The approval enables ICE Digital Trade to fully leverage future changes in legislation which recognize eB/Ls to accelerate utilization and provide its users with scalable digital trade solutions.

London – 10 November 2023: ICE Digital Trade, a part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), today announced that its ICE CargoDocs Local Law eB/L solution has received approval by the International Group of P&I Clubs (IG), representing the 12 Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Clubs which insure 90% of the world’s ocean-going tonnage. The approval means that ICE Digital Trade can support eB/Ls governed by the law of any country which has enacted the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) or equivalent, without the need for all participants to have signed its multilateral DSUA. The announcement is preceded by the recent issuance of IG P&I circulars to Club members, confirming the approval (a sample of which can be found here).

With this IG P&I approval, ICE Digital Trade can now self-certify its compliance with newly enacted local laws recognizing eB/Ls, providing its users with quick access to developments in trade digitization (see ICE Digital Trade’s Circular confirming compliance with English law). The local law solution complements ICE CargoDocs’ existing capabilities for issuing eB/Ls governed by the IG P&I approved ICE multilateral legal framework, the DSUA, with ICE Digital Trade customers now having the option to select either local law eB/Ls or DSUA eB/Ls when using the ICE CargoDocs solution.

“The approval of our ICE CargoDocs Local Law eB/L solution by the IG P&I marks a significant milestone for us, as we launch the industry’s first truly scalable MLETR-enabled eB/L solution,” said David Farrell, Chief Operating Officer at ICE Futures U.S. “Our solution now facilitates the use of eB/Ls governed by legislation such as the UK’s ETDA, whilst crucially enabling the immediate extension of ICE CargoDocs to support local law eB/Ls governed by any new legislation recognizing eB/Ls in the future, underscoring our leadership position in embracing the rapidly evolving legal landscape.”

“By providing the flexibility to use both contractual and local law eB/L frameworks in a single platform,” Farrell continued, “we are empowering our customers to connect to the most comprehensive network of eB/L-enabled counterparties in their contractual chain of custody, reinforcing our mission to facilitate a fully digital global trade ecosystem.”
 

About ICE Digital Trade:

ICE Digital Trade (formerly known as essDOCS) provides paperless global trade management solutions which digitize, automate, and accelerate trade & post-trade operations, finance, logistics, compliance, and visibility.

65,000+ companies – including leading commodity producers and traders in the metals & minerals, agriculture, oil & gas, energy, and petrochemicals sectors, plus banks and chambers of commerce – use our digital trade solutions globally across all key shipping modes.

ICE Digital Trade is a part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE).
 

ICE Digital Trade Contact:

Nicholas Demetriou, Director, Growth, ICE Digital Trade
nicholas.demetriou@ice.com
+30 210 724 5960