Member News

BAFT Recognizes 2025 Ambassador of the Year Honorees at Global Annual Meeting

Announced at the 2025 Global Annual Meeting in Washington, DC on May 6, BAFT is proud to recognize the following individuals for their outstanding contributions to the association over the past year.

Miriam Ratkovicova, Managing Director, Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics, LLP
Emy Ruiz, SVP, Head of Global Transaction Banking, Fifth Third Bank

BAFT honors members who have generously volunteered their time and expertise to support the association’s mission and continue to drive the vision forward. Selected through a staff-led voting process, the BAFT Ambassador of the Year Award celebrates those who have made a significant impact on the association in 2025. The awards were presented during the BAFT Global Annual Meeting.

BAFT White Paper on The Impact of Stablecoins on Payments

The Impact of Stablecoins on Payments
An In-Depth Analysis of How Stablecoins are Reshaping the Global Payments Ecosystem

“The Impact of Stablecoins on Payments” is a comprehensive examination of the growing role of stablecoins in domestic and cross-border payments and the implications for financial institutions, regulators, and payment service providers.

As stablecoins continue to gain traction as a digital payment instrument, their promise of near-instant settlement, reduced transaction costs, and programmability is reshaping traditional paradigms in the payments industry. The white paper explores these developments across four key dimensions:

1. Market Landscape and Use Cases

2. Risks and Operational Challenges

3. Regulatory Outlook and Compliance Considerations

4. Interoperability with Traditional Payment Systems

As a benefit to BAFT members, this whitepaper is free and available for early access to members to download before others in the industry.

READ MORE HERE >

ABA and BAFT Announce Plans for Separation in 2025

WASHINGTON — The American Bankers Association (ABA) and BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking and an ABA subsidiary, today announced their mutually agreed upon plans to separate in the second half of 2025.

While ABA and BAFT have worked together successfully since 2002, BAFT’s global footprint and overseas opportunities have expanded in recent years, with more than 70% of BAFT member banks currently headquartered outside of the U.S. This necessitated a realignment of strategic priorities so that BAFT can better represent its membership.

“BAFT has been a valuable and strategic partner for many years,” said Rob Nichols, ABA president and CEO. “Though our paths forward will diverge, we will continue to work together on shared policy priorities and wish BAFT success in their next chapter.”

“As BAFT continues to grow globally, organizational independence will allow us to best serve the needs of our diverse membership,” said Tod Burwell, BAFT president and CEO. “We are grateful for the many years of support from the ABA and look forward to continued collaboration in the years to come.”

“BAFT has been the leading global industry association for transaction banking and this separation will further enable us to reflect the truly international footprint and needs of our membership,” said Suresh Subramanian, chair of the board of BAFT. “The support of ABA through the years has been invaluable to BAFT and we look forward to a continued partnership on areas of mutual interest.”

ABA and BAFT will work together to navigate separation details to ensure a smooth transition for BAFT members. BAFT will remain focused on providing thought leadership, best practice guidance, policy advocacy, education and training with a focus on the transaction banking business.

ABA and BAFT will continue to provide updates to their respective memberships as the process moves forward.

About the American Bankers Association

The American Bankers Association is the voice of the nation’s $24.2 trillion banking industry, which is composed of small, regional and large banks that together employ approximately 2.1 million people, safeguard $19.1 trillion in deposits and extend $12.6 trillion in loans.

About BAFT

BAFT, the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, helps bridge solutions across financial institutions, service providers and the regulatory community that promote sound financial practices enabling innovation, efficiency, and commercial growth. BAFT engages on a wide range of topics affecting transaction banking, including trade finance, payments, and compliance. The association website is www.baft.org.

BAFT Media Contact:
Jeff Sigmund
SVP, Public Relations
[email protected]
+1 (202) 663-5439

BAFT Recognizes 2024 Ambassador of the Year Honorees at Global Annual Meeting

Officially announced at the 2024 Global Annual Meeting, BAFT is honored to recognize the following individuals as Ambassadors of the Year for their invaluable contribution to the association and for continuously driving the mission and vision forward.

Kenneth Wong, Director, Global Transaction Banking, TD Bank
Renata Vilanova Lobo, Managing Director & Global Clearing Head of Payments, JP Morgan
Amy Sahm, Senior Vice President and Manager, International, Fulton Bank
Brian Gordon, Senior Vice President and Manager, International Banking, Commerce Bank

Ambassador of the Year Honorees are individuals representing member organizations recognized by BAFT on an annual basis. Following nomination submissions, annual honorees are chosen through a weighted voting process by BAFT staff.

We would like to thank each of the award recipients for their dedication and recognize their organization’s commitment to the advancement of transaction banking.

Honorees received their official awards at the 2024 Global Annual Meeting.

BAFT Recognizes 2023 Ambassador of the Year Honorees at Global Annual Meeting

Announced at the 2023 Global Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA on May 1, BAFT is pleased to recognize the following individuals for their tireless commitment and contribution to the success of association and its work.

To publicly acknowledge individuals from member organizations who have volunteered their time and worked tirelessly with the association throughout the prior association calendar year, BAFT annually awards select members with the BAFT Ambassador of the Year Award.

Ambassadors of the Year are individuals representing member organizations recognized by BAFT on an annual basis. Following nomination submissions, annual honorees are chosen following a weighted voting process by BAFT staff.

Officially announced at the 2023 Global Annual Meeting, BAFT is honored to recognize the following individuals for the invaluable assistance they have provided to the association throughout the past year and for helping to continually drive the mission and vision of the organization forward.

· Baishali (Poppy) Biswal, Vice President, Senior Relationship Manager, Key Bank N.A.

· Okechukwu Ihejirika, Senior Manager, Trade Services, African Export-Import Bank

· Sabry Salman, Managing Director, Global Head of Financial Institutions & FinTech’s (Non-Bank PSPs) Barclays

We would like to thank each of the awardees for their time and recognize their organization’s commitment to the advancement of transaction banking. Each honoree has been recognized respectively for their contributions to the advancement of sustainability and support of the association’s work in the Middle East; leadership in the LIBOR Transition Working Group and Future Leaders Program; and development of BAFT education and training programs.

Honorees received their official awards at the BAFT Ambassador of the Year awardee ceremony in San Francisco, CA on May 1, 2023.

Maram Al-Jazireh, BAFT Board Chair, Interviewed on the New Global Regional Bank Council

BAFT recently formed the Global Regional Bank Council to bring regional banks – those with total assets of USD$250bn or less, regardless of geographic location – together as a community to discuss issues that matter most to this group and amplify their collective voices. Joy Macknight from The Banker sat down with our very own board chair, Maram Al-Jazireh, SVP and Global Head of Financial Institutions at Arab Bank, for a closer look at the new council, and top-of-mind issues of regional banks today.

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