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Simon EllisManaging Associate General Counsel, Head of Legal GTRF UK and Asset Finance UK, Commercial Banking, HSBC UKSimon Ellis leads the HSBC UK Global Trade, Receivables and Asset Finance legal team managing legal support for: (i) transactional and other requests for advice involving standard and bespoke documentation for products which include receivables finance, lending, documentary credits, trade collections, bonds/guarantees, supply chain finance, leasing and hire purchase; (ii) resolving complex problems and crisis management which can include operational/business conduct issues, fraud and/or financial crime, litigation, distress in the portfolio, complaints and reputational risk; (iii) structuring solutions for bilateral and syndicated deals, together with participations/disposals both domestic and international. |
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Ilyas KhanGlobal Head – Supplier Engagement, Supply Chain Finance, Trade and Treasury Solutions, CitiIlyas is the Global Head of Supplier Engagement for SCF at Citi based out of London. Previously he held various leadership roles in Asia and Europe at Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank for 20 years. He is a senior corporate banker with experience across Product, Sales and Structuring within Trade Finance. In his role with Standard Chartered Venture, he successfully conceptualised a SCF fintech, TAS Connect, a state of the art digitised platform in partnership with Lenovo. Prior to that he was Global Head of Receivables Finance where he was instrumental in re-engineering the product as well successfully launching many variants globally. He had travelled extensively across Asia Africa and Middle East to commercialise Open Account Trade (the receivables and payables proposition) in more than 30 countries. He has also participated in various industry bodies and represented SCF across the globe. Ilyas holds a MBA from one of the leading management institutes in Mumbai, KJ Somaiya Institute of Management. |
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Surath SenguptaCEO, Aadvos,Surath is currently CEO of Aadvos Limited, a consultancy firm which specialises in financial supply chains and sustainability. He also holds senior advisory positions in various companies which specialise in financial technology and climate. Previously Surath was a senior banker and was Managing Director and Global Head of Portfolio Management, Distribution, FI and Sustainability for HSBC. He was also a member of the global executive committee of HSBC’s Global Trade and Receivables Finance business. Surath is a recognised industry leader and is Vice Chair of the ICC Banking Commission. |
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Renaud ChalmetManaging Director, Deputy Head of Corporate Receivables Securitisation, BNP ParibasRenauld joined the business management securitisation team at BNP Paribas in 2001 and then the origination and structuring team in 2006. He has led the arrangement and the management of numerous corporate securitisation transactions financing different types of assets such as trade receivables, handset receivables, car inventory, car fleet, equipment leases and insurance premium funding. Renauld graduated from Institut Mines-Telecom Business School and the Dauphine University in Paris with a degree in Finance and Information Systems. |
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Simon ConnorSenior Associate, Clifford Chance Simon is a Senior Associate specialising in securitisations, structured finance transactions, forward flow/factoring arrangements, asset-backed commercial paper conduits and asset-based lending. Simon has considerable experience advising arrangers, originators and investors on complex cross-border securitisations (both public and private in nature) across the spectrum of asset classes, including trade receivables, lease receivables, telecommunication receivables, corporate and consumer loans (including CBILS, RLS and RLS2), and residential mortgages. |
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Sean EdwardsManaging Director, Head of Legal – EMEA, Special Adviser – Global Trade Finance Department, SMBC Bank International, Chairman, ITFASean 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. |
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Francesco FiliaCEO and Executive Director, Fasanara CapitalFrancesco heads all portfolio management and research-related activities at Fasanara. Prior to co-founding Fasanara, Francesco was Managing Director and EMEA Head of the Midcaps and Principal Investors group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a top producing investment practice comprised of 15 professionals. In his role, Francesco directed Bank of America Merrill Lynch operations across Europe, Middle East, and Africa with responsibilities on multi-strategy, multi-assets portfolio solutions. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 2000, Francesco was a research analyst at JP Morgan Securities where he published several research white papers covering areas such as derivatives modelling, fixed income and volatility strategies. Francesco is a graduate of Bocconi University in Milan and a scholar of Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. |
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Conrad FordChief Product and Strategy Officer, Allica BankConrad Ford is Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Allica Bank (www.allica.bank), recently named by The Sunday Times as the UK’s fastest-growing company, and by Deloitte as the UK’s fastest-growing fintech firm ever. Backed by TCV, investors in the likes of Netflix, Revolut and Spotify, Allica is reimagining banking for established SMEs with the latest technology. Previously Conrad was sole founder of Funding Options, a fintech listed in the 2022 FT 1000 list of Europe’s fastest-growing firms, that was latterly sold to leading neo-bank Tide. |
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Sarah GreenCommissioner for Commercial and Common Law, Law CommissionProfessor Green was appointed as Law Commissioner for Commercial and Common Law on 1 January 2020. She was previously Professor of Private Law at the University of Bristol. Prior to that, she was Professor of the Law of Obligations at the University of Oxford. Before embarking on her academic career, she was a software consultant at Accenture. Professor Green has written books and articles on a variety of issues including virtual currencies, blockchain issues surrounding intermediated securities, smart contracts, sale of goods law as applicable to digitised assets, negligence and wage theft. |
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Christian HausherrProduct Manager Supply Chain Finance EMEA, Deutsche Bank, Chair, Global Supply Chain Finance ForumChristian Hausherr is the European Product Head of Supply Chain Finance for Deutsche Bank’s Payables Finance solution, bringing to the role over 20 years of experience in Banking, In-house Consulting and Product Management for Cash Management and Supply Chain Finance. Christian spent his career within Deutsche Bank in various divisions and regions, mostly spanning across Europe and the Transaction Banking business. He holds a diploma in business administration from the University of Bayreuth and has worked in Germany, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, the US, as well as in India and Uganda on Corporate Social Responsibility assignments in the financial and educational sector. Christian contributed to the Standard Definitions for techniques of Supply Chain Finance and authored the open account section of the Wolfsberg Trade Finance Principles. He also acts as the chair of the Global Supply Chain Finance Forum (http://supplychainfinanceforum.org/) and as a technical advisor for the Supply Chain Finance section of the ICC Trade Register. |
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Ian Henderson Chief Investment Officer, Artis Finance Ian’s banking career spans 30 years gained through on the ground experience in the Americas, Africa, CEE and Asia. Ian has been involved in all aspects of structured finance for over 25 years covering origination, structured trade and commodity finance, securitisations, asset management and portfolio management, asset valuation and recovery/ restructuring. He has experience in all commodity groups ranging from oil and gas, metals and mining, to agriculture, and previous roles have given him practical exposure to SCF, physical commodity trading, capital markets and credit risk insurance products.Ian has held positions at Standard Bank of SA Ltd, Standard Bank London, Banque Belgolaise, WestLB AG, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Texel Capital Ltd, MRI Trading AG, Gunvor Group and Gulf International Bank (UK) Ltd. Ian is currently CIO for the Artis Finance Group and also provides independent advisory services in the trade and commodity finance arena as an independent investment committee member, board advisor and observer for a number of funds in the trade finance, private debt and credit asset class.Ian holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Economics from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and the Islamic Finance Qualification. Ian is currently an approved person under the regulations of the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom and Guernsey Financial Services Commission. |
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Dr Katrin HerrlingCEO and Co-Founder, Funding XchangeKatrin co-founded FUNDING XCHANGE (FXE) setting out to disrupt the inefficient SME funding space by creating the first UK marketplace for businesses to easily access bank and non-bank funding solutions in one place. FXE launched in 2015, announced an exclusive partnership with KMPG Small Business Accounting in October 2015, and was designated as an official finance referral platform by the British Government in November 2016. Today, Funding Xchange is working with nine UK banks as well as providing business funding solutions through MoneySuperMarket. Before founding FUNDING XCHANGE, Katrin spent seven years at Bain & Company, working closely with banks and other financial services institutions across Europe. Prior to joining Bain, Katrin led American Express’ strategy and business development team in London. |
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Martin OpfermannCFA, Senior Portfolio Manager, Trade Finance, Allianz Global InvestorsMartin Opfermann is a senior Portfolio Manager within the Alternative Asset Management team at Allianz Global Investors and is leading the firm’s trade finance activities. Martin joined the firm in 2017 from Allianz Investment Management SE, where he was Head of Credit and in charge of Allianz Group’s credit allocation. In 2009, he spearheaded Allianz’s strategic shift into private markets and executed several debt investment strategies. Prior to that, Martin worked in the Fixed Income team of Allianz Lebensversicherungs-AG. Martin graduated from University of Mannheim as a Diplom-Kaufmann in 2002. He is also a CFA charterholder. |
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Chris SouthworthSecretary General, ICC United KingdomChris Southworth is Secretary General at the International Chamber of Commerce UK and a regular voice for business in the international media. He is also Co-Chair of the Legal Reform Advisory Board at the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, Co-founder of the UK Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation and ICC Representative to The Commonwealth. He is a member of the ICC World Council as well as the International Advisory Boards of the Digital Trade Network and Queen Mary-UNIDROIT Institute of Transnational Commercial Law.Chris is a leading international expert on creating modern digital trade ecosystems, the founder of the ICC Digital Trade Roadmap, a member of the global team supporting the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, ICC G7 United Kingdom representative, a member of the ICC G7, G20, Digitisation and Ecommerce Working Groups. He is also a lead independent adviser to the UK government on the digitisation of trade on behalf of industry working with the Department for International Trade, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Her Majesty’s Treasury and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.Prior to joining ICC, he was Executive Director for Global Partnerships, at the British Chambers of Commerce, Head of the International Chambers of Commerce Unit at UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and a Senior Policy Advisor to Lord Heseltine, former Deputy Prime Minister, for his independent review of UK competitiveness. In 2011 he was advisor to the Minister for Trade and Investment for the government review of mid-size businesses and consequent establishment of the mid-size business export programme. Former roles have encompassed deregulatory and social enterprise policy at the Department for Business. |
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Anthony Wadsworth-HillCo-Founder, Deputy CEO and COO, Mercore GroupAnthony is one of the co-founders at Mercore and holds the executive roles of Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer. The Mercore Group has two 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 and/or 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 and Distribution, Co-Head of the European Syndicated Loans Desk, European Head of Wholesale Banking Business Management and European Head of Transformation and Specialised Services. |
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Jon Watts |
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Geoffrey WynnePartner, 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. |
