Speakers

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 on initial days of her carrier switching to, National Bank of Abu Dhabi prior to joining Mashreq in 2018.

Aarti has done bachelor’s degree from Sambalpur University in India with Executive MBA from IIM Indore.

Anand Jha

Managing Director and Global Head Financial Institutions & Regional Head, Trade & Lending Middle East & AfricaDeutsche Bank

Anand Jha is a Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Institutions & Regional Head Trade & Lending Middle East & Africa at Deutsche Bank since October 2019. Mr. Jha has more than 20 years of banking experience working with renowned organizations such as Citi, HSBC and ICICI. Mr. Jha has a Masters in International Business, IIFT.

 

 

Anthony Wadsworth-Hill

Co-founder, Deputy Chief Executive Officer & Chief Operating OfficerMercore

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.

Asif Dad

Senior Director, DistributionTaulia

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.

 

 

 

Baihas Baghdadi

Chief Executive Officer & FounderTrade & Working Capital (TWC)

More than thirty years of international corporate banking experience, developing global banking businesses across numerous industry sectors and in different corporate banking areas and geographies, spent 30 years supporting Multinational Corporates and Financial Institution clients to develop their business overseas working for Global banks (Arab Bank, Fortis “now part of BNP” & Barclays Bank) with large international networks in different parts of the world. After leaving Barclays Bank where he was the MD and Global Head of Trade & Working Capital unit, he launched in 2019 “Trade & Working Capital” (TWC), an NBFI (None Bank Financial Institution) Spain based fully dedicated to support the southern European Mid corporates working capital. TWC today is a market leader in Spain with more than 2 billion euros of invoices financed, supported by top institutional investors funding of 500 million euros.

By end of 2023 Baihas launched Higher Bridge Capital, a US based NBFI fully dedicated to support global working capital platforms and the US Mid corporates working capital financing needs.

Early 2024 Baihas launched Tamuwil Capital, a Spanish based NBFI that provides trade finance sharia’a compliant products to mid corporates globally. And launched BNB Private Equity, an M&A Boutique targeting the SME segment. Appart Baihas have other interests in Residential and Commercial Real State. Baihas hold a Bachelor in Business Administration, a Master in Finance and attended several executive trainings at Instituto de Empresa (Madrid ) and Harvard Business School (Boston).

Carlos Grassl

Director, Platform SolutionsFIS

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 FIS, 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.

Carol Searle

Director and General CounselThe Texel 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.

Cecilia Sharma

Head of Trade, SingaporeBBVA

Cecilia has more than 20 years of work experience in the banking industry.

She has worked in various banks across her tenure – both large international as well as regional banks.

Her career in banking spans both relationship management and transaction banking.  She has managed large teams of people across multiple countries and driven business development and profit centre initiatives. Her experience spans a deep knowledge in relationship management, cash management and trade finance, as well as in sales, product commercialization and implementation, across multinational and multi-jurisdictional corporate transactions as well as corporate lending across multinationals, the international commodity traders and  middle-market lending.

During her career, she has delivered training on a range of topics including selling skills, graduate programs, as well as product-specific training.

Clarissa Dann

Editorial DirectorDeutsche Bank AG

Clarissa Dann is Editorial Director of Marketing at Deutsche Bank Corporate Bank where she leads the bank’s content strategy across its Trade Finance, Cash Management, Securities Services, Trust and Agency Services businesses (via the db.com/flow portal, the bank’s publications/white paper collection and flow app).

She presented Trade Finance TV, a broadcast channel launched in 2019 supported by Deutsche Bank’s flow for six years, and has moderated financial services panels for Swift and the International Trade & Forfaiting Association.

Before joining Deutsche Bank in 2017 Clarissa was Editor-in-Chief at the former Trade & Forfaiting Review, a role she took up after a management career in legal and regulatory publishing at Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis.

Clarissa holds an MBA from Baynes Business School in London, UK, plays double bass in various UK orchestras and is a keen open water swimmer.

Claudia Lopes

Head of Syndications and DistributionCrown Agents Bank

Claudia is a seasoned professional with more than 25 years of experience focused on trade finance & working capital as well as loans, from origination and structuring to syndications, distribution and insurance. Claudia has recently joined Crown Agents Bank in London as Head of Trade Syndications and Distribution. Prior to that, Claudia held various roles at ABN AMRO, RBS, Standard Chartered, DEG (German DFI), and more, recently, Barclays, working out of the UK, Germany and Brazil.

Deepesh Patel

Editor-In-ChiefTrade Treasury Payments (TTP)

Deepesh Patel is the Managing Director of Trade Treasury Payments (TTP). Deepesh regularly chairs and speaks at international industry events held by the IFC, EBRD, IMN, WTO, Financial Times and Economist Impact, as well as industry associations including ICC, FCI, ITFA, ICISA and BAFT. 

 

 

 

 

 

Deesha Doshi

Head of Lenders Solutions Team, APACWTW

Deesha has over 23 years of banking and broking experience covering Debt Markets, Corporate and Institutional banking, Trade Finance and most recently in Credit and Political Risk Insurance.

She currently Heads the Lenders Solutions Team for WTW across APAC, based in Singapore.

Deesha started her career in 2002 in ABN AMRO’s retail banking division, then with JP Morgan’s Derivatives desk in London and Mumbai. She then moved on to Westpac where she spent 15 years across various teams and geographies. She was instrumental in setting up the bank’s Mumbai branch, India Trade Finance business before moving onto a decade long stint in the Loans Syndications team in Singapore. She is a senior specialist in originating and structuring debt solutions for clients across all sectors in Asia and Europe and distribution of loans in the Asia-Pacific region. With her elaborate banking network, she now advices Financial Institutions on adoption of credit risk distribution solutions through insurance.

She is enthusiastic about supporting customers and has passionately grown the businesses she led throughout her career.

She has previously Chaired the APLMA Women in Loan Markets (WILMA) and the APLMA Young Leaders for the Singapore Branch.

Deesha has a double masters’ degree in Management Studies and in Commerce, both from Mumbai University.

Douglas Wood

Managing Director, Regional Head of Transaction Banking Product, APACMUFG Bank, Ltd.

Douglas is the Head of Transaction Banking Product for MUFG in APAC. In this role he is responsible for the product development and product management of all Cash Management and Trade & Supply Chain Finance solutions in APAC. He is a seasoned Transaction Banker with 20+ years of working experience in Cash & Trade, covering both Sales & Product.

He initially joined MUFG in Sydney in Jan 2017, as the Head of Sales for Trade & Supply Chain Finance business for Australia and New Zealand, before moving to Singapore to head up the Cash Product team for APAC, looking after Payments, Collections, Channels and Liquidity products.

Prior to MUFG, Doug held a number of roles at ANZ in Australia, including as the Head of Sales and Account Management for Cash Management, before turning his to focus to Trade and Supply Chain Finance, where he drove the Trade & Supply Chain business across the Food, Beverage, and Agri sectors.

Doug holds an MBA from Macquarie University (Sydney) and a double honours degree from the University of Portsmouth (UK) and the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Bordeaux (France).

Duarte Pedreira

Global Head of Trade & Working Capital Finance, Crown Agents Bank and Board Member – Head of Institutional Relations, ITFA and Chair of TF COPITFA

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.

Edward Lee

Chief Economist and Head of FX, ASEAN & South AsiaStandard Chartered

Edward leads the ASEAN and South Asia economic research team, with economists based in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. He provides macroeconomic and FX analysis and on-the-ground views on major economic issues in the region. He is often featured in media and has regular interactions with policy makers in the region. Edward was a founding member of the Standard Chartered Rates Strategy team and was previously Head of Asian Rates Strategy. Edward holds an Honours degree in chemical engineering from the National University of Singapore and a Master’s in applied economics (Dean’s List) from the Singapore Management University.

Geoffrey Wynne

PartnerSullivan & Worcester LLP

Geoffrey Wynne is a partner and head of Sullivan & Worcester’s London office and its Trade and Export Finance Group.

A leading trade finance lawyer, he specialises in trade, structured trade and commodity finance, advising major banks, non-bank financial institutions and multilaterals on transactions in emerging markets. His expertise includes warehouse financing, collateral management, ownership structures and receivables financing.

Geoff works with industry bodies including BAFT, ITFA, and the ICC, advising them on documentation and rules promulgated by them in trade finance. He recently worked with an ITFA working group to develop the short term SWIFT FI Trade Loan Template and led the Sullivan team documenting the revised BAFT MTLA (Master Trade Loan Agreement). He also co-chaired the ICC Drafting Committee for the Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions (URDTT) and was involved in the Electronic Trade Documents Act (2023).

Recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award by RFIx in 2024, he is top ranked by Chambers UK, the UK Legal 500 and IFLR1000. The team he leads has won multiple awards, including recently ‘Legal Innovation in Trade’ (TFG, 2023) and Best Export Finance Law Firm (GTR, 2023).

He is the editor of ‘The Practitioner’s Guide to Trade and Commodity Finance’ and General Editor of ‘A Guide to Receivables Finance’.

George Fong

Head of Trade and Supply Chain Finance APACBank of America

George Fong is currently the Head of Trade & Supply Chain Finance, Asia Pacific for Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America. He is responsible for end-to-end management of all trade and supply chain finance products in Asia Pacific.

He is also responsible for the Supply Chain Finance Program Management and trade distribution functions in the region. George joined Bank of America in 2024 and prior to joining the bank, he has over 30 years of banking experience in various global and regional trade finance roles.

He has worked in several financial institutions including JPMorgan, Citibank, GE Capital and Deutsche Bank spanning Hong Kong, Singapore and Germany.

George Wilson

Chief Executive OfficerAsset & Resource Management Holding Company (ARM HoldCo)

George is the CEO of the ARM Africa Trade Finance fund, a new alternative investment vehicle focused on the continent. His career began as a Common Law Barrister in London, followed by senior legal and compliance roles in investment banking with CSFB and BarCap. 

Transitioning to emerging markets banking, George managed regulatory aspects of Barclays’ Absa acquisition in South Africa before moving to Asia for credit trading, structuring, and special situations with UBS, Lehman Brothers, and Nomura, where he co-managed the largest Asian Collateralized Loan Obligation at the time. 

Returning to Africa, he led Institutional Trade Finance divisions at Barclays Africa (then Absa) and subsequently at Investec South Africa, where he initiated their Trade Finance offering. George specializes in developing innovative, short-term trade financing solutions for African Financial Institutions, specifically targeting the SME funding gap, hard currency liquidity constraints, and regulatory capital challenges through DFI partnerships and advanced credit risk mitigation techniques. 

Gwen Mwaba

Managing Director Trade Finance & Correspondent BankingAfreximbank

Gwen Mwaba joined Afreximbank in May 2015 and currently serves as Managing Director, Trade Finance & Correspondent Banking. She leads the Bank’s Trade Finance operations across all member states in Africa.

With 26 years of banking experience, Gwen specializes in Receivables Financing, Pre-export and Pre-payment financing, Structured Trade and Commodity Finance, and lending to Financial Institutions and Sovereigns. Her sector expertise spans Oil & Gas, Telecoms, Hospitality, Mining, Health, Manufacturing, and Agri-business.

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

Gwen is also a member of the ITFA Multilaterals Advisory Panel. Prior to Afreximbank, she worked at Standard Bank Plc in London.

She holds a BSc in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), UK.

Hoang Anh Le Nguyen

APAC Geographic Lead, Trade Finance & Working Capital SolutionsSwissRe Corporate Solutions

Hoang Anh is the APAC Geographic Lead overseeing the Trade Finance and Working Capital Solutions Asia Pacific book of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. She joined Swiss Re in 2023 in a newly created role based in Singapore with a mandate to realise the company’s APAC growth ambitions leveraging on regional expertise and connections.

Hoang Anh is an MBA graduate and impact-driven underwriter with recognised branding, insights and experience across the banking, finance, and insurance industries, spanning diverse functions including origination, underwriting, credit risk management, market development, strategy consulting, project and vendor management, and audit.

Prior to Swiss Re, she held positions at Allianz, NORD/LB and KPMG.

James Lord

DirectorBPL GlobalSingapore

James has over 13 years of credit insurance experience having joined BPL in 2012, working in London he initially focussed on accounts for European commodity traders before transitioning to work with European banking clients and their financing interests predominantly in western and sub-Saharan African oil and gas. In April 2017 he relocated to the BPL Singapore office where he now works with several bank and non-bank financial institutions across a range of financing structures and sectors in Asia and the Middle East.

Jing Zhang

Executive Director, APAC Head of FIG Trade Sales PaymentsJ.P. Morgan

Ms. Jing Zhang is the Executive Director, APAC Head of FIG Trade Sales at JPMorgan, where she supports Financial Institution clients across the Asia Pacific region. She began her career at JPMorgan in 2008, entering through the headquarters’ MBA summer internship program, which was followed by the Management Associate Program. During her tenure, she completed rotations in relationship management, sales, and product functions before relocating to JPMorgan Singapore in 2011. Prior to her current role, Jing worked in Trade Corporate Sales, focusing on large multinational corporations and major corporates in the Asia Pacific.

Before joining JPMorgan, Jing was a Program Associate at the Points of Light Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Jing serves as the President of the PENN & Wharton Club of Singapore. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MPA from Indiana University.

Jonathan Lonsdale

Global Head of Trade & Working Capital Solutions, Private Debt MobilizationBanco Santander

Jonathan is Global Head of Trade & Working Capital Solutions Private Debt Mobilisation at Banco Santander.  In this role he leads a global team responsible for the underwriting, syndication and distribution of trade related assets globally.  This includes the whole trade spectrum including documentary trade, receivables, payables, inventory finance, prepayment financing and all structured trade assets.

Prior to Santander, Jonathan worked at Deutsche Bank as Head of Securitisation & Repackaging for trade finance assets, where among other activities was responsible for the structuring and placement of the bank’s Significant Risk Transfer transactions related to the trade finance book.  Prior to his experience at DB, Jonathan worked in a number of structured credit roles at UniCredit and Dresdner Kleinwort. He holds an MMath degree from Oxford University.

Katharine Morton

Head of Trade, Treasury & Risk and Head of Export, Project & Development FinanceExile Group (TXF, Proximo, Uxolo)

Katharine is a financial content producer, presenter, writer and analyst with deep knowledge of international finance and risk. In January 2025, she became Head of Export, Project and Development Finance at Exile Group (TXF, Proximo and Uxolo), alongside her ongoing role as Head of Trade, Treasury and Risk, held since 2018. She interviews, moderates and writes on international trade, export and project finance, along with global economics, credit and political risk, FinTech, supply chain finance, working capital, FX, cyber, sustainability and regulation.

Previously, Katharine was Editor in Chief of Trade & Forfaiting Review (TFR). Before that, she served as Editorial Director at EuroFinance, part of the Economist Group, and has edited for Finance Asia, Euromoney, Dow Jones and Bloomberg. She has led, researched and moderated financial conferences globally. Katharine holds an economics degree from King’s College, Cambridge. She is also an exhibited artist and Friend of the River Shep.

Laetitia Moiron

Managing Director, Head of Trade Finance Distribution EMEABNP Paribas

Laetitia  is Managing Director and Head of Trade Finance Distribution for Global Trade Solutions  at BNP Paribas CIB, covering EMEA. Her mandate is to develop the Originate To Distribute model for trade finance (traditional trade and supply management) and structure innovative solutions for Corporate clients. As a testimony to its achievements, the BNP Paribas EMEA Trade Distribution team received the ITFA award as Best Bank for Sureties in 2024.

Over her 20 year+ tenure at BNP Paribas, Laetitia has held several positions as manager, in various departments, such as digital transformation, commodity finance, syndication and credit.  As such, she has formed an extensive expertise in structuring, trade finance and syndication, focusing on corporates.

Lee Garvey

Head of Financial Solutions, Asia PacificWTW

Lee Garvey is presently the Head of Financial Solutions for the Asia Pacific region, based in Singapore. He has resided in Singapore for the past 11 years, during which time he has made substantial contributions to the structured credit markets. With over two decades of experience in this sector, Lee has worked with some of the largest corporations, banks, and traders, giving him extensive knowledge and expertise of Banks using Credit insurance as a credit risk mitigation tool.

Marc Schlatter

Global Managing Director for Trade and Regional Head of Trade & Supply Chain Finance APACLBBW

Marc Schlatter is Global Managing Director for Trade and Regional Head of Trade & Supply Chain Finance Asia-Pacific at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), based in Singapore. He joined LBBW in 2017 to establish its Export Finance business in APAC and since progressed into leadership roles within the bank.

In 2025, Marc assumed global responsibilities for Trade Finance, focusing on expanding Supply Chain Finance capabilities across Asia-Pacific, establishing the Bank’s regional Trade Asset Distribution function, and contributing to LBBW’s global Trade Finance strategy. Prior to LBBW, he held senior positions at Credit Suisse in Zurich and Singapore, where he led structured Trade and Export Finance initiatives.

With over 20 years of experience in international banking, Marc brings deep expertise in Trade Finance, team leadership, and business development across diverse markets.

 

Mark Douglas

Managing Director, FundingPrimeRevenue

A former professional rugby player, Mark Douglas brings a unique combination of leadership, commercial acumen, and relationship management to his role as Managing Director, Funding at PrimeRevenue. In this position, Mark leads the company’s funding strategy and execution across EMEA and beyond, working closely with global financial institutions to support PrimeRevenue’s scalable, multi-funder platform.

Mark previously served as Managing Director, Strategic Accounts, where he was responsible for driving customer growth and deepening relationships across key markets in Europe. His strong track record in both funding and client engagement makes him a key contributor to PrimeRevenue’s global expansion and innovation efforts.

Before joining PrimeRevenue, Mark was Head of Corporate Treasury Sales at Investec Bank PLC, where he built a leading treasury offering for the UK mid-market over an 8-year period. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Anglo Irish Bank and Ruesch International (now part of Travelex), developing his expertise in treasury and FX.

Mark holds a degree in International Relations from The Nottingham Trent University.

N L N Swaroop

Global Product Head – Asset Distribution, Fls, Capital Management & Sustainability, Global Trade Solutions, HSBC & ITFA Board MemberITFA

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.

Natasha Condon

Global Head of Trade SalesJ.P. Morgan

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).

Nathalie Louat

Global Director, Trade and Supply Chain FinanceInternational Finance Corporation (IFC)

Nathalie Louat is IFC’s Global Director of Trade & Supply Chain Finance, overseeing programs that address the trade finance gap in emerging markets, with a focus on SMEs, women-owned businesses, and climate-smart transactions.

She has held senior leadership roles at IFC, including Global Senior Manager for Innovation, Capital Markets, Insurance, and Distressed Assets, and previously led Portfolio Operations in East Asia and the Pacific. Before IFC, she worked at Credit Lyonnais Investment Banking and the French Ministry of Finance.

A champion of gender equality, Nathalie launched the Women in Trade Network in 2024 to connect female trade finance leaders and improve access for women in emerging markets. She also served on IFC’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee and received the World Bank Group’s Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award. Nathalie holds a degree from the French School of Statistics and Economics and is a certified actuary from the Paris Institute of Actuarial Studies.

Neil Shonhard

Chief Executive OfficerMonetaGo

Neil Shonhard is CEO of MonetaGo, a global fintech delivering fraud prevention solutions for trade finance and beyond. With over two decades of capital markets experience in London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, Neil now leads MonetaGo’s global strategy from Singapore, driving its continued growth and international expansion.

 

 

Nicolas Langlois

Managing Director, Global Head of Trade Distribution, Syndicate & Financing RiskStandard Chartered

Nicolas Langlois is a Managing Director, Global Head of Trade Distribution, based in Singapore.  Since July 2015, he looks after all Trade Distribution channels globally for Standard Chartered Bank including Trade Asset Sales and Syndications, Programs, Trade Credit Insurance and Trade Securitisations.

Nicolas started his career in audit with Arthur Andersen in Paris and worked for American Express where he held several roles in finance and business planning in Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore, prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank as CFO for Transaction Banking.

Nishit Kumar

Head Loan Syndications & DistributionMashreq

Nishit has around 23 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.

Ofer Ein Bar

Vice President Financial InstitutionsWaveBL

Ofer Ein Bar, is the Vice President Financial Institutions at WaveBL.

Ofer is an experienced banker; as a senior executive at the Corporate Banking division of HSBC, followed by senior roles at the payment and cash management buildout. Post HSBC Ofer held an executive position in the digital development and transformation for the corporate banking in one of the largest banks in Israel.

WaveBL is a blockchain-based digital platform that is used to digitize global trade, especially dealing with Bills of Lading, as well as any other document in use as part of the global trade.

In his role with WaveBL, Ofer owns the relationship with Financial Institutions, where his focus is to look at trade finance for the future and expand the participation of banks in the digitalization journey.

Pamela Mar

Managing DirectorDigital Standards Initiative, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)Singapore

Pamela Mar is the Managing Director of the Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), based in Singapore.

The DSI is a public private partnership backed by the ICC, the Singapore government, Asian Development Bank, World Trade Organization and World Customs Organization, that aims to digitalise global trade by harmonising and digitalising supply chain standards, and by building digital readiness across the global trade ecosystem.

She was previously the Executive Vice President – Knowledge and Applications at the Fung Group, a Hong Kong based multinational supply chain manager.  She brings over 20 years of experience working across global supply chains and industry on sustainability, technology, and global policy issues — having held roles based in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Geneva.

Ms Mar was named in the Eco-Business Sustainability A-List in 2019 and has published and spoken widely on corporate sustainability and supply-chain issues.

Pankaj Mundra

Co-founder & Chairman360tf

CA Pankaj Mundra is the Co-Founder & Chairman of 360tf, a fintech platform revolutionising global trade finance with a financing arm, 360tf Capital, regulated under IFSCA in GIFT City, Gujarat. With 21+ years in investment and consumer banking, he has led cross-border financing initiatives through Nimai, which he founded in 2009. Previously, he held leadership roles at ICICI Housing Finance, Standard Chartered, ABN Amro, and Mashreq Bank.

A thought leader, Pankaj has spoken at 50+ global conferences on trade finance, branding, and cross-border trade. He has served on key industry committees, including ICC UAE and BAFT, and was Chairman of ICAI Dubai Chapter (2016-17).

Under his leadership, 360tf has won multiple awards, including Best Startup in Finance/Fintech (2024, Economic Times). Featured in CA (Class Apart) Makers of World Economy, he believes in the power of positive thoughts and swift action.

Patrik Zekkar

Chief Executive OfficerEnigio

Patrik Zekkar is CEO of Enigio — the company behind trace:original, the only open network for digital trade, allowing original electronic trade documents to be sent to anyone, anywhere. Patrik holds an M.Sc. in Business Administration & Economics and brings more than 20 years of experience in global transaction banking, trade, and fintech. He has held senior leadership roles at Nordea, SEB, and DanskeBank, including Global Head of Trade Finance & Working Capital Management, Head of Supply Chain Finance, and Vice President of Nordea’s Singapore branch. In addition to his executive roles, he has served on the board of the blockchain trade platform we.trade and contributed to several industry initiatives advancing digital trade infrastructure.

Paul Coles

Director, Treasury, Orbian Management Ltd and Board Member – Head of Market PracticeITFA

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.

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.

Ramadurai Krishnan

Global Risk & Strategy Advisor / Non-Executive DirectorGlobal Credit Data Consortium (GCD)

Accomplished Global Risk & Strategy Advisor with a proven track record in board-level governance, strategic transformation, and regulatory advocacy, now seeking Non-Executive Director roles. A recognised thought leader who has shaped industry standards and influenced global regulatory frameworks, particularly in capital management and trade finance. Guides boards and senior leadership teams through complex challenges, ensuring governance excellence, strengthening capital resilience, and delivering sustainable growth. Steers organisational change through strategic foresight, advising on major transformation initiatives that position companies for future success while aligning strategy with long-term organisational objectives.

Rebecca Harding

Chief Executive OfficerCentre for Economic Security

Dr. Rebecca Harding is CEO of the Centre for Economic Security and an independent trade economist, public speaker, and author. She specialises in digital and sustainable trade, supply chain finance, and the intersection of geoeconomics and geopolitics. She is a member of the Alphen Group and serves as Chief Economic Adviser to the Defence Security and Resilience Bank, among other senior advisory roles.

Her strategic advisory firm, Rebeccanomics, focuses on international trade and sustainable trade finance. She has built three data-driven technology businesses and was named “Net Zero Entrepreneur of the Year” at the 2022 Scale Up Group’s Enterprise Awards.

Dr. Harding has held senior roles including Chief Economist at UK Finance and the Work Foundation, a Senior Fellow at London Business School, and Head of Corporate Research at Deloitte. She has advised the Treasury Select Committee, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Entrepreneurship, and served as a Trustee of the German British Forum.

Robbert Bozelie

Director Credit SpecialtiesAtradius

Robbert Bozelie has been the Director of Credit Specialties at Atradius since 2024. He joined the company in 1998, initially serving as Group Controller for Human Resources and Facilities, before becoming Controller of Global and New Markets in 2000.

In 2008, Robbert moved to Baltimore as Deputy Regional Director for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region, now the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and was promoted to Regional Director in 2010.

Since 2013, he served as Regional Director for the Netherlands and Nordics, based in Amsterdam, where he has played a key role in driving Atradius’ regional growth and market presence.

Robert Besseling

Chief Executive OfficerPangea-Risk

Robert is the chief executive officer and founder of Pangea-Risk. At Pangea-Risk, Robert oversees all areas of the business and leads a team of partners, researchers, and contributing analysts to produce actionable forecasts on country risk in emerging markets across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Robert also retains the lead on strategic advisory projects for blue chip corporations in a range of sectors.

Robert founded Pangea-Risk in 2015 after pursuing a career in political risk forecasting at industry-leading firms in the UK and US. He is regularly invited to speak at major international conferences on topics such as metals and mining, trade and export finance, and global security matters.

Robert frequently appears on televised media and contributes to international print media.

He is fluent in English, Dutch, and French.

Sabine Koszteczky

Head of Trade Finance and Executive DirectorRaiffeisen Bank International (RBI)

Sabine Koszteczky brings over two decades of experience in the banking industry, having started her career in the late 1990s. Since 2001, she has been a key figure at Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) Group, where she spent 15 years in management positions, leading initiatives to enhance customer satisfaction and drive product innovation.

In her current role as Head of Trade Finance at RBI, she has developed extensive expertise in the secondary market business, recognizing its growing importance and potential for banks in the trade finance sector.

Sabine is known for her strategic mindset, collaborative leadership, and commitment to delivering value-driven solutions. She holds a degree from the University of Economics in Vienna and earned an MBA in Banking & Finance from the same institution in 2010. Her career reflects a strong focus on innovation, teamwork, and creating products that respond to the evolving needs of clients in a dynamic market.

Savady Yem

Chief Executive OfficerOlea Global Market

Savady Yem is Chief Executive Officer of Olea Global Markets, Olea’s Capital Market Licensed entity in Singapore. 

Prior to Olea, Savady had spent over 30 years in global markets with JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered across Europe and Asia, with a specialization in FICC structuring and structured credit distribution to institutional investors. 

At Olea, Savady leads the development and execution of digital trade and supply chain finance solutions, building partnerships with banks, financial sponsors, asset managers, and platforms to drive global growth and impact. 

Savady received his MBA degree from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from ESLSCA Paris. 

Sean Edwards

ChairmanITFA

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

Shannon Manders

Editorial DirectorGTR

Shannon Manders is the Editorial Director of GTR (Global Trade Review), a London-headquartered publication covering global trade and trade finance, which she joined in 2009 as a staff reporter. In her role, she leads the team of reporters and drives content development and editorial direction, ensuring that GTR maintains its position as the leading authority in trade finance news, insight and analysis.

In 2016, Shannon spearheaded the launch of the GTR Women in Trade Finance initiative, which began as a series of small gatherings and has since evolved into a major global platform for dialogue and action. In 2025, it culminated in the publication of the trade finance sector’s first-ever gender diversity survey and report, helping to set new benchmarks for awareness and progress across the market.

Shannon is also an experienced freelance editorial consultant, helping organisations across the trade and trade finance sector develop impactful content and thought leadership strategies. Her writing skills, deep sector knowledge and market intelligence have made her a trusted partner for a range of financial institutions, fintech companies and industry bodies.

Her insights and analysis are regularly sought by market leaders, and she continues to play an active role in shaping conversations across the global trade community.

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.

Shuohan Dai

Senior Underwriter, CPRIThe Hartford

Shuohan DAI is the senior credit and political risk (CPRI) underwriter at the Hartford for their presence in Singapore. She covers the APAC market, focused on serving the needs of a clientele of primarily international banks, multilaterals and some large corporates in the region. In this role, she offers cover as an unfunded risk solution to the clientele for the entire spectrum of transactions ranging from shorter-term structures such as trade and working capital finance, to longer-term deals including sponsor-, asset-, and project financing.

Shuohan has been underwriting CPRI in the APAC region for the last 11 years with a similar client- and product-focus. She previously occupied similar roles at insurance companies including Allianz Trade Specialty and Axis Capital Risk Solutions. She has also spent time at the Societe General in Paris, and most recently at Siemens Bank in Singapore where she looked at Project Finance.

Sinan Ozcan

Senior Executive Officer & Board DirectorDP World Trade Finance

Steven Beck

Director, Trade and Supply Chain FinanceAsian Development Bank (ADB)

Steven Beck is head of the Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program (TSCFP) at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which delivers guarantees and loans in support of over 10,000 transactions a year worth about US $5 billion annually. Steven has 25 years’ experience in international trade and has led the program’s growth and launched multiple initiatives to make trade and supply chains green, inclusive, resilient, transparent, and socially responsible.

Steven established the first global default and loss data in trade financing, originally called the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)—ADB Trade Finance Register, during the Global Financial Crisis of 2007- 2008. This has influenced the regulatory treatment of trade finance, freeing billions of dollars in additional financing capacity as a result.

Steven launched ADB’s Trade Finance Gaps, Growth and Jobs study: the first and only study to estimate market gaps and unmet demand for trade finance, which currently stands at US $2.5 trillion. It is the world’s barometer on global trade finance gaps and highlighted the imperative to address this market failure to create transformative economic benefits. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Steven led the TSCFP as an effective crisis response vehicle, facilitating over 1,400 transactions worth US $1 billion in the food and agriculture sector and supporting the distribution of vital medicines and vaccines across Asia.

Steven has been an advocate for the digitalization of global trade, creating the Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) in partnership with the Government of Singapore and the International Chamber of Commerce. Beyond the DSI, Steven is driving initiatives seeking to track and report carbon and labour standards in supply chains; address trade-based money laundering; narrow financing gaps for smaller companies; and enhance greater participation of women in trade.

He serves on the Governing Board of the DSI, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Working Group for Trade Finance. Steven is also a member of the Advisory Council of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and its International Sustainable Standards Board (ISSB) Foundation.

Early in his career, Steven was a special assistant to the Canadian minister for international trade and as a senior manager at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). He left CIBC to help start up a new multilateral development bank – the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) – which focused on economic development in Türkiye, Russia, and countries of the former Soviet Union. Following BSTDB, he took up roles as a senior consultant, including work with the United States Agency for International Development in southern Africa.

He holds an M.A. from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, USA and a B.A. from Queen’s University, Canada.

Surath Sengupta

Managing Director, Head of Trade & Working CapitalLloyds 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.

Tedd George

Chief of StaffITFA

Tedd George (Dr Edward George) is the ITFA Chief of Staff and the Secretariat of ITFA’s Africa Regional Committee (ARC). In his day job as Chief Narrative Officer of Kleos Advisory Ltd, Tedd is a thought leader and strategic advisor on African markets, commodity trade finance and disruptive technology. He advises on trade, agribusiness and Fintech projects in Africa, trains financial professionals on sustainable finance and renewable energy, and is a regular speaker at conferences, producer of webinars and podcasts, and commentator in the media (see www.kleosadvisory.uk for details).

Tedd has a number of specialities, including African markets, agribusiness, trade and trade finance, commodity value chains, disruptive technology (fintech & AI), and ESG.

Thierry Hebraud

Chief Executive OfficerMauritius Commerial Bank (MCB)

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.

Thomas Dunn

ChairmanOrbian Management Ltd

Thomas Dunn is a seasoned financial executive with over two decades of global experience. He spent 16 years at JPMorgan, holding senior roles in London, Melbourne, Sydney, and Tokyo, ultimately becoming Managing Director and Head of Credit.

In 2004, Tom founded Raglan Capital, an investment firm specializing in opportunities within the Payments and Credit industries. His expertise has been instrumental in guiding the firm’s growth and success.

Since 2007, Tom has also served as Chairman at Orbian, a leading provider of supply chain finance solutions. His leadership has helped drive Orbian’s position in the market, supporting businesses with innovative financial solutions.

Tsvetana Georgieva

Business and Application ExpertCodix

Tsvetana Georgieva is a factoring professional with over 17 years of experience in the commercial finance industry, serving consecutively as Risk Director for Unicredit Factoring in Bulgaria, CEO for Raiffeisen Factoring, and most recently CEO for UBB Factoring, part of KBC Group. Prior to joining the factoring industry in 2005, she has assumed the positions of Senior Risk Officer and Head of Corporate Clients Department at Societe Generale Expressbank in Sofia, alternating between commercial and risk domains throughout her career.

Currently Mrs. Georgieva works as a Business Expert for CODIX S.A., the software company which has developed iMX – a unique event-driven solution, supporting growth and efficiency and streamlining processes across several industries: Factoring, Supply Chain Finance (SCF), Trade and Corporate Finance, Leasing, Debt Collection, Credit Insurance, etc.

Vipin Vashishtha

Chairperson – South East Asia Regional CommitteeITFA

Vipin Vashishtha is an industry leader in Trade Distribution, and is currently also the Chairman of Southeast Asia Regional Committee of International Trade & Forfaiting Association (ITFA). Vipin is very actively involved in transforming the way trade finance assets are distributed to / syndicated with banks and alternative investors, including recent initiatives of tokenization of trade assets. He has extensive experience in banking world, especially in Trade Finance space through leadership roles across Trade Distribution, Products, Strategy and Technology & Operations.  

Vipin also carries a strong understanding of clients and businesses from his stints in Corporate and Strategy consulting world, covering a wide set of industries such as Financial Services, Technology, Automotive, Oil & Gas, Logistics, FMCG. He holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.