time, more trust.
Everyone sees the same information, documents, and status updates, and that makes it easier to assess risk, meet compliance requirements, and move faster.
At the same time, data analytics helps us understand the flows behind those transactions: who is trading with whom, how they behave over time, where the delays are, where the risks are higher. That makes it easier for financial institutions to monitor exposures, detect unusual patterns, and make better-informed decisions about limits, pricing, and onboarding.
If you look at the numbers, only a small portion of global trade is financed by banks, even though the need for working capital is huge. There’s still a big gap between the companies that need financing and the institutions that could provide it. Sometimes banks don’t have visibility on good potential clients, and sometimes companies don’t even know there are better solutions available to them.
Digital platforms can help close that gap. By connecting all the parties and making the data more visible and comparable, they make it easier for companies to discover suitable solutions and for banks or other providers to reach the right clients.
That combination of connectivity, transparency, and better use of data is what’s really changing how we manage risk and compliance in trade finance.
How do you approach the challenge of aligning local client needs with global trade finance priorities?
It’s very common to work with clients who have traditionally focused on their local market and are just starting to look at international opportunities as a way to grow.
My first step is to show them that, in many ways, doing business abroad is not as “impossible” as it sometimes seems. The fundamentals are actually quite similar: you still need a good product, you still need to understand your customer’s needs and requirements, and you still need the right commercial and financial solution to support the sale.
Once they see that connection between domestic and international business, we can then talk about the differences and the extra layers they need to consider. For example, customs rules, tariffs, product certifications, or specific documentation requirements in the target country. I try to be very transparent about both the opportunities and the challenges, so they can make informed decisions and not be driven by fear of the unknown.
With more experienced or multinational clients, the conversation is often about how to align local needs with a broader global strategy. Solutions like supply chain finance, for example, can help them secure better local suppliers, improve their working capital, and then replicate that model in other regions. They understand that by strengthening their supply chain and financing structure in one market, they can apply the same approach to other countries and reach end customers more efficiently.
Overall, it’s about separating what is universal – knowing your customer, having a strong product, managing your cash flow – from what is specific to each market, such as local regulations or risk profiles.
Then we match the right trade finance tools to each part: some solutions are more suited to sourcing and domestic sales, while others are designed to support international expansion.
Professional learning and career growth
What role does certification play in trade finance leadership and careers?
What impact has the Certified Trade Finance Professional (CTFP) qualification had on the way you approach complex transactions?
I’ve been working in trade finance for many years, and for a long time I wanted to take the CTFP because I felt it would help me really deepen my understanding of the products I was already selling. And it did exactly that.
Recently, I moved into a role that is more focused on factoring, which was relatively new to me. Before that, I had worked mainly with more traditional trade finance solutions – export financing, documentary collections, letters of credit, guarantees, and so on – but not specifically with factoring.
Through the CTFP, I was able to understand the full scope of factoring in a much more structured way. Before the course, I could explain the benefits to clients and sell the product, but after the certification I gained a deeper view: the financial logic behind it, the accounting aspects, how factoring fits into a company’s broader funding strategy, and how it can be combined with other trade finance solutions.
Another important benefit was the international perspective. I mainly work with clients in Brazil, but I also support companies in other countries. The course helped me see how factoring and other trade products are used in different markets, which is very valuable when you’re talking to clients with different backgrounds and needs.
It’s an advanced certification, so you really need to understand each product in depth. My practical experience definitely helped, but the course itself also pushed me to organise and expand that knowledge. Today, I feel much more confident discussing complex transactions and going into detail on a wide range of trade finance solutions.
Beyond the technical side, the CTFP has also been a strong professional recognition. Clients have congratulated me and see it as a sign of commitment to the field.
Colleagues in the market have approached me to ask about the certification, and I’ve recommended it to many of them because I truly believe it gives you a broader and more solid perspective on trade finance.
Certified Trade Finance Professional (CTFP)
The future of trade finance careers
What skills and opportunities will define the next generation?
With ESG, digitisation, and fintech partnerships growing in importance, where do you see the biggest opportunities for the next generation of corporate banking and trade finance experts?
I think the biggest opportunities for the next generation will come from using digital tools to really close the gap between companies and financial institutions. I’m not talking only about blockchain itself, but more broadly about trusted digital platforms where banks, buyers, and sellers can all connect directly. When you have that kind of reliable environment, it becomes much faster and easier for companies to find the right solutions.
In a country like Brazil, for example, you have many companies that are far from the main financial centres. Often, they don’t get the level of support or access to credit they actually need to grow or to start trading internationally. If you can reach those companies digitally, explain solutions clearly online, and connect them to the right providers through a strong, secure process, you start to solve one of the biggest issues in trade finance: access.
That’s where digitisation, fintech partnerships, and even technologies like blockchain and AI can really make a difference.
It’s less about the ‘buzzword’ and more about what it enables: faster onboarding, smarter risk assessment, and simpler, more transparent ways for clients to understand and use trade finance tools.
For the next generation of corporate banking and trade finance experts, I see huge potential in building and improving these digital ecosystems – creating platforms and partnerships that are truly trusted, easy to use, and inclusive. If we can do that well, we’ll help many more companies access the credit and solutions they need to expand their business, both locally and internationally.
Watch now: Fireside chat: Trade finance & Digital transformation
Beyond certifications, what practical steps can early-career trade finance professionals take to accelerate their growth?
I’d say that for someone early in their trade finance career, one of the most important things is to stay open – open to different products, different areas, and different kinds of experiences.
Something that really helped me over the years was the chance to work across several areas: documentary collections, export and import financing, guarantees, and now factoring. That exposure gave me a much broader view of how everything fits together. Of course, it’s valuable to become a specialist in one product, but at the beginning, being curious and willing to learn about all the main solutions is a big advantage.
Another very practical step is to get as close as possible to the client’s reality. If you’re already in a client-facing role, really listen to what the clients are saying: What are their pain points? What do they struggle with? Then challenge yourself to think about how different trade finance tools could help solve those problems.
If you’re in an operations or back-office role and don’t speak to clients directly, you can still learn a lot by talking to the sales or relationship teams. Ask them what clients are asking for, what challenges they’re facing, and then do the mental exercise: “If I were in front of this client, which solution would I suggest, and why would it help them?”
The key is to train yourself to think in solutions: don’t just process transactions but constantly ask how trade finance products can add value to the client’s business.
Be open, listen carefully, and always try to connect what you’re learning with real client needs. That mindset will accelerate your growth much more than just focusing on theory alone.
