Product Director, Working Capital, Receivables Finance, Kyriba

Almila has 20 years of corporate banking and financial technology experience in the United Kingdom and Turkey. She has assumed a variety of roles ranging from origination to risk management; however, her specialisation is product management, having spent the last 13 years managing trade and working capital products for banks and technology providers, such as Kyriba.

Managing Director, Casterman Advisory, Chair of Fintech Committee, ITFA

André is an independent consultant, advising financial institution and fintech clients on data management, trade finance, and capital markets innovations. André spent more than 20 years at SWIFT, leading various innovations in the inter-bank payments, corporate treasury, and trade finance markets. During that time, he established an institutional partnership between SWIFT and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and created the first digital trade settlement instrument. André chairs the Fintech Committee of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA), with a focus on helping banks take advantage of fintech innovations to automate trade finance operations and establish the business as an investable asset class through use of data analytics and artificial intelligence. André holds a Master's degree in Applied Economics from ICHEC Brussels Management School, and two Master’s degrees in Computer Sciences and Management from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

Managing Director, Head of Legal – EMEA, Special Adviser – Global Trade Finance Department, SMBC Bank International, Chairman, ITFA

Sean 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. Sean is a former member of the Executive Committee of the ICC Banking Commission and the ICC Working Group on Digitalisation in Trade Finance. He is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Finance Expert Group and 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.

Co-Head, ICE Digital Trade

Alexander co-founded essDOCS in 2005, with the aim of eliminating major inefficiencies resulting from the use of paper documents in shipping, trade and trade finance. Today, he serves as Co-Head of ICE Digital Trade (formerly essDOCS), where he is responsible for the company’s strategic direction while overseeing all product-related and revenue-generating aspects of the business.

Alexander is a Member of the ICC Banking Commission Advisory Board and has served as Co-Chair of the ICC Banking Commission Digitalisation Working Group. He holds an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and, as a trained lawyer in the UK and US, is admitted to the Supreme Court of England and Wales, the US Federal District Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the New York State Supreme Court.

Head of Global Solution Consulting, Surecomp

A seasoned financial services leader with more than two decades’ experience in wholesale, commercial and retail banking, Suchi has extensive experience consulting with banks across the globe on their technology investments. With a thorough understanding of industry standards, methodologies and the regulatory landscape, she is committed to helping clients solve business challenges with innovative solutions. Currently Global Solution Consulting Director at Surecomp, an award-winning provider of digital trade finance solutions, Suchi leads the practice of functional and technical subject matter experts who provide unique customer-centric solutions to the trade finance ecosystem of banks, corporates and fintechs. Prior to Surecomp, Suchi held senior product-focused roles at FIS, Oracle and Temenos. She has a MBA in Finance and a post-graduate degree in Economics and Statistics.

Partner; Co-Head, Technology Group, Clifford Chance

Paul is a partner in Clifford Chance’s London office and is co-head of the Fintech practice, having founded and led the global Tech Group since 2017. His focus is financial markets technology, algorithmic trading, crypto markets, artificial intelligence, smart contracts and DLT uses in financial markets trading, risk management, treasury and payments. Paul is a member of the global Panel of Recognised Market Experts in Finance Foundation (P.R.I.M.E. Finance) based in the Hague.

Managing Director, Global Head of Digital Assets Strategy, HSBC

John has more than 20 years of experience in financial services. He is Managing Director, Global Head of Digital Assets Strategy at HSBC, responsible for the approach to CBDCs, stablecoins, cryptocurrencies and asset tokenisation. In this role, John is responsible for HSBC Orion, the propriety digital assets platform that financial institutions and corporations are able to use to issue digital bonds on blockchain. Prior to joining HBSC, John held various roles at ICE Futures Europe, previously the London International Financial Futures Exchange – LIFFE, finally becoming head of the FICC business.

SME Finance Center Lead, IFC

Qamar leads the world’s most prominent SME finance centre for knowledge exchange, solution building, innovation, best practice transfer and public-private dialogue. Prior to this role, Qamar headed Financial Institutions Group Advisory Services for Asia and Pacific, driving a large team across Asia and Pacific, aimed at providing integrated investment and advisory client solutions across mainly MSME, gender, climate, digital, housing, trade, and SCF. Qamar has been with IFC since 2012 and served in previously as Global Technical Lead for SME and SCF, as well as Regional SME Banking Lead for EMENA. He has more than 30 years of global financial services experience having worked across more than 80 countries, advised more than 300 financial institutions internationally in scaling SME finance. He has managed large business lines while leading multi-cultural and cross-functional teams. He is a recognised thought leader, featured speaker, and an industry mentor in SME and SCF. Prior to joining the IFC, Qamar was associated with international organisations like HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank as well as large regional banks, whilst serving in several emerging markets where he also led SME banking and commercial banking divisions. Qamar holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and carries several certifications in the areas of strategy, climate finance, digital banking, business transformation, social impact, MSME banking, team leadership, SCF, credit, risk, trade, sales effectiveness, transaction banking and project implementation.

Senior Associate, Clifford Chance

Rebecca is an English law qualified senior associate in Clifford Chance’s banking and finance practice. She is 15 years qualified, spent 6 years in the Istanbul office and is currently based in London. Rebecca specialises in financings in growth markets across Africa, Turkey and the Caspian region. She focuses on projects, trade and export finance. Rebecca works with a number of industry bodies in the development of policy, recommended forms and industry know-how. She also works with clients on their LIBOR remediation and LIBER transition projects.

CFA, Senior Managing Director, Finacity

Daniel Stádník is a Senior Managing Director at Finacity Corporation, responsible for business origination. His main geographical focus is Europe. He has more than 25 years of experience in corporate finance and investment banking, and for over 15 years he focused on securitisation. Prior to joining Finacity in 2010, Daniel spent more than a decade in corporate banking, mostly at ABN AMRO.

Head of Alternative Debt, Corporate Private Credit, Legal & General Investment Management

Matthew is the Head of Alternative Debt, Private Credit, having joined LGIM in 2018. He is responsible for origination and asset management across Alternative Debt for LGIM clients, including short-dated strategies where he is Co-Fund Manager of the Short-Term Alternative Finance Fund. This fund, alongside other clients, invests in credit risks of up to one year, including trade finance. Prior to LGIM, Matthew was responsible for corporate securitisations at HSBC. In this role he led transactions raising over £25 billion in the public and private debt markets, including seven annual Deal of the Year awards. Prior to 2004 Matthew was in Debt Advisory and Leveraged Finance at HSBC after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant at EY. He graduated with a law degree from the University of Durham and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Partner, Sullivan & Worcester

Geoffrey is Head of Sullivan & Worcester’s London office and also Head of its award-winning Trade & Export Finance Group. Geoff is one of the leading trade finance lawyers. He has extensive experience in many aspects of banking and finance, specifically trade, structured trade and commodity finance, and related legal and compliance issues. Geoff has recently been involved in a number of initiatives for trade finance in the digital world including digital payment obligations. He is currently Co-Chair of the ICC Committee which wrote the recently published Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions (URDTT). Geoff sits on the editorial boards of a number of publications and is a regular contributor and speaker at conferences. He is also the editor of and contributor to The Practitioner’s Guide to Trade and Commodity Finance published by Thompson Reuters. Geoff is General Editor and contributor to A Guide to Receivables Finance, a multi-authored publication co-published by Sullivan, Deutsche Bank and the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA). The team which Geoff leads has won numerous awards, including Best Trade or Supply Chain Finance Law Firm at the Global Trade Review (GTR) Leaders in Trade Awards 2022, and Best Trade Finance Law Firm by Trade Finance Global (TFG) in its International Trade Awards 2022. Geoff is ranked both in Chambers UK 2023 in Tier 1 as a Leading Individual for Commodities: Trade Finance and included in the Hall of Fame by The Legal 500 UK, 2023.