By Amanda Montano, associate, and Stefan Bateson, trainee

At the latest Trade & Export Finance webinar, Geoff Wynne, head of the Trade & Export Finance Group and Sullivan's London office, gave a whistle-stop tour of recent developments in digital options available in trade finance, including the multi-jurisdictional efforts to recognise electronic transferable records.

By Fiona Luong and Rajan Dhami

In these uncertain times, trade finance and other transaction parties may face particular logistical challenges when signing documents in person. One option available to the transaction parties is to sign documents "virtually" (in other words, signing a hard copy of a document and sending a scan of the signature page to the other side). This method of signing will be familiar to most people who have entered into transactional documents with an international counterparty. Certain formalities must be observed for virtual signings in light of the Mercury case (discussed further below).

Parties are also increasingly turning to the possibility of utilising electronic platforms for signing documents, called "e-signing" or "electronic signing".

But can electronic signing be a valid form of signing an agreement? We look in detail at the options available to those signing agreements under English law.