Speakers

Alberto Amo

Global Head of PDM GTB & Global Distribution ChannelsSantander Corporate & Investment Banking

Alberto is globally responsible for the Private Debt Mobilization strategy of GTB assets. In his role Alberto is member of the global underwriting Risk Approval Foro of Santander and previously the Risk Proposal Foro.

He has been leading the product plan to prepare “front to back” the different units of the Santander group to execute different distribution strategies. This includes legal standardization, IT, workflows and procedures, accounting validation of risk transfer techniques, salesforce governance and investor mapping, distribution risk frameworks and methodologies.  In his previous Trade Finance for Corporates role Alberto was leading different initiatives as the strategy to face the regulatory impact on the business and Capital optimization of Global Transaction Banking products and was deeply involved in the Basel III and CRDIV Trade Finance impact and amendment proposals.

His role as Trade & Supply Chain Finance Head included the Trade Asset Mobilization team which distributes to banks, multilaterals, the private insurance market and institutional investors.  Prior to that position, he was Global Head of Supply Chain Finance and before he built the first Cash Management Product team in Global Banking and Markets.

On top of his roles in Santander, he served as a member of the Advisory Board of the International Chamber of Commerce Banking Commission, the BAFT Global Trade Industry Council and the DG Expert Group of the World Trade Organization.

Nantia Anemogianni

Sector Manager of Letters of Guarantee Department and Trade FinanceNational Bank of Greece (NBG)

My name is Nantia Anemogianni and I am Sector Manager of Letters of Guarantee Department and Trade Finance since 2020 at National Bank of Greece SA.

I have 30years’ experience in Banking Operations, specializing in Trade Finance instruments for the last 15 years. I worked in Deposit and Loan Disbursement Departments in various Branches, processing customers’ requests, contracts and contributing to the increase of market share targeting at specific clientele and their needs.

In 2008 I transferred to Global Transaction Services’ Division and I have extensive experience in all Trade Finance Instruments such as, Letters of Guarantees, Letters of Credit, Collections and Funds Transfers. I was responsible for processing Forfaiting and Secondary Forfaiting transactions, and we were the first Greek Bank to introduce them to the Greek market.

My personal achievements include the successful centralization of Letters of Guarantees for all client segments, responsible for the promotion of digitalization in Letters of Guarantee, developing collaboration in Trade Finance with supranational organizations and Banks.

I have participated in seminars including ICC Online Training in Incoterms 2010, Social Issues in Trade, URC 522 and Collections, UCP 600, DC Master, ISP Master, URDG Master, Forfaiting Training, one -week Trade Facilitation Program Workshop in Vienna ,Annual ITFA Educational Seminar on Trade Finance in 2019, ICA Certificate in KYC and CDD, ICC Austria Webinar in Case Studies & selected ICC Banking Commission opinions in 2020, Inter -Alpha Banking School by Intesa SanPaolo etc.

Mohamadou BA

Chief Trade Finance Investment OfficerAfrican Development Bank (AfDB)

Mohamadou BA, Chief Trade Finance Investment Officer, African Development Bank (AfDB). Mohamadou is responsible for origination and execution of trade finance projects including the issuance of financing and guarantee instruments to support trade finance operations of local banks, international confirming banks and other players within the trade finance space such as commodity aggregators. Prior to joining the AfDB, Mohamadou worked as a Business Development Manager at BNP Paribas in Paris, in charge of providing financing solution to corporate clients, Export Finance, factoring and supply chain financing. Mohamadou holds a master’s degree in business economics and finance, University of Angers, France.

Baihas Baghdadi

CEO & FounderTrade & Working Capital (TWC)

Baihas is the CEO & Founder of TWC Spain, HBC Americas and Tamwuil Capital, a banker by background with more than 30 years of experience, where he has held several senior roles in corporate and transaction banking. Since 2018 after leaving Barclays Bank, Baihas, through his fund “Baghdadi Capital” launched several non-bank financial institutions, in Spain, the US and Peru, all dedicated to providing working capital solutions corporates across Europe, the US and Latam.

George Bellord

DirectorBPL Global

George Bellord is a Director at leading credit and political insurance (CPRI) broker, BPL. With over 30 years’ CPRI experience, Bellord is recognised as an industry expert and a leading driving force behind the development of the product and market for use by Financial Institutions (FIs). Since placing one of BPL’s earliest policies for a bank client in 1996, he has since played a key role in amplifying the broker’s client bases of FIs and commodity traders.

Bellord joined BPL in 1994 in its London headquarters, before moving to its Paris office in 2000. He was appointed as a Director in 2006, before becoming a member of the Group Board in 2010. Bellord’s expertise is frequently sought by the market, clients and industry bodies alike, and he regularly contributes to CPRI discourse at conferences and through thought leadership.

A graduate of the European Business School in London, Bellord is a native speaker of both English and French and is fluent in Spanish.

Marilyn Blattner-Hoyle

Global Head of Trade Finance, Trade Credit & Working Capital SolutionsSwiss Re Corporate Solutions

Marilyn is the Global Head of Trade Finance, Trade Credit & Working Capital Solutions at Swiss Re, Corporate Solutions. Marilyn is also a Vice Chair of the ICC Banking Commission, a member of the ITFA insurance, regulatory & insurtech committees, the ITFA Trade Finance Investment Ecosystem working group and on the advisory board of Tradeteq. Previously, Marilyn was the Global Head of Trade Finance at global insurer American International Group (AIG) having joined in 2015. Prior to insurance, Marilyn was a banking lawyer in the international banking and finance practice for global law firm Hogan Lovells in London and New York. Marilyn was seconded in-house to Citibank’s trade transaction services EMEA team including commodity trade finance, supply chain finance and risk optimisation divisions. Marilyn started her career in international consulting.

Dominic Broom

SVP Working Capital TechnologyArqit

Dominic Broom is a seasoned fintech and transaction banking executive.  He has worked in financial services for over 30 years, predominantly at global banks such as JPMC, ABN AMRO and BNY Mellon, where he was EMEA Head of Treasury Services from 2011 to 2019.  He specialises in helping businesses optimise their treasury activities.

Dominic joined Arqit as SVP Working Capital Technology in early 2022, to lead the development of TradeSecure™, the company’s digital negotiable instrument solution.  He is a board member of the UK’s Institute of Export & International Trade and a former member of the ICC’s Banking Commission.

Paul Coles

Director TreasuryOrbian and ITFA Board Member, Head of Market Practice

Paul Coles has a specific focus on managing, developing and adding to Orbian’s funding relationships for its supply chain finance programmes.

Prior to joining Orbian, Paul was responsible for overseeing the transactional distribution activity that supported HSBC’s Global Trade and Receivables Finance business. He has also been the global coordinator and EMEA head for trade risk distribution at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and previously the trade asset management regional head at RBS NV (part of the legacy ABN AMRO network, where he was in the London-based trade credit distribution team). He started his career in trade finance over 25 years ago at London Forfaiting Company, where he held a variety of roles.

Paul has a BSc in Management Studies from Royal Holloway, University of London and is a member of the Board of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA), where he currently chairs the Market Practice Committee.

Natasha Condon

Payments – Global Head of Trade Sales and EMEA Trade Region HeadJPMorgan Chase

Natasha is the Global Head of Trade Sales and EMEA Trade Region Head within Payments at JPMorgan Chase. She has 19 years of experience across trade finance and working capital solutions for both corporate and financial institutions. Her global team provide strategic working capital advisory, risk mitigation, sales growth, and digital efficiencies for the top multinationals in the world.

She was recognized for her ESG advisory work in trade finance by Innovate Finance in the Women in Fintech Powerlist 2021 and was awarded the 2022 Social Impact award by Women in Payments. She was until recently the Co-Chair of the Bi+ Council, a global JPM-wide employee organization, and is active in JPM’s business resource groups for women and for underrepresented minorities.

Prior to her current role Natasha was the Global Head of Core Trade for JP Morgan, in which capacity she ran all documentary trade products for the business. She served as Board Observer for JP Morgan on the board of fintech Taulia from 2020-22. Natasha joined the firm from Citi, where she was Global Trade Sales Head and a member of the Global Trade Management Committee.

Natasha holds a Master of Arts from Oxford University where she studied Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE).

Pierre Courquin

Director, Head of ForfaitingSociété Générale

Pierre has been working for 6 years in the forfaiting business at Société Générale, in charge of a team dedicated to originate and structure short and medium term transactions based on bills of exchange and promissory notes. In addition to that, Pierre actively participates in several working groups and government initiatives aiming to accelerate the digitalization of trade finance transactions and the adoption of MLETR in France.

Pierre has 15-year experience in banking and finance in various roles both in business and risk. He started his career in Chicago at CACIB working as a credit analyst for industrial customers based in the Midwest. After that, he moved to HSBC in the Global Internal Audit team and then integrated the coverage team as a Global Relationship Manager for mid and large corporates.

Heather Crowley

Global Head of Supply Chain Finance (SCF) and Core Trade within PaymentsJ.P. Morgan Chase

Heather Crowley is the Global Head of Supply Chain Finance (SCF) and Core Trade within Payments at JPMorgan Chase. She is responsible for managing and growing the global supply chain finance and Core Product offering to the JP Morgan client base. Heather has extensive experience defining and executing solutions across trade finance and working capital.

Heather has been with Global Trade since 2015 and was instrumental in leading the multiple new product launches across Structured Solutions for both Sales Finance and the SCF Taulia and KLYM Alliances. Prior to working in Global Trade, Heather served in senior leadership roles in Commercial Card managing product launches, client migrations, system conversions and strategic change management initiatives.

Lucy Cutting Butler

Managing Director, Global Trade Finance DepartmentSumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)

Lucy Cutting Butler is Managing Director, Trade Advisory and Business Development, Global Trade Finance Department, at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), based in New York.

Lucy, experienced in structuring and arranging short-, medium- and long-term trade related deals, has been building SMBC’s exporter relationships for SMBC since she arrived at SMBC 15 years ago, supporting exporters and their customers with export and structured trade solutions globally.  Lucy is focused on expanding SMBC’s cross-regional support for the SMBC global customers across all trade finance products.

Lucy has been a strong supporter of diversity at SMBC, as the first Co-Head of the SMBC Women’s Inclusion Network and supporting the development of other of the Employee Resource Groups at SMBC.  Additionally, Lucy is on the Advisory Council of the US-Japan Women’s Leadership Program at the Japan Society in New York, promoting women’s empowerment in the workplace and serving as a catalyst for change in increasing the number of women in leadership positions in the US and Japan.

Prior to SMBC, Lucy worked as a Senior Vice President of General Electric.  In her eight years at GE, Lucy supported General Electric’s industrial businesses with customer financing solutions to expand GE sales in the emerging markets.

Lucy has over 35+ years’ experience in the export and trade finance industry and has also worked previously with Black and Veatch, supporting project and export finance projects globally, as well as with Marubeni America Corporation.

Lucy holds a B.A. degree from Hobart and William Smith College and also attended Waseda University in Japan.

Asif Dad

Senior Director, Distribution EMEATaulia

Asif is responsible for expanding Taulia’s distribution channels across banks and non-banks in EMEA. Asif has worked within working capital optimisation for over 10 years with experience gained at various organisations.

Clint Eastwood

Head of Distribution & SyndicationsBritish Arab Commercial Bank (BACB)

I have been working in Banking for almost 30 years having previously spent 23 years with Standard Chartered Bank before joining BACB 6 years ago to set up and manage our Distribution business.

I have always had an interest in Trade Finance despite undertaking other roles in my banking career and really found my ‘calling’ when I managed the Trade Distribution business covering Europe & Sub Sahara Africa at SCB. This has given me the skill set to really grow the secondary market business at BACB.

I believe that Trade Finance and specifically Distribution remains a business built on trust and camaraderie and feel privileged to be part of this global community.

I am a husband and father of 4 children.

Sean Edwards

ChairmanITFA

Sean Edwards is Head of Legal at SMBC Bank International plc, part of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. He is a Special Adviser to the Trade Finance Department of the bank and in the Trade Innovation Unit.

Sean is Chairman of the International Trade Forfaiting Association (ITFA). He helped draft the Uniform Rules for Forfaiting (URF) and the Standard Definitions for Techniques of Supply Chain Finance published by ITFA, ICC, FCI, BAFT and the EBA.

He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the ICC Banking Commission and the ICC Working Group on Digitalisation in Trade Finance.

Sean is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Finance Expert Group and he is a non-executive director of KomGo S.A.

Sean has written for all the major trade finance magazines and is on the editorial board of Global Trade Review (GTR). He has presented at many conferences.

Yasemin Erkan

European Head of Trade DistributionBank ABC

Yasemin is the European Head of Trade Distribution at Bank ABC and is responsible for the syndication of corporate, F.I. and sovereign trade finance assets in the secondary bank, NBFI and insurance markets for Bank ABC Group. She works closely with all Bank ABC units across Europe, MENAT, New York and Singapore for the purposes of portfolio, risk, liquidity, and balance sheet management.

Yasemin joined Bank ABC’s graduate programme in 2015 and has c.9 years’ experience working across Bank ABC’s Wholesale Banking product suite which includes Trade and Supply Chain Finance, Commodity Finance, Real Estate, Islamic Finance, and Corporate and F.I. loans.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Psychology and Sociology from the University of Cambridge and a Graduate Diploma in Law from the University of Law.

Alex Fenechiu

Co-Founder & Chief Revenue OfficerFinverity

As Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer at supply chain finance fintech Finverity, Alex is focused on growth strategy, new client acquisition, product roadmap and strategic partnerships at the company. Formerly of JP Morgan & BNP Paribas, he was recently named in Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.

 

 

 

 

Cruz Gonzalez

Executive DirectorWTW Financial Solutions

Cruz joined WTW in 2023 and is based in Madrid, Spain. Cruz leads the Financial Institutions practice in Continental Europe and has over 14 years’ experience in the credit market.  She has established strong relationships within the banking sector and has held senior level positions as a member of the Marsh Management Committee and previously Head of the Structured Credit and Political Risk, Trade Credit and Bank Surety department within Marsh Spain.

Cruz has extensive experience in placing trade credit insurance business under tailor-made structures for Capital Relief purposes and helps Spanish financial institutions to develop the use of insurance within Non-Payment Insurance, Trade Credit Insurance and Bank Surety products.

Cruz also has a degree in in Law & Business Administration from Universidad Carlos III.

Sheleena Govind

Head – Financial Institutions, Trade Corridors and Distribution, Trade & Working CapitalRand Merchant Bank (RMB)

Sheleena heads up the Financial Institutions Sector in RMB’s Trade and Working Capital Team. She is responsible for the origination and structuring of debt, liquidity and trade solutions for financial institutions, as well as trade finance distribution and management of trade corridors

Sheleena has extensive experience in corporate and investment banking in regional banks and is skilled on both the institutional and corporate sector across various industries. Main focus areas include lending, loan syndications and distribution, trade finance and working capital solutions across Africa and international jurisdictions.

Carlos Grassl

Director, Platform SolutionsDemica

Carlos has over 10 years of experience in delivering best-in-class technology and working capital finance solutions to banks and large corporates. He is a Director of Platform Solutions at DEMICA, a leading fintech that powers the supply chain finance programmes of the world’s top financial institutions and corporations. As a certified commercial banking and credit analyst with an MBA degree, Carlos has a strong background in finance, product management, and specialised sales. He is an expert in open account working capital financing solutions and is passionate about creating value and driving innovation in the trade finance industry.

Professor Sarah Green

Head of Digital Assets and Trade FinanceD2 Legal Technology

Professor Green was Law Commissioner for Commercial and Common Law at the Law Commission of England and Wales until 2024. During that time, she was responsible for the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023, as well as law reform in relation to digital assets, smart contracts, intermediated securities, DAOs, arbitration and corporate criminal liability.   In 2023, she won the International Chamber of Commerce’s Award for the Individual Who Has Made the Greatest Contribution to the Digitalisation of Trade and the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Legal Technology Awards.  In 2022, she was placed on the Women in Fintech Power List and on Bloomberg’s “Who to Watch” Crypto List.  Sarah sits on the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce, the Commonwealth Working Group on Legal Reform, LegalUK, the International Digital Assets Counsel Association, the Digital Commonwealth, and the APPG on Blockchain Technologies Advisory Board.  She was previously Professor of Private Law at the University of Bristol and Professor of the Law of Obligations at the University of Oxford.  Before that, she was a software consultant at Accenture.  Professor Green has written books and articles on a variety of issues including digital assets, virtual currencies, blockchains and intermediated securities, smart contracts, sale of goods law, negligence and wage theft.

Ute Gries

Director, Trade Assets Structuring & OutplacementLandesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW)

Since the end of 2019 Ute has been playing a pivotal role in widening LBBW’s distribution activity for trade finance assets. Presently, she is part of the Structuring and Outplacement Team at the Capital Management Unit in LBBW.

With a major in Chinese Studies from the Free University of Berlin, Ute started her banking career at DZ Bank Hong Kong Branch. Ute was in charge of a portfolio of small and medium sized German corporates doing business in China.

After relocating to Germany, Ute started a correspondent banking career at ODDO BHF in Frankfurt. She built the correspondent banking network with Financial Institutions in East Asia, supporting German exports to the region. Ute was transferred for two years to ING Group in Amsterdam, where she covered the correspondent banking relations with Chinese banks.

In 2008 Ute joined Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) in Stuttgart. She became head of the coverage team responsible for Financial Institutions in Asia Pacific. Eventually, she moved on to be part of the Distribution team.

Ute’s interest and passion for international commerce have fueled her interest in applying a wide range of solutions to make trade finance work.

Since December 2023 Ute is a Board Member of the German Regional Committee at ITFA.

Rebecca Harding

DirectorRebeccanomics

Dr. Rebecca Harding is a partner of the T3i network, a Senior Fellow of the British Foreign Policy Group, and an independent trade economist, public speaker and digital and sustainable trade and supply chain specialist. She is the founder of strategic advisory business, Rebeccanomics which convenes the Centre for Economic Security and the Sustainable Trade Forum. In 2022 she was awarded the “Net Zero Entrepreneur of the Year” at the annual Scale Up Group’s Enterprise Awards.

She has built three data-based technology businesses in the data, digital trade and ESG space, held senior positions as Head of Corporate Research at Deloitte, Senior Fellow at London Business School, and Chief Economist roles at the Work Foundation and at UK Finance. She acted as Specialist Adviser to the Treasury Select Committee and advised the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Entrepreneurship. She has acted as a trade finance and supply chains expert witness, is a member of the World Trade Board, the ITFA’s ESG Committee and the ICC’s sustainable trade finance technology sub-committee. Between 2004 and 2018 she was a Director and Trustee of the German-British Forum. She advises members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Security.

Her co-authored books, “The Weaponization of Trade: the Great Unbalancing of Policy and Economics” and “Gaming Trade: Win-Win Strategies for the Digital Era” have defined the trade-based nature of strategic competition in the digital era. She provided the business case for the adoption into UK law the framework to enable digital trade; her work on the “regulatory paradox” of current sustainability reporting requirements has catalysed the establishment of the ITFA’s cross-industry ESG Working Group to set sustainability reporting and audit standards. She has authored 8 other books on the German economy, global innovation policy, and SME financing and Venture Capital. Her high media profile includes frequent appearances on BBC Television and Radio, Sky News, CNBC, and Times Radio, as well as citations in the broadsheet media.

Thierry Hebraud

Chief Executive OfficerThe Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd

Thierry joined MCB in October 2019 as Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB). Prior to joining the Bank, he has accumulated extensive experience in Corporate and Investment Banking over the last 35 years, holding leading positions within Crédit Agricole Group in Eastern and Central Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Thierry has a solid track record in managing large teams and senior bankers in a multicultural environment. He was appointed CEO designate of MCB Ltd on 24 May 2023, before taking charge as CEO on 1 January 2024.

Alastair Hill

Executive DirectorWTW Financial Solutions

Alastair joined WTW and started his career in the credit and political risks insurance market in 2009. Alastair has a wealth of experience in placing Non-Payment Insurance policies (public and private obligors) for financial institutions, multilaterals, corporates and commodity traders in both emerging markets and developed economies.  Alastair leads the team that supports the London placements for Financial Solutions’ largest bank client whilst supporting various Swiss clients and exporters.

Working for various global financial institutions means he has a clear understanding of the procurement process along with operating within not only their operating framework but also the clients’ heavily scrutinised regulatory environment.  He has a strong grounding of the Swiss market though his interaction with clients and insurance companies alike since 2012 when he obtained his FINMA registration.

Alastair has extensive experience with claims across a variety of sectors, countries and clients with all these being paid as per policy terms.  He continues to be involved in supporting any recoveries which are ongoing for these transactions.

Alastair has a BA (Hons) degree from Durham University and is ACII qualified and a Chartered Insurance Broker.

Admir Imami

Investment Director & Head of Trade Finance and Supply Chain FinanceBritish International Investment (BII)

Admir joined BII in 2018 to start BII trade finance business. Since its launch, Admir has led BII trade book to support over $30bn of plus trades across Africa and South Asia.  Prior to joining BII, Admir was the co-founder and GP of an impact trade fund called Advance Trade Growth Fund, which provided wholesale lending to trade tech and NBFI who fund trade related receivables and account payables, in markets such as LATAM, US, EU, Africa and Central Asia. Admir also sits on the board of two factoring companies, Zvilo with a focus in Eastern Europe and Turkey and CIFC, a subsidiary of CIB Egypt. Overall, Admir has over 28 years’ experience in financial services, with a deep knowledge of developing business around Trade and Assets Based Lending but also investing in such asset.  He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is a father of two.

Boris Jaquet

Managing Director, Global Head of DistributionDeutsche Bank

Based in Frankfurt, Boris is the Global Head of Distribution within the Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank, responsible for a team of more than 15 specialists in the syndication and distribution of loans and trade assets across the globe. With more than 25 years’ experience, Boris has been leading several landmark transactions, with a specific focus on Trade Flow and EM loans. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank 20 years ago in London, Boris was part of the loan syndicate team of Société Générale in Paris.

Peter Kern

Vice President (Commercial)CargoX

Peter has more than 25 years of relevant shipping and logistics experience with leading global
logistics companies, Maersk Line, Panalpina, and ICTSI/AGTC. He held various positions in
different countries, covering roles from Route Management and Regional Management to
Country Management. His current role is VP for Commercial at a high-tech company CargoX,
providing digital tools for paperless trade using modern technologies like blockchain and AI.
Peter is actively collaborating with reputable trade organisations, such as the ICC, DCSA,
FIATA, BIMCO, and ITFA, and is passionate about driving digital transformation, seeking
innovative solutions using modern technologies to bring value to the trade.

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Nishit Kumar

Senior Director, Head Loan Syndication, Sales and DistributionMashreq

Nishit has around 22 years of experience in banking and financial services across MENA, India, North America, Europe & Africa, with a primary focus on loan syndication, structured & acquisition finance and trade assets distribution. Nishit has worked in multiple markets including India, Middle East & USA. Prior to joining Mashreq in 2015, he has handled senior level roles in Standard Chartered and ICICI Bank. He has closed numerous transactions for clients, raising over USD 100bn in the public and private markets, across multiple sectors, including Sovereigns, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Shipping, Trading, GREs amongst others

Nishit is a mechanical engineer from IIT Kharagpur, India, and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, India.

Agnes Marcalyte

Director, Financial Institutions and Structured Finance DepartmentAnadolu Bank

Agnes is an experienced and committed professional specializing in business development in emerging markets, with over a decade of expertise in forfaiting and distribution techniques. She excels in maintaining key relationships with financial institutions, overseeing bank trades, and coordinating primary and forfaiting market activities, while leading projects to implement new product functionalities for sales and trading books, driving the transformation of modern forfaiting practices and distribution strategies.

Throughout her career, Agnes has held key roles in Forfaiting at International Banking, investigating advanced forfaiting products and leveraging technology to optimize asset distribution, including enhanced transparency measures. She excels in establishing and maintaining key relationships with other financial institutions, overseeing banks trades, coordinating primary and forfaiting market activities, while leading projects to implement new product functionalities for sales and trading books.

Anastasia McAlpine

Head of Product, Trade & Supply Chain FinanceFinastra

Anastasia heads Trade and Supply Chain Finance solutions at Finastra, and has nearly 15 years of experience in the industry. Recently recognized by Trade Finance Global as a leading woman in Tradetech, she oversees Finastra’s strategy and roadmap for Trade and Supply Chain Finance. She actively contributed to the ICC Working Group for URDTT and is the Finastra Lead for the Trade Inclusion working group with the World Trade Board.

Anastasia joined Finastra from Santander where, as a Senior Product Manager for the Supply Chain Finance, she supported Santander’s global investment-grade clients in Industrial, Telecom and Energy sectors. Previously, she worked at Barclays Bank and a UK based commodity trader focusing on areas of cash flow improvement and optimization of supply chain.

Anastasia holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Banking from the University of Leicester.

Aarti Mohapatra

Director, Loan Syndication, Sales & DistributionMashreq

Aarti has around 17 years of experience in FI trade Distribution and FI Trade Origination handling top managerial assignments with globally reputed organizations in the areas of FI trade, loans market, trade products solutions both in primary/secondary market in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Proficient in establishing appropriate policies and procedures and achieving aggressive growth in volumes, revenues and profitability of bank-to-bank Loans, GTB products and FI Sales.

Aarti has worked with ABN AMRO and Royal Bank of Scotland at the start of her career, switching to National Bank of Abu Dhabi prior to joining Mashreq in 2018.

Aarti has a bachelor’s degree from Sambalpur University in India.

Gwen Mwaba

Director & Global Head – Trade FinanceAfreximbank

Gwen Mwaba joined Afreximbank in May 2015. In her role as Director & Global Head, Trade Finance, she heads the Trade Finance business for Afreximbank and leads a team executing transactions in all Afreximbank member states across Africa.

Her expertise cuts across Receivables Financing, Pre-export and Pre-payment financing, Structured Trade and Commodity Financing and lending to Financial Institutions and Sovereigns.

Gwen has 25 years of banking experience in Oil & Gas, Telecoms, Hospitality, Mining, Health, Manufacturing and agri-business.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, she led the multi-disciplinary technical coordination team of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust and structured the financing and co-led negotiations with covid-19 vaccine manufacturers.

Gwen is also a member of the International Trade & Forfaiting Association (ITFA) Multilaterals Advisory Panel.

Before joining Afreximbank, she worked for Standard Bank Plc in London.

Charlie O’Mulloy

Analyst – Trade Facilitation ProgrammeEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Charlie is an Analyst at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, where he focuses on structuring trade transactions in Central Asia and EBRD’s digitalisation initiatives. He also serves as Deputy Chair of the ITFA Emerging Leaders Committee. Before EBRD, Charlie was part of the Origination Team at Artis Finance and worked at FTI Consulting. He holds an MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance from Bayes Business School and a BSc in Politics from University of Bristol.

Panos Papatheodorou

Investment Committee ChairmanReal Economy Fund

Panos has over 28 years of working experience at top management level in the Factoring industry. Currently he is the Investment Committee Chairman at Real Economy Fund. He was previously the CEO and Vice Chairman at Optima Factors SA 2019-2022) and served as the CEO and Vice Chairman (2007-2019) at LaikiFactors & Forfaiters (ex-Marfin Factors & Forfaiters SA), as the CEO at EFG Eurobank Factors (1999-2007), and as a set up team member and Business Development Manager at Ethnofact SA (1995- 1999). He led the set-up of four factoring business entities (Eurobank Factors Greece, EFG Factors Bulgaria and Marfin Factors and Forfaiters in Greece and Serbia).

Panos held key positions for more than 13 consecutive years as an Executive member in FCI’s ExCom, the global association for Factoring and Receivables finance (2010- 2023) and served also as the Chairman of the FCI Education Committee (Sep 2021-Dec 2023).

He was one of the first movers in launching in theory and practice the factoring and receivables financing concept in SE European markets; he also worked and advised governmental and other authorities and institutions for the adoption of appropriate and functional legislative and business frameworks, to ensure the sustainability of transparent and effective factoring and receivables finance marketplaces for local and cross border trade transactions.

realeconomyfund.com

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Deepesh Patel

Editorial DirectorTrade Finance Global (TFG)

Deepesh Patel is Editorial Director at Trade Finance Global (TFG). In this role, Deepesh leads efforts in developing TFG’s brand, relationships and strategic direction in key markets, including the UK, US, Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong.

Deepesh regularly chairs and speaks at international industry events with the WTO, BCR, Excred, TXF, The Economist and Reuters, as well as industry associations including ICC, FCI, ITFA, ICISA and BAFT.

Deepesh is the host of the ‘Trade Finance Talks’ podcast and ‘Trade Finance Talks TV’. He is co-author of ‘Blockchain for Trade: A Reality Check’ with the ICC and the WTO, alongside other industry research.

Duarte Pedreira

Director and Global Head of Trade and Working Capital FinanceCrown Agents Bank and ITFA Board Member, Head of Institutional Relations & Head of Emerging Leaders

Duarte Pedreira is an experienced trade financier, with ample exposure to trade, commodity and working capital finance in a multitude of different jurisdictions, with an emphasis in emerging markets. He is currently a director and global head of trade and working capital finance at Crown Agents Bank, an emerging markets specialist bank. His previous experience includes senior trade finance roles with AIG, Caspian Sea Capital, the Standard Bank Group and Banif Bank.

Duarte has a MSc in International Securities, Investment and Banking from the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Centre, part of Henley Business School, and originally got involved with ITFA by becoming a member of the ITFA Insurance Committee.

Claudia Perri

Sales DirectorCodix

Claudia is the Sales Director of CODIX, the provider of iMX, the leading finance software which covers the full spectrum of commercial, supply chain and consumer finance products, as well as leasing and debt collection. Prior to joining CODIX, she spent 7 years successfully leading sales at Lendscape UK, serving as the Regional Commercial Director for Southern Europe, CEE, DACH & MENA, and prior to that role she was the Head of Business Development at Neurosoft (now Qualco) in Greece.

Claudia has 15+ years of experience in Supply Chain and Working Capital Finance digital transformation and Cloud Solutions. Throughout her career, Claudia has held key leading roles in sales, business development, and project management spanning across diverse industries and global markets.

Over the past 15 years, Claudia has collaborated with some of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions. Her work has helped clients enhance SME finance accessibility and growth through digital transformation and process optimization. Claudia has been a key driver and contributor to the success of multiple projects introducing factoring, supply chain finance (SCF), and other commercial finance solutions to developing countries, including successfully launching national-wide and multi-country group platforms.

Constantinos Petrides

Former Minister of Finance – Cyprus

Constantinos Petrides served as the Minister of Finance between December 2019 and March 2023. Key achievements during his tenure include the successful management of the COVID pandemic and successive upgrades of Cyprus’s Long term Foreign Issuer Default Rating due to the outstanding performance of the Cyprus economy.

Prior to his appointment as the Minister of Finance, he served as the Minister of Interior of Cyprus between May 2017 – December 2019 and as Deputy Minister to the President of the Republic of Cyprus, March 2013 – April 2017.

During his term as a Minister of Interior and Deputy Minister to the president, he held a key role as a coordinator for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Troika Institutions and the Republic of Cyprus and was responsible for designing, promoting and implementing important structural reforms.

Between 2011 and 2013 he was the Director of the Office of the President of the Democratic Rally (2011-2013).

In 2006 he was hired at the European Commission in Brussels where he worked as an economist at the Directorate General for Agriculture (negotiator for EU trade liberalization agreements with third countries) and the Directorate General for Competition (state aid).

From 2000 until 2006 he served as Senior Officer at the Association of Cyprus Banks and as representative of the Association to the European Banking Federation.

He studied Economics (BA hons) at the University of Nottingham and Political Economy of Transition in Europe (MSc) at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

Krishnan Ramadurai

Chief Executive officer (CEO)Global Credit Data Consortium (GCD)

Ramadurai Krishnan is the newly appointed CEO of Global Credit Data Consortium (GCD). GCD is run by a consortium of Global Banks to pool default and loss data across wholesale asset classes, the output of which is used by individual member banks to calibrate, benchmark, and validate their internal credit risk models.

Krishnan is a Banking and Risk Management professional with over thirty odd years of experience spanning a number of regions, asset classes and senior leadership expertise. Progressive and forward thinking, with a record of delivering impressive returns in Corporate Portfolios, leading global teams and partnering with industry regulators. He brings his vast experience of collaborating with sector colleagues to produce, research and shape public policy recommendations.

Carol Searle

General Counsel and Group Board DirectorTexel Group

Carol is General Counsel and a Group Board Director at The Texel Group, a specialist credit and political risk insurance broker. She is responsible for overseeing the Group’s legal functions across its offices in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US. With over 30 years’ legal experience in the insurance sector, she is highly regarded and respected in the industry.

Carol joined The Texel Group in 2015 having previously been a Partner at a London based law firm, where she was responsible for the political risk and trade credit insurance group. She specialised in dispute resolution in court and arbitration, handled claims from multiple jurisdictions under a variety of political risk and credit policies and regularly advised on coverage issues and policy wordings.

Since 2016 she has been an active member of ITFA’s Insurance Committee and part of the Regulatory Working Group when it was formed to look at regulatory issues that impact banks and insurance as a wider market, such as the implementation of Basel IV in Europe and its impact on the credit insurance market. She chairs the ITFA Documentation Working Group, which was established in 2023.

Surath Sengupta

Head of Innovation and TransformationLloyds Bank

Surath is a strategic and focused banking leader with over 25 years of experience, having held senior positions across the globe most notably in India, Hong Kong and London. Currently he leads Innovation and Transformation for Working Capital and Trade at Lloyds Banking Group. Prior to this, he was on the global board of HSBC’s Trade and Receivables Finance business. Surath is the Vice-Chair of the International Chambers of Commerce Banking Commission and is regularly represented in numerous publications both print and across social media.

David Smithson

Senior Vice President – FI Relationship ManagerCrown Agents Bank

David is a seasoned FI relationship banker, treasury professional and trade financier who has worked closely with central banks and commercial banks throughout his 30-year career, the majority of which has been spent with Crown Agents Bank.

After 14 months working at British Arab Commercial Bank, David returned to our Emerging Markets Financial Institution Coverage team in July 2021 as Regional Banker for East & Southern Africa. He has a critical understanding and experience of these respective markets and has forged strong relationships with our financial institution partners over many years. David has an integral role for expanding our portfolio of financial institutional clients and his extensive experience of Crown Agents Bank’s treasury, international payments and trade finance solutions makes him well positioned to grow our extensive network further.

N L N Swaroop

Global Product Head for Sustainable Trade Finance, Innovation, Financial Institutions, Capital Management and Asset DistributionHSBC and ITFA Board Member

N L N Swaroop is Global Product Head for Sustainable Trade Finance, Innovation, Financial Institutions, Capital Management and Asset Distribution at HSBC and ITFA Board Member.

Swaroop has c.18 y/ears of rich experience across Banking and Insurance in varied roles ranging from risk underwriting, trade financing, business development, general management and coverage banking across India and the UK.

Swaroop is an active industry voice in the areas of sustainable trade, trade as an investible asset class and is a strong advocate of innovation in trade and commerce. He is the Vice Chair of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), UK Sustainability Committee and a member of the ITFA Board leading Institutional Investors in Trade Finance Ecosystem (ITFIE) Committee.

Swaroop is a Chemical engineer, holds a master’s degree in management from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi and has a Post Graduate Certification from University of Cambridge in Sustainable Value Chains. He is an active researcher and thought leader has several papers to his credit and is a regular speaker at various international forums on sustainability and trade.

Shona Tatchell

Director – Trade Facilitation ProgrammeEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Shona is the new Head of the Trade Facilitation Programme at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Shona is an experienced Trade Financier, having spent over 30 years in the industry, holding senior Trade roles with The Chase Manhattan Bank, HSBC, Barclays.

She was Founder and CEO of Halotrade , a Fintech spin-out from Barclays, building systems to incentivise a sustainable future for global trade, by directly connecting responsive preferential financing solutions with supply chain sustainability performance data.

She has lived and worked in the UK, the Middle East and Singapore and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Joint Honours) and a Master of Arts in Modern Languages (French and German) from the University of Oxford.

Makiko Toyoda

Global Head of Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) & Global Supply Chain Finance Program (GSCF)International Finance Corporation (IFC) (World Bank Group)

Khilola Turaeva

EMEA Head of Trade Risk Distribution, Global Payment ServicesBank of America

Khilola is EMEA Head of Trade Risk Distribution, Global Payment Services at Bank of America based in London.

She started her journey in Asaka Bank in 1997, a local large bank in Uzbekistan, where she held different managerial roles in Trade Finance and Transaction Banking.

In 2006 she moved to London to join The Trade Asset Management team for RBS (formerly ABN AMRO Bank N.V.) to work alongside the Fl relationship teams to originate trade transactions from financial institutions in Russia & CIS countries as well as distribute the entire range of trade products to Fl investors.

The years spent in ABN and RBS gave a huge amount of insight and exposure which led to the incredible opportunity to join Bank of America back in 2011 and set up the EMEA Trade Risk Distribution desk for BofA, which is now an important market player in the global secondary market. In her current capacity at Bank of America she is managing the distribution of Trade Corporate and FI assets.

Laszlo Varnai

Associate DirectorRecovery Advisers

Laszlo Varnai is the associate director of Recovery Advisers, a specialist in export credit insurance and trade finance, since 2022.

Previously, he was working for the international union of credit and investment insurance providers (Berne Union) for 7 years and for the Hungarian ECA (MEHIB) beforehand, for 5 years. He has a diploma in law (Hungary, from PPKE and England and Wales from University of Cambridge).

 

 

 

 

Marie-Aude Vesval

Global Unfunded Risk Participation LeaderMarsh

Marie-Aude is product leader within Marsh’s Lenders Solutions Group which is dedicated to providing Financial Institutions with specialist knowledge on the structuring, syndication, and placement of credit related insurance. Marie-Aude leads the development of risk participation solutions globally for all assets classes including guarantees, with both the structured credit and surety markets, to offer lenders an alternative to traditional non-payment insurance.

Marie-Aude started her career in the London market in 2010 with JLT, placing high volumes of non-payment insurance and facultative reinsurance for major banks, as well as corporates and ECAs. She relocated to Paris and led the Political Risks, Structured Credit and Surety for Marsh France for several years before taking a global role in 2022.

Marie-Aude graduated from Sciences Po Bordeaux and holds a specialised Master in International Risk Management from HEC Paris. She is part of the ITFA working group on Documentation.

Anthony Wadsworth-Hill

Co-founder, DCEO & COOMercore Group

Anthony is one of the co-founders at Mercore and holds the executive roles of Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer.

Mercore Group has 2 main business lines. As a non-bank/alternative lender, Mercore Capital specialises in the provision of trade and supply chain finance to SMEs and customers transacting in (or with) developing/emerging markets.

This financing activity runs alongside Mercore’s second business line, which is the provision of anti-financial crime and due diligence services. Through a combination of these business divisions, Mercore is delivering financing solutions to aspiring businesses that find themselves caught within the global trade finance gap.

Anthony’s main responsibility is to lead the build out of Mercore’s trade and supply chain finance capabilities. Delivering a strategy to leverage digital solutions, wherever possible, to provide a service that is faster and less costly, whilst also being more operationally resilient and sustainable.

Prior to Mercore, Anthony spent 18 years at Bank ABC in London working in various leadership roles, including Regional Director for MENA FI Trade Debt & Distribution, Co-Head of the European Syndicated Loans Desk, European Head of Wholesale Banking Business Management and European Head of Transformation & Specialised Services.

Richard Waite

Executive DirectorHowden Insurance Brokers Ltd

Richard joined Howden in December, 2020 following a successful 20 year banking career across 4 leading international financial institutions

Richard’s previous employer was Bank ABC, where he was European Head of Financial Institutions and additionally helped build out their global debt and distribution team, which included insurance services. Prior to Richard’s 5 year stint at Bank ABC he spent 5 years as a Director within HSBC Bank’s Project and Export Finance Team, responsible for structuring and syndicating large value commercial and ECA term loans, mainly in the Emerging Market FI and Sovereign space. Prior to joining HSBC, Richard spent 3.5 years and 6.5 years at OCBC Bank and WestLB respectively, where he worked within their emerging market loan trading divisions; originating, structuring and distributing debt facilities in the primary and secondary markets.

Richard heads our structured finance teams focused on providing bespoke credit/counterparty risk solutions for, primarily, our bank clients.

Christophe White

Global Head of Specialty CreditAllianz Trade

Christophe White is the Global Head of Specialty Credit at Allianz Trade. The team has over 40 people, and is based in London, Paris, New York and Singapore. They are the team at Allianz Trade covering non-standard transactions, from short to medium and long tenors, supporting a broad range of structures. They principally support transactions for banks, including trade financing, sovereign non-payment, non-trade loans, and longer tenor project and structured finance.

Christophe has been Global head of the team for over 3 years, and prior to that ran the Allianz Trade Specialty Credit London team since 2017. He has previously worked at Ironshore and AIG insuring both single risk transactions and portfolio XoL solutions.

Geoffrey Wynne

PartnerSullivan & Worcester LLP

Geoffrey Wynne is head of Sullivan’s Trade & Export Finance Group and the firm’s London office. He has extensive experience in banking and finance, specifically in corporate and international finance, trade, structured trade and commodity finance, electronic banking and digitizing trade finance, structured finance, asset and project finance, syndicated lending, equipment leasing, workouts and financing restructuring and general commercial matters.

Recognised as one of the leading trade finance lawyers globally, Geoff advises many of the major trade finance banks and financial institutions around the world on trade and commodity transactions in virtually every emerging market including in the CIS, Asia, India, Africa and Latin America. He has worked on many structured trade transactions covering such diverse commodities as oil, nickel, steel, tobacco, cocoa and coffee.

Geoff acts extensively for industry bodies including BAFT, ITFA and the ICC on documentation and rules promulgated by them in trade finance. He has been involved with issues including the ITFA White Paper on Electronic Payment Undertakings, the ICC Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions and ITFA’s Uniform Rules for Transferable Electronic Payment Obligations.

Geoff was recently presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 6th Annual Receivables Finance International 2024 Awards by publisher BCR.

Hesham Zakai

Managing DirectorThe Exile Group

Hesham Zakai is the Managing Director of the Exile Group, a leading media and events company which encompasses the TXF, Proximo and Uxolo brands. The Group specialises in the fields of trade, commodity, export, project and development finance, working with governments, corporate companies, financial institutions and other key facilitators globally. Hesham has previously worked at the Special Reports team of the Financial Times and in the Press department at the European Parliament.

Patrik Zekkar

CEOEnigio

Patrik Zekkar holds an M.Sc. in Business Administration & Economics. He held several senior positions across different organizations within the financial sector, with focus on developing and operating products, development, sales and services towards the trade and supply chain industry. Additionally, he brings substantial experience as a board member in global commercial block chain platform initiative and from various industry interest organizations.