Event News

On July 10, BAFT announced that all scheduled in-person events through January 2021 will be offered as virtual events in light of global uncertainty surrounding COVID-19.

BAFT has continued to monitor the impact of COVID-19 globally, as well as solicit feedback from various members across different regions. Although some countries have started lifting restrictions, several have not, and some cities that started to ease restrictions have delayed further phased re-openings. Policies on travel vary by country and each institution.

The health and safety of our members, attendees, and other stakeholders have always been our primary concern. Given the levels of uncertainty, and with input from our regional councils, the BAFT Board of Directors has approved the recommendation to pivot all planned BAFT in-person events through January 2021 to virtual events.

The events affected are as follows:

* The North America Annual Meeting (Orlando) and the Annual Conference on International Trade (Chicago) were combined into the International Convention.

We are working with our various planning committees to offer you the same quality of conference programming you have come to expect from BAFT while optimizing digital channels to facilitate networking and breakout sessions. Through digital channel delivery, we hope that individuals that may have previously been restricted by travel costs will be able to participate in these BAFT programs. We will provide additional updates on each event as our virtual offerings develop.

For those who already registered for any of the above affected events, there is no action required from you. We will fully refund your registration and cancel your hotel room reservations at our event locations. However, if you reserved a room outside of our official conference hotels, you will need to cancel your booking. We appreciate your patience as we work through all the refunds and room cancellations during the next couple of weeks.

For sponsors of any of these events, our director of business development, Matthew Kaitz ([email protected]), will be in contact soon. We have a host of sponsorship opportunities available at our upcoming virtual events and are happy to discuss these options further with you.

BAFT is committed to continuing to provide you with excellent training, education, and event offerings regardless of the delivery mechanism. For questions on event updates, please check baft.org/our-events or email [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you soon.

We have chosen to postpone our planned North America Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 3-6, and our Regional Bank Conference, scheduled for June 15-16. Both conferences will be rescheduled for November 2020 and consolidated with the 30th Annual Conference on International Trade.

To help stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), BAFT is following the Center for Disease Control’s guidance and recommendations. We have chosen to postpone our planned North America Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 3-6, and our Regional Bank Conference, scheduled for June 15-16. The health and well-being of our members, conference attendees, speakers, sponsors and employees is a top priority for BAFT and we believe this is the best way to ensure their safety at this time.

Both conferences will be rescheduled for November 2020 and consolidated with the 30th Annual Conference on International Trade. We are working closely with BAFT’s Board of Directors and the various Conference Planning Committees to deliver these programs in unison to maximize the value for attendees, speakers and sponsors. We will be in touch with the specific dates and hotel location once they are available.

We would like to thank the relevant committees and individuals who have dedicated their time and resources thus far to helping plan these events, and we remain committed to delivering these programs when it is safe and practical to do so.

We look forward to welcoming you later this year as your continued support is paramount to our joint success.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. We appreciate your understanding, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Due to growing concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19) and subsequent travel restrictions, BAFT has rescheduled its upcoming 2020 MENA Bank to Bank Forum from March 18-19 to September 1-2.

In light of the growing concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19) and subsequent regional travel restrictions, BAFT has decided to postpone its upcoming Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Bank to Bank Forum scheduled for March 18-19, as well as the Master Participation Agreement (MPA) Pre-Conference Workshop on March 17, both to be held in Dubai, UAE. The health and well-being of our members, conference attendees, speakers, sponsors and employees is a top priority for BAFT and we believe this is the best way to ensure their safety at this time.

We have rescheduled the MENA Bank to Bank Forum for September 1-2, while the MPA Pre-Conference Workshop is now scheduled for the afternoon of August 31, both in Dubai. All registrations will be transferred accordingly. If you are no longer able to attend the meeting due to the date change, please contact [email protected].

Currently, all other BAFT conferences remain on schedule and unchanged. Our staff experts will continue to track developments regarding the coronavirus in close coordination with public health officials. We will update you should there be any additional changes to BAFT’s conference schedule. Attendees with questions should feel free to reach out to the BAFT events team directly at [email protected].

We appreciate your understanding.

In case you missed it during the Global Annual Meeting – The Americas, two of BAFT’s 2019 Future Leader presentations on Current Trade Dynamics and Building Collaboration between GTB and Other Bank Divisions were re-conducted as webinars for the broader membership.

You may replay the webinar here. To review all four of the Future Leader projects you may do so by visiting https://www.baft.org/committees/future-leaders-program/.

The class of 2019 delivered its final projects on four main themes – building collaboration in GTB, current trade dynamics, the future of correspondent banking, and the role of humans in transaction banking during the BAFT Global Annual Meeting in San Diego.

In now its fourth year, the batch of 2019 Future Leaders successfully completed a five-month program which kicked off last January at BAFT’s Annual meeting in London.  This year’s class of 32 individuals from 14 countries and a variety of disciplines within transaction banking, tackled some of our industry’s most relevant issues we face today. Each of the participants engaged in a [virtual] group project with a final report presented to a room-full of 400+ transaction banking senior executives and industry experts during the BAFT Global Annual Meeting – the Americas in San Diego, CA this May.

The mission of the BAFT Future Leaders Program is to engage future leaders in solving common industry challenges. Program objectives include:

1. Recognizing rising talent in the transaction banking industry
2. Forming guidance on industry issues from the perspective of future leaders
3. Building a network of young leaders that will lead the next generation
4. Providing future leaders exposure to current transaction banking industry leaders
5. Creating a pipeline of talent that will contribute to industry issues through BAFT

With the support of the BAFT Board of Directors, program sponsors and mentors, the class of 2019 delivered its final projects on four main themes – building collaboration in GTB, current trade dynamics, the future of correspondent banking, and the role of humans in transaction banking.  The papers listed below may be found here.

• Building Collaboration between GTB and Other Bank Divisions
• The Changing Role of Humans in Transaction Banking
• Current Trade Dynamics Obstacle or Opportunity?
• The Future of Correspondent Banking