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Trade Finance Activities of U.S. Banks: What the Data Can Tell Us, Accessible Data
Figure 1. Cumulative distribution function of trade finance claims, 2024
Line graph showing the distribution of banks' share in total trade finance claims across percentiles. The x-axis represents percentiles from 0 to 100, and the y-axis shows the percentage from 0 to 100. The line remains flat near 0% for percentiles 0 through approximately 85, then curves sharply upward, reaching nearly 100% at the 100th percentile. This demonstrates high concentration of trade finance claims among the largest banks.
Source: FFIEC009, staff calculations.
Figure 2. Share of banks’ trade finance claims in U.S. goods exports over time
Line graph showing trade finance claims as a share of goods exports over time from 2000 Q1 to 2025 Q1. The x-axis shows quarterly time periods, and the y-axis shows percentages ranging from 5 to 25. The line begins around 12% in 2000, fluctuates between 10% and 15% until around 2010, peaks at approximately 24% in 2013-2014, then declines steadily to around 7% by 2025. The trend shows increased trade finance activity in the early 2010s followed by a sustained decline.
Source: FFIEC009, U.S. Census Bureau, staff calculations.
Figure 3. Total value of commercial letters of credit of U.S. Call Reporters over time
Line graph showing the total value of commercial letters of credit in USD billions from 1990 Q1 to 2025 Q1. The x-axis shows quarterly time periods, and the y-axis shows values from 10 to 40 billion USD. The line starts around 30 billion in 1990, peaks at approximately 37 billion in 1995, fluctuates between 25 and 35 billion through the 2000s, then shows a declining trend from 2010 onward, ending around 15 billion in 2025. This demonstrates a long-term decrease in LC usage.
Source: FFIEC 031, staff calculations.
Figure 4. Distribution of the share of letters of credit in total assets across banks, 2024
Scatter plot showing banks' share of letters of credit (LCs) as a percentage of total assets across percentiles. The x-axis represents percentiles from 0 to 100, and the y-axis shows the percentage from 0 to 1.5. Data points remain clustered near 0% from the 0th through approximately the 95th percentile, then increase sharply at the highest percentiles, reaching approximately 1.5% at the 100th percentile. This indicates that LC activity accounts for a tiny share of business for most banks, while there are a few banks for which this activity makes up a more significant share of overall activity.
Source: FFIEC031, staff calculations.