We are delighted to introduce the inaugural edition of the BAFT International Trade and Payments Conference. With the increasing interplay between trade and payments, we are uniting thought leaders, trade professionals, and payments experts for an exceptional gathering from February 27 – 29, 2024 in Washington, DC.
*** Scroll down to view the complete list of plenary sessions during the conference. To view the specific Trade Track or Payments Track sessions, please click the corresponding tab instead. ***
All Times in Eastern Standard Time (EST)
09:30 - 10:30 AM
10:30 AM
Tod Burwell
President & CEO
BAFT
11:00 AM
Explore the ever-shifting geopolitical landscape. This session will cover the evolving dynamics of US-China relations, the complex interplay between Russia and NATO, the impact of ongoing conflicts on trade and sanctions, and the growing threat of cyber-attacks. Our expert panel will provide insights and perspectives in navigating an era of geopolitical complexity.
Moderator
Tod Burwell
President & CEO
BAFT
Speaker
Amy Celico
Partner
Albright Stonebridge
Peter Harrell
Non-Resident Fellow
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Speaker
Robert Peri
Managing Director, Sanctions Compliance
Citi
11:45 AM
Speaker
Padhraic Garvey
Managing Director, Regional Head of Research, Americas
ING
12:15 - 01:15 PM
01:15 - 04:35 PM
Please check the separate tabs for specific trade and payment sessions. These sessions run concurrently.
04:35 - 04:45 PM
Take a short break and proceed back to the general session ballroom.
04:45 PM
Sustainable business and ESG practices are a growing priority for governments, businesses, and civil society. The discussion will explore the challenges relating to measuring and reporting ESG performance throughout complex supply chains, as well as provide an overview of the need for the banking industry to establish industry standards and practices.
Moderator
Scott Stevenson
Senior Vice President, Trade
BAFT
Panelists
Farzin Mimotahari
Global Lead for Business Development, Global Trade Supplier Finance (GTSF) Program
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Georgina Baker
Senior Advisor
Boston Consulting Group
Vanessa Gomes
Executive Director & Sustainable Finance Lead for the Americas
Standard Chartered Bank
05:30 - 06:30 PM
07:30 - 08:30 AM
08:30 AM
Renata Vilanova Lobo
Managing Director & Global Clearing Head of Payments
J.P. Morgan
08:45 AM
A candid discussion with several global heads of trade and payments on industry outlook, and critical Issues affecting trade and payments today.
Moderator
Deepesh Patel
Editor-in-Chief
Trade Finance Global
Panelists
Avanee Gokhale
Global Head for Trade Strategy
SWIFT
Renata Vilanova Lobo
Managing Director & Global Clearing Head of Payments
J.P. Morgan
Gwynne Master
Managing Director & Head of Working Capital Solutions
Lloyds Banking Group
Marc Recker
Managing Director & Global Head of Product,
Institutional Cash Management
Deutsche Bank
09:35 AM
With the rise of AI, Machine Learning, and cutting-edge technology tools, how are these applications reshaping the employment landscape, examining both their complementary and potentially displacing effects on the workforce? Uncover the essential skill sets employees need to thrive in this evolving environment and gain insights into what employers are seeking in this digital era. Join us to understand the impact of digitalization, and how organizations can navigate and harness these advancements for future success.
Speakers
Mark Garfield
Head, Global Financial Institutions
Zions Bancorporation
Anjali Shah
Chief Commercial Officer, Treasury Services
BNY Mellon
10:10 - 10:30 AM
10:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Please check the separate tabs for specific trade and payment sessions. These sessions run concurrently.
12:15 - 01:15 PM
01:15 - 04:05 PM
Please check the separate tabs for specific trade and payment sessions. These sessions run concurrently.
04:05 - 04:15 PM
Take a short break and proceed back to the general session ballroom.
04:15 PM
What role does the public sector, such as Central Banks, and the private sectors like financial institutions play in the development of Digital Currencies and CBDCs? The session will spotlight key areas of collaboration between these sectors and take a deeper look at innovative technical solutions for the industry.
Moderator
Sandra Ro
CEO
Global Blockchain Business Council
Panelists
Jack Pouderoyen
Innovation, Digital Assets & Currencies
SWIFT
Pete Wexler
Senior Director of Business Development, Crypto Solutions
Visa
Nelli Zaltsman
Head of Platform Settlement Solutions
Onyx Digital Payments by J.P. Morgan
05:00 PM - Evening
The rest of the evening is open for networking and bilateral meetings.
08:00 - 08:45 AM
08:45 - 09:15 AM
Please check the separate tabs for specific trade and payment sessions. These sessions run concurrently.
09:30 AM
David Cooperman
Managing Partner
Trade & Working Capital Finance Advisors
09:45 AM
Explore the pervasive challenges of fraud, extending beyond traditional retail and consumer sectors into the wholesale landscape, specifically within the international trade and payment backdrop. The session will delve into the evolving tactics of fraudsters and discuss proactive strategies to stay ahead of the game. Learn about the crucial role new technologies play in fortifying defenses and ensuring the integrity of cross-border transactions, and gain insights into the innovative approaches organizations are adopting to ensure a secure global financial ecosystem.
Moderator
Frederick Curry
Leader, US Anti-Money Laundering and Economic Sanctions Practice
Deloitte
Panelists
Hank Edley
Executive Vice President, Cyber Security Services
S3
Matt Loos
Senior Vice President, Head of Wires and Clearing Product Management
Wells Fargo
Edward Thurman
Chief Commercial Officer
GSS
J. Christopher Ward
Executive Vice President, Head of Enterprise Payments
Truist
10:30 AM
The business benefits of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are well documented. Less discussed, but equally important, is how to use AI responsibly which would mitigate fraud, discrimination, bias, and misinformation as well as align to current and potential regulatory frameworks.
Moderator
David Cooperman
Managing Partner
Trade & Working Capital Finance Advisors
Panelists
Roger Burkhart
Chief Technology Officer & Co-Head of AI
Broadridge
Liz Grennan
Partner & Co-leader of Digital Trust
McKinsey & Company
Peter Hazou
Director, Business Development Financial Services
Microsoft
11:15 AM
In the backdrop of geopolitical instability, rising cost of capital, and revised risk appetite, financial inclusion faces heightened challenges for respondent banks and specific regions within the globe. Hear from our esteemed panel on the challenges they face, and progress made in this quest for broader financial inclusiveness within the current global environment.
Moderator
Joanna Forman
Senior Manager, Financial Services
Ernst & Young LLP
Panelists
Idrissa Diop
Compliance Director
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)
Galina Klimenko
Principal Investment Officer, Financial Inclusion, Financial Institutions Group
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Suresh Subramanian
Managing Director & Head of Transaction Banking Americas
BNP Paribas
Samuel Tumiwa
Representative, North America
Asian Development Bank
12:00 PM
*** Scroll down to view the complete list of trade sessions during the conference. To view the general sessions or the Payments Track sessions, please click the corresponding tabs instead. ***
All Times in Eastern Standard Time (EST)
09:30 - 10:30 AM
10:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
12:15 - 01:15 PM
01:15 - 02:45 PM
A robust SCF program aids businesses in navigating today's volatile trade environment. This two-part series tackles what’s new in the SCF space, the heightened importance of reporting standards, and the relevance of scoring and mapping to implement a successful SCF program.
01:15 PM
All signals point to a more digital, transparent, sustainable, and interconnected supply chain finance program. Learn about some key developments including digitization, new financing models, sustainability-linked programs, growth in global platforms, and increased regulation, and understand the challenges presented to providers from the evolving nature of SCF.
Moderator
Zoran Kanlic
Head of Financial Supply Chain
BNY Mellon
Panelists
Michael Kornblau
Managing Director & US Trade Credit Practice Leader
Marsh
Gaurav Mathur
Managing Director, Head Trade Finance & Lending North America
Deutsche Bank
Caryn Pace-Messenger
Managing Director, Global Trade and Supply Chain Finance
Bank of America
Waheeb Rizvi
Director & Head of Portfolio Management and Distribution, Global Trade and Receivables Finance
HSBC Bank
02:00 PM
Recent financial scandals have highlighted the need for greater transparency in Supply Chain Finance. Consequently, there's been a push for new reporting standards to enhance the recognition and transparency of these activities in financial reporting. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US has started paying closer attention to companies using SCF techniques such as Reverse Factoring. Our experts will discuss the impact of these measures and how they’ve navigated this heightened scrutiny.
Moderator
Zoran Kanlic
Head of Financial Supply Chain
BNY Mellon
Panelists
Shannon Detling
Partner, Financial Markets & Real Estate, Treasury Services
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Ian Laverty
Chief Revenue Officer
TradeSun
Philipp Leubecher
Executive Director, Trade and Working Capital Solutions
Santander
Caleb Tyndall
Global Head of Value Delivery and Program Management
PrimeRevenue
02:45 - 03:05 PM
03:05 PM
Supply Chain Finance (SCF) was established to address the trade finance gap and provide SMEs access to finance at lower costs. Due to Supply Chains being intricate with complex global networks spanning across industries, there is still a challenge in SCF solutions reaching and financing the deeper tier suppliers. SMEs may be further excluded due to the onerous onboarding processes, limited credit histories and challenges in navigating the multifaceted supply chain ecosystem. What are the solutions and technology that can be developed to ease the pressure and provide capital to small and medium entities in the Supply Chain?
Moderator
Alexander Malaket
Founding Partner
Prism Global Partners
Panelists
Srinivasan Sriram
Founder & CEO
Skuchain
Scott Stevenson
Senior Vice President, Trade
BAFT
03:50 PM
What do banks need to do to modify their systems to comply with the new Basel 3.1 reporting requirements?
Moderator
Scott Stevenson
Senior Vice President, Trade
BAFT
Speakers
Sara Angrist
Head of Balance Sheet and Capital Management for TTS Trade
Citi
Hu Benton
Vice President, Banking Policy
American Bankers Association
Rebecca Fruchtman
Counsel
Mayer Brown
04:35 - 04:45 PM
Take a short break and proceed back to the general session.
04:45 - 05:30 PM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
05:30 - 06:30 PM
07:30 - 08:30 AM
08:30 - 10:10 AM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
10:10 - 10:30 AM
10:30 AM
A debate on the digitalization of Trade, progress to date and the benefits to be delivered in the years to come. Is this the revolution we’ve all been waiting for or is this evolutionary change?
Moderator
Rogier van Lammeren
Managing Director & Head of Trade and Working Capital Products, Corporate & Institutional Banking
Lloyd’s Bank
Speakers
Dyanne Carenza
Vice President & Head of Trade and Supply Chain Finance
Scotiabank
Merlin Dowse
Vice-Chair of ICC Banking Commission
International Chamber of Commerce
Rebecca Fruchtman
Counsel
Mayer Brown LLP
Mariya George
CEO & Co-Founder
Cleareye.ai
11:25 AM
Trade operations are historically manual, paper-based processes but new AI-based solutions for document checking and compliance reviews are revolutionizing the way trade operations teams manage work and human capital while achieving significant cost efficiency and improved risk controls.
Moderator
David Cooperman
Managing Partner
Trade & Working Capital Finance Advisors
Panelists
Ben Arber
CEO
Complidata
Patrick DeVilbiss
Senior Offering Manager, Trade and Supply Chain Solutions
CGI
Juanjo Ruiz
Product Manager
IBM Connected Trade
Paul Warfield
Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Global Trade and Treasury
Huntington National Bank
12:15 - 01:15 PM
01:15 - 02:45 PM
A two-part series on collaboration dynamics and successes (or lack thereof) amongst banks, fintechs, and other players in the ecosystem.
01:15 PM
Moderator
Pankaj Mudra
Co-Founder & Chair
360TF
Panelists
Sereen Ahmed
Americas Head of Trade and Working Capital
Barclays
Leonard Baccala
Director, Global Head of Trade Product Development
Citi
Moshe Wolfson
Global Sales and Implementations Head – Europe & Americas
Traydstream
2:00 PM
Moderator
Pankaj Mudra
Co-Founder & Chair
360TF
Panelists
Asif Ali
Chief Product Officer
Traydstream
Madhav Goparaju
Global Head of Trade and SCF Digital Transformation, Global Payments Solutions
Bank of America
David Handloss-Stern
Executive Director, Head of Americas Digital Solutions
Standard Chartered Bank
02:45 - 03:10 PM
03:10 PM
Exporters are still facing barriers in accessing short-term financing, and when financing is required for exporting purposes, the challenges can be increasingly difficult for both borrowers and banks. According to an OECD survey, 64% of ECAs indicated that they took measures aimed at increasing working capital support such as increasing the capacity or expanding the coverage of existing working capital programs and creating new working capital facilities. By contrast, tighter financing conditions and a high interest rate environment create headwinds for medium and long-term finance. Coupled with the increase in sovereign credit risk due to the pandemic, lenders are seeking cover for capital flows into emerging markets with overseas buyers requesting longer tenors to mitigate those interest rate impacts. Join three experts as they discuss what’s new and what’s evolving from each of their agencies.
Moderator
Daniel Pinho
Vice President, Operations and Business Management
BAFT
Speakers
John Neblo
Senior Vice President, Head of Lending and Business Development
Private Export Funding Corporation (PEFCO)
Daniel Pische
National Director of Trade Finance
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
Kenneth M. Tinsley
Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
Export Import Bank of the United States
Joanne Tognarelli
Vice President, Global Business Development
Export Development Canada
04:05 - 04:15 PM
Take a short break and proceed back to the general session.
04:15 - 05:00 PM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
05:00 PM - Evening
The rest of the evening is open for networking and bilateral meetings.
08:00 - 08:45 AM
08:45 AM
If you are a Trade or Supply Chain Finance professional with 3 or more years of experience and feel you need a deeper knowledge of Trade, cross-border risk management, liquidity and supply chain solutions, join this session to learn about BAFT’s Certificate in Advance Trade Finance (CATF). The session will be hosted by Alexader Malaket and Craig Weeks who built the 12 virtual learning modules. You will also hear from two of our Future Leaders who have earned the certificate and how this certificate has bolstered their professional skill set. At the conclusion of the session, a drawing will be held for one lucky winner who will be awarded registration to the CATF program for free.
Speakers
Alexander Malaket
Founding Partner
Prism Global Partners
Craig Weeks
Managing Partner
Prism Global Partners
09:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
*** Scroll down to view the complete list of payments sessions during the conference. To view the general sessions or the Trade Track sessions, please click the corresponding tabs instead. ***
All Times in Eastern Standard Time (EST)
09:30 - 10:30 AM
10:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
12:15 - 01:15 PM
01:15 PM
A roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments is a priority initiative of the G20 to address the challenges and opportunities in the payment landscape. In the spring of 2023, BAFT formed a Payments Roadmap Workgroup to develop a comprehensive understanding of the payments landscape, including the current and emerging payment technologies, regulations, and customer needs. Members of the Workgroup will provide an update on their ongoing efforts, and findings, present examples, and provide a look forward to the group’s next steps.
Moderator
Deepa Sinha
Vice President, Payments and Financial Crime
BAFT
Panelists
Matt Loos
Senior Vice President, Head of Wires and Clearing Product Management
Wells Fargo
Erin Moore
Commercial Manager (Complex Portfolio)
SWIFT
Mark Ridley
Senior Director, Visa Commercial and Money Movement Solutions, B2B Connect Sales – North American Financial Institutions
Visa
Anupam Sinha
Managing Director, North America Head – Payments and Receivables
Citi
02:00 PM
While the integration of real-time payment systems has been a game changer in domestic markets, cross-border transactions still grapple with complexities and inefficiencies. This session will delve deeper into the evolution of immediate cross-border payments, critically examining if merely linking faster payment systems suffices, especially from a corporate and treasury perspective. We will explore the nuances of liquidity management in trade-centric currencies like the US dollar, emphasizing scenarios where existing systems fall short, such as time zone differences affecting transaction timings. The discussion will extend beyond retail payments, addressing the unique needs of corporate transactions in cross-border environments, including the pivotal role of foreign exchange (FX) and the challenges therein. Furthermore, we'll analyze the proliferation of schemes like IXB, Visa B2B Connect or Mastercard XBBR, debating their adoption and viability in the larger financial ecosystem.
Moderator
Bob Blacketer
Chief Commercial Officer – Americas
Form3
Panelists
Kalyani Bhathia
Global Head of Payments and PMI Go To Market
SWIFT
Ben Ellis
Global Head, Visa B2B Connect
Visa
Elena Whisler
Chief Client Officer
The Clearing House
02:45 - 03:05 PM
03:05 PM
In light of continuous cyber risks, increasing geopolitical challenges, changing technology and rising cost of capital, being resilient has never been so critical. Does it mean that nowadays organizations have to choose between innovation OR resiliency?
Join this interesting discussion on how organizations are collaborating and balancing resiliency and innovation, and how to find the ideal equilibrium to optimize resources to secure Resiliency AND Innovation.
Moderator
Rico Brandenburg
Partner & Co-Lead, Operational Risk and Resilience
Oliver Wyman
Panelists
Jon R Briggs
Executive Vice President & Head of Commercial Payments Products
KeyBank
Aloisio Matos
FX & Cross-border Executive Director
Inter
Carmen Podgurschi
Cross-border Payments Product Manager, and Go-To Market, Treasury Services
BNY Mellon
03:50 PM
Highlights from the BAFT ISO 20022 migration lessons learned white paper, focusing on data strategy, business phasing, and post-implementation and evolution.
Moderator
Alan Ng
Managing Director, Payments Technology Consulting - North America
Accenture
Panelists
Ciaran Byrne
Head of Global Clearing Product and Transformation
J.P. Morgan
Greg Jones
Director, Treasury Product Manager – US Wire
Bank of America
Bernd Waizenhoefer
Director & Head of Clearing Products ICM
Deutsche Bank
04:35 - 04:45 PM
Take a short break and proceed back to the general session.
04:45 - 05:30 PM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
05:30 - 06:30 PM
07:30 - 08:30 AM
08:30 - 10:10 AM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
10:10 - 10:30 AM
10:30 AM
With the emergence of new payment rails, there will be different choices to meet client demand. This session looks at some of the current changes in an ever increasingly diverse payments landscape and how these developments are helping to offer more convenient, secure, and efficient ways to make payments.
Moderator
Katherine Zaveri
Senior Vice President
StoneX Payments
Panelists
Robert Cleary
Head of Cash Management Product, Americas
Barclays
Ahmed El Hefnawy
Chief Business Services Officer
BUNA
Sunil Saraf
IBG-Remittances & NRI Group
ICICI Bank
11:25 AM
The new world order of liquidity management encompasses a set of evolving trends, strategies, and challenges in the financial industry that are reshaping how organizations manage their liquidity. These changes are influenced by technological advancements, regulatory developments, global economic shifts, real-time payments, and the increasing complexity of financial markets. This means monitoring, managing, and maintaining liquidity positions with multiple clearing and settlement services as well as any domestic or global correspondent banks.
Moderator
Barry Tooker
Principal
TransactionBanker.com
Panelists
Todd Koehn
Vice President, Faster Payments Solution
Bankers’ Bank
Karrie Rodriquez
Assistant Vice President
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Nick Smit
Head of Financial Institutions Banks
ING Bank
12:15 - 01:15 PM
01:15 PM
Fintech have entered the payments marketplace by storm especially over the last decade. They have provided quicker, cheaper and easier payment services for the user despite having to use a bank partner to fulfill the final leg of the transaction. How are they able to do this and how goes this hold up against compliance scrutiny? This panel will discuss how fintech are providing the superior service that they do, and how it differs from traditional banks. Moreover, the panel will discuss the regulatory disparities behind this.
Moderator
Kenneth Wong
Director, Global Transaction Banking
TD Bank
Panelists
Bernard Beck
Executive Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer & Corporate Secretary
Ascendant
James Cousins
Head, US Sanctions Program Management and OFAC Reporting
Standard Chartered Bank
Nicolas Hachtroudi
Head of USD Clearing Desk
Societe Generale
02:00 PM
The session will provide an in-depth exploration of the data landscape with a focus on the payment industry. Attendees will engage in discussions ranging from innovative data sources to challenges in privacy protection, recent technological breakthroughs, and the potential impact on banks' culture and organization.
Moderator
Joanne Strobel-Cort
Managing Director, Head of CIB Segment Solutions and Advisory, Global Treasury Management
Wells Fargo
Panelists
Ivan Fernandez
Director, Head of Payments and Fintech Ecosystems
Google
Juan Gorricho
Head, Business Intelligence and Data Transformation
TD Bank
Dr. Monica Lopez
Co-Founder and CEO
Cognitive Insights for Artificial Intelligence
02:45 - 03:10 PM
03:10 PM
This session will explore new payment rails within North America to better understand their implementation, utilization, and future initiatives that will shape how both consumers and businesses will choose payment solutions.
Moderator
Michael Salerno
Vice President, Global Banking
First National Bank of Omaha
Panelists
Jim Filice
Vice President & Head of Money Movement, North America
Visa Inc.
Keith Melton
Senior Vice President & RTP Strategic Program Manager
The Clearing House
Carmen Podgurschi
Cross-border Payments Product Management, and Go-To Market, Treasury Services
BNY Mellon
04:05 - 04:15 PM
04:15 - 05:00 PM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule
05:00 PM - Evening
The rest of the evening is open for networking and bilateral meetings.
08:00 - 08:45 AM
08:45 AM
So you think you know how to manage your liquidity positions? Test your knowledge by participating in this cash management trivia session, and learn about the Certificate in Advanced Cash Management, covering transaction banking initiatives, and their impact and implications to cash and treasury managers who are responsible for monitoring, managing, and maintaining global cash and liquidity positions.
Game Master
Barry Tooker
Principal
TransactionBanker.com
09:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Please check the Plenary tab for the complete plenary session program schedule.
Sara Angrist joined Treasury and Transaction Services (TTS) in 2021 to grow and lead an in-business Balance Sheet and Capital Management team within Trade and Working Capital Solutions, responsible for ensuring an effective and efficient use of Trade’s balance sheet with the goal of improving return on capital measures for TTS. Prior to joining TTS, Sara ran the Global Franchise Leverage effort under Global Cards and Lending with Citi’s Consumer Bank. In this role, Sara and her team identified franchise-wide solutions and targeted strategic projects to maximize in-market revenue and returns, including RoTCE optimization initiatives. From 2016-2019, Sara served as the Consumer/Retail Specialist in the Capital Interpretation and Analysis team, where she provided clarification on Basel Capital matters globally. Sara began her career in the Institutional Clients Group and spent 13 years in Fixed Income Research and Trading before moving into Independent Risk as the Market Risk Manager for Global Consumer Mortgages and Real Estate.
Senior Executive, finance expert with decades of experience in direct investment and deal making with accountability for up to $8 billion in annual transactions. Recognized for global leadership, strategy, and product innovation in the financial sector. Trusted leader able to confront complexity and rapidly evolving issues. Mastery in navigating the world of sustainability. Acknowledged for creating groundbreaking financial investment solutions in direct response to urgent challenges. Consensus builder respected for a diplomatic approach in uniting global government and industry leaders, investors and boards and other stakeholders around a common purpose.
He is SVP and Policy Counsel at the American Bankers Association (ABA); he also works on selected securities law and capital markets issues. Before joining ABA in October 2014, Hu served as General Counsel of Ally Bank. Prior to joining the Bank, he held senior roles in the legal staff of Ally Financial, focusing on capital markets, structured finance, corporate treasury and securities reporting. Before joining the company, he was in private law practice in Washington, D.C. and served as Assistant General Counsel, Securities and Finance, at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation/Resolution Trust Corporation.
Kalyani Bhatia is the Global Head of Payments Go To Market in Business Development at Swift. Her team of payment experts execute the Swift Strategy through data driven prioritization, standardized programmes and global expertise. She is responsible for supporting global business product programmes including Swift gpi, ISO 20022, transaction management, prevalidation, Swift Go and Instant payments. Kalyani is on the US Advisory Board for Women In Payments and is the Co-Sponsor of the Multicultural Inclusion ERG at Swift. Prior to joining Swift in 2020, Kalyani spent 18 years at Deutsche Bank, holding senior positions in technology, product and client implementations & service. Her expertise lies in running large global change initiatives supporting global transaction banking. She also has experience in the oil & gas, automotive and retail industries delivering systems as a technical consultant with Price Waterhouse LLP. Kalyani holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Rice University.
With 25 years in banking, fintech, and payments, Bob has collaborated with over 500 client banks in 40+ countries. He has partnered with these clients on improving performance and profitability by identifying and matching key strategic initiatives with fintech and consulting solutions. Currently Chief Commercial Officer for the Americas at Form3, Bob has held strategic leadership and operating committee positions at startups such as Verituity and the Carreker Group, as well as a senior global leadership positions covering multiple business units at Fiserv, Inc. Bob began his career at Ernst & Young in the firm’s large bank consulting practice. Bob has master’s degrees in finance and economics and continues his support of the academic world as an instructor at the University of South Florida’s FinTech Research Institute.
Rico Brandenburg is a Partner in Oliver Wyman’s Risk & Public Policy and Digital practices in New York. He has more than 10 years of experience in consulting to leading global organizations in the US, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East across range of topics around cyber and operational resilience as well as broader non-financial risk management. In his recent work, Mr. Brandenberg focuses on designing risk frameworks, operating models, data and infrastructure capabilities to improve overall management of these risk types. Mr. Brandenberg also led the developed of SWIFT’s Counterparty Cyber Risk Management Framework in 2017/18.
Jon R. Briggs is the Head of KeyBank Commercial Product & Innovation in KeyCorp’s Payments business. He is responsible for the strategy, development, and the portfolio management of our Fintech partnerships, Core Treasury, Commercial Liquidity, Merchant Acquiring, Integrated Payments and Commercial Loan product capabilities. In this capacity he oversees all aspects of product strategy, management, development and risk management as well as partnering closely with our business development and client support teams to commercialize, implement, and support services. He is a member of KeyCorp’s Executive Council, Compliance and Qualitative Risk Committees.
Tod Burwell is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BAFT. Prior to being promoted to CEO, he served as the Senior Vice President of Trade Products with oversight of all trade-related initiatives including the Global Trade Industry Council, Trade Committees, and other strategic initiatives of the organization. Mr. Burwell has over 25 years of trade, supply chain and cash management experience as a banking practitioner, as well as serving as a consultant to global corporations and suppliers of strategically integrated trade solutions. Prior to joining BAFT, Mr. Burwell was a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase and held senior global management roles responsible for trade operations, launching the logistics business and managing global product sales for trade finance and logistics management.
Ciarán Byrne is the Head of Global Clearing Product and Transformation within J.P. Morgan Payments. In this role Ciarán is responsible for the Banks USD, EUR, GBP, CLS, and CHSS business lines, as well as the execution of key strategic initiatives that evolve the Global Clearing product offering, future proof the business, and lay the foundation for long-term growth. Ciarán holds overall responsibility for the Global Implementation of ISO 20022, and the company’s engagement with key Industry Groups. Through these programs he manages a large group of global stakeholders across
Amy Celico is a Principal of Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG) and leads the firm’s China team in DC. With over 25 years of experience working on China issues Amy helps clients develop and implement strategies to deepen relationships with stakeholders, resolve complex problems, and expand their business in the China market. Prior to ASG, Amy served as Senior Director for China Affairs at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; Deputy Director of the Office of the Chinese Economic Area at the Department of Commerce; and as a diplomat in Beijing and Shanghai with the Departments of State and Commerce. Amy earned a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and a M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Shannon is a partner in the Washington D.C. office of PwC's Financial Markets and Real Estate practice with over 17 years of experience advising clients on treasury, financing and capital markets transactions, financial risk management, and financial instruments.
Ben Ellis leads Visa B2B Connect globally. Visa B2B Connect is a multilateral network that builds on Visa’s expertise, delivering B2B cross-border payments that are predictable, secure, and cost-effective, for financial institutions and their corporate clients. Before assuming this role, Ben led strategy for Visa Business Solutions globally, drove growth initiatives within the Global Solutions team at Visa, and lead Visa's enterprise risk management team. Before joining Visa, Ben was a partner in the San Francisco office of McKinsey & Company with 10+ years experience serving financial institutions in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America on a range of topics including strategy, risk management, operational improvements, and organizational design.
Rebecca Fruchtman is counsel in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office and a member of the Firm’s Global Trade Finance practice group. Her practice focuses on the global trade finance space, including supply chain finance, Receivables financing, letters of credit, structured letters of credit and risk-distributed trade transactions, and asset-based financing transactions—both domestic and cross-border. With respect to supply chain finance matters at Mayer Brown, Rebecca has worked extensively with FI, hedge fund and private equity clients financing trade assets on various Fintech platforms, has spear-headed numerous global SCF roll-out initiatives on behalf of FI clients and structured, negotiated and executed a wide range of complex and bespoke revolving letters of credit facilities. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Rebecca served as general counsel to Bank of America’s Business Capital line of business (US Central Region) on asset-based lending matters (2017 to 2019) and supported Bank of America’s Global Transaction Services Global Trade and Supply Chain Line of Business (2012 to 2017). Rebecca is active in BAFT, currently co-chairs the BAFT supply chain finance committee and is involved in various trade digitization initiatives in the industry.
Padhraic Garvey is the Regional Head of Research, Americas. He's based in New York. His brief spans both developed and emerging markets and he specialises in global rates and macro relative value. He worked for Cambridge Econometrics and ABN Amro before joining ING. He holds a Masters degree in Economics from University College Dublin and is a CFA charterholder.
Vanessa Gomes is the Executive Director and Sustainable Finance Lead for the Americas at Standard Chartered Bank. Previously she held executive positions at leading organizations such as S&P Global, HSBC, AB InBev, and BASF. Throughout more than 15 years of work experience, she has developed expertise in sustainable finance, corporate sustainability, capital markets, corporate finance, and Governance. Ms Gomes holds a Master of Finance from University of Cambridge, a BSc in Economics from the University of Sao Paulo, certifications on Corporate Sustainability and Professional Coaching from University of New York - NYU. She also holds the Competent Boards ESG Designation and Certificate. Corporate member of the Council on Foreign Relations and member of the Economic Club of New York. Resided in Brazil, UK, Canada, and the US. She is fluent in English, Portuguese, and advanced in Spanish.
Peter E. Harrel is a nonresident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He also serves as an attorney advising companies and investors on international legal, regulatory, and geopolitical risks. As a member of Carnegie’s American Statecraft program, Harrell’s research focuses on issues of U.S. domestic economic competitiveness, trade policy, and the use of economic tools in U.S. foreign policy. From January 2021 through 2022, Harrell served at the U.S. White House as Senior Director for International Economics, jointly appointed to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. In that role, Harrell co-led President Biden’s E.O. 14017 supply chain resilience agenda; worked on the global digital, 5G, and telecommunications strategies; spearheaded negotiations with the European Union on the U.S.-E.U. Data Privacy Framework; served as the White House representative to the CFIUS committee; and worked on U.S. sanctions and export controls towards Russia is response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Immediately prior to joining the White House, Harrell served on the Biden-Harris Transition team from September 2020 to January 2021.
Greg Jones represents Bank of America’s US Wire Product team and has oversight for Corporate client relationships. In addition to focus on ISO development and interoperability preparedness, Greg coordinates the bank’s bilateral client testing strategy. Prior to supporting the Product space, Greg had ~10 years of operational and compliance experience which spread across Global Payment Investigations, Client / Customer Service, Anti-Money Laundering Investigations, and Economic Sanctions. Greg also holds a Master’s degree of Professional Studies in Homeland Security and a Bachelor’s degree majoring in Criminal Justice.
Zoran Kanlic is Head of Financial Supply Chain for Corporate Trade, Treasury Services at BNY Mellon, where he is responsible for leading a suite of open account products designed to enable BNY Mellon’s corporate clients to improve their working capital goals and optimize their account receivables and payables processing. Zoran joined BNY Mellon from JP Morgan Chase where he led their global Supply Chain Finance product team. Prior to JP Morgan Chase, Zoran spent 15 years at Deutsche Bank as Product Management Head of Supply Chain Finance and pioneered their Financial Supply Chain business into a global suite of products.
Michael is the US Trade Credit Practice Leader, located in the New York office and is responsible for the US practice with a team of approximately 37 people spread across approximately 12 cities. The practice is focused on delivering best in class trade programs for our corporate and financial institutions located/headquartered in the United States. The team is comprised of corporate portfolio managers, corporate new business brokers, a specialized financial institution practice, claims and operations. Michael joined Marsh in 2010 after nine years at another trade credit insurance broker, seven years as a trade credit underwriter and four years at regional bank. He possess extensive experience in structuring large and middle market solutions for both corporates and banks, drawing upon his experience as a banker and underwriter to compliment his many years of brokering experience.
Ian Laverty is the Chief Revenue Officer at TradeSun where he manages the relationship between TradeSun and their commercial partners. Ian joined the organisation following the acquisition of the CoriolisESG platform in 2022 where he was Chief Operating Officer. Ian has an extensive background in trade and finance, having spent 11 years in banking with Lloyds Banking Group. On leaving the bank Ian spent 10yrs supporting SMEs to grow their export sales, working with management consultancy businesses and latterly governmental economic development agencies, before joining Coriolis Technologies. Within Coriolis, and now TradeSun, Ian has led the development of the CoriolisESG platform, working with a collaboration of banks, industry bodies, partner organisations (including BAFT) and regulators, to develop the only fully automated assessment capability with mapping to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and a number of regional taxonomies and regulatory frameworks.
Philipp heads the Supply Chain Finance Product Team for Santander in the US. He has been working in various Trade & Working Capital Solutions roles since 2011, covering Corporates as well as Non-Bank Financial Institutions globally. Previously also at Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, Philipp spent several years in Frankfurt and London before moving to New York with broader experience across Corporate & Investment Banking. His educational background is in Economics (University of Freiburg, Germany) and an MBA from the University of Bayreuth, Germany.
Alexander R. Malaket, CITP, is the President of OPUS Advisory Services International Inc., in Canada, and Founder and Managing Director of Trade Finance Associates Pte in Singapore. Mr. Malaket is recognized internationally as a specialist and senior consultant in international trade and trade finance, having advised top-tier financial services, corporate, government and international institution clients across the globe, and having developed and delivered a variety of training seminars on an international basis. Mr. Malaket serves as a member of the Executive Committee and Technical Advisor to the ICC Banking Commission in Paris, as Secretary/Treasurer of the World Trade Centre in Winnipeg and is a long-time member of the Toronto Regional Board of Trade/World Trade Centre, as well as a member of the SWIFT/ICC Industry Education Group on the Bank Payment Obligation. Alexander is a member of the Board of Directors of the Forum for International Trade Training, Ottawa, Canada. Alexander is the author of “Financing Trade and International Supply Chains”, published by Gower/Ashgate UK.
Erin Moore is a SWIFT Payments Product Expert supporting the execution of SWIFT’s strategy of fast and frictionless cross-border payments. She is responsible for promoting ISO20022 migration, gpi, SWIFT Go, Pre-validation and Case Management. She works closely with financial institutions to transform the end user’s payment experience, harmonizing systems and schemes and refining efficiency of operations. She is a member of Women in Payments and a SWIFT Diversity and Inclusion global ambassador. Prior to joining SWIFT in 2020, Erin worked for The Clearing House and Citibank, holding various roles in product management and sales support and operations and technology as both an individual contributor and manager.
Alan Ng is Accenture’s Managing Director of Payments Technology Consulting for North America. Alan and his team leverage Accenture firmwide capabilities and strategic partnerships to help our clients leapfrog competition. With more than 20 years of experience consulting global banks, Alan has built relationships with some of the world’s largest financial services companies. His work has spanned multiple industry leading payments and cash management modernization programs which he led these programs from strategy to execution.
Caryn Pace is a Managing Director in Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America. She heads Global Portfolio Management & Product Risk in Global Trade & Supply Chain. In this role, she has responsibility for the trade portfolio including monitoring, development of risk mitigation strategies, forecast impacts, and balance sheet management. Her team has oversight of risk mitigation on a portfolio and transaction level, including routines involving high risk transactions, asset quality, and business control. To drive and influence the global trade business strategy, she engages with clients and potential third party partnership opportunities to understand market perspective and evolving product needs. Caryn is a part of Bank of America’s Hispanic-Latino Executive Council. She serves on the GPS Social & Economic Action Council and is an active leader in junior talent initiatives. Previously, she held positions within global trade at J.P. Morgan where she worked for 12 years. She currently serves as a Vice-Chair on the International Chamber of Commerce Banking Commission. Caryn received her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and is based in New York.
Mark began his career at NatWest Bank in London, England in 1991. Since then, he has held various transaction banking roles at a number of global financial institutions including Nordea, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank. Most recently, Mark worked for BNY Mellon as North America FI Regional Head, Treasury Services, before joining Visa’s B2B Connect division in 2022. Throughout his career, Mark has partnered with an array of clients, providing them with the global FX & payment solutions that best met their needs. Clients have included corporates of varying sizes and in various industries, banks, credit unions, broker-dealers, asset managers and insurance companies. Mark’s industry qualifications include a Diploma in Financial Services Management (DipFSM) from the London institute of Banking & Finance, as well as the Certificate in International Cash Management (CertICM) from the Association of Corporate Treasurers.
Waheeb Rizvi is the Head of Portfolio Management and Distribution in the Global Trade and Receivables Finance department of HSBC USA. Waheeb has a vast and varied experience in Trade Finance. In his current role, Waheeb is responsible for distribution of Structured Trade and Core Trade Finance assets in the secondary market to a vast network of bank and non-bank Financial Institutions with a view of balance sheet and returns optimization. Prior to HSBC, Waheeb was the Head of Supply Chain and Receivable Finance at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank for the Americas and managed all facets of the business including Origination, Product, Structuring and Portfolio Management. In addition to Trade Finance, Waheeb’s experience includes roles in Corporate Lending and Credit, Structured Finance and Corporate Treasury.
Deepa Sinha is the new Vice President of Payments and Financial Crime at BAFT, and will work to advance the goals of the payments and cash management industry through standardization, defining best practices and developing usable industry data. She will also be responsible for formulating policy recommendations and educating industry stakeholders including practitioners, regulators, policymakers and the broader business community. Prior to joining BAFT, Sinha accumulated more than 25 years of treasury and cash management experience at both corporations and banks. She formerly served as Treasurer at Caliburn International, now Acuity International, where she oversaw cash forecasting, working capital and debt management, and implemented policies and banking technology to support all core treasury functions. As the Associate Vice President of Banking Operations and Relationships at the Carlyle Group, she developed the cash management, FX and banking platforms, and built and managed the infrastructure for multicurrency cash management across 5,000+ bank accounts at more than 100 global banks. She also served on both the JPMorgan Chase Treasury and Wells Fargo Treasury Advisory Councils.
Nick Smit is a Managing Director, Head of Financial Institutions North America, with responsibility for originating and executing transactions for financial institution clients in North America, including asset managers, insurance companies, and banks. Nick has 18 years experience in the financial industry, primarily in corporate and global client relationship management. After he joined ING in 1995 as an Account Manager in Global Clients based in Amsterdam, he held various management roles within ING’s global banking network, including Head of Corporate Banking in Geneva, Head of Global Clients and Head of Corporate Clients for the Nordic Region based in Brussels, and Chief of Staff for ING’s global corporate and institutional business based in Amsterdam. Prior to joining ING, he worked in international trade and export finance at Standard Merchant Bank in Johannesburg.
Sriram is a passionate entrepreneur looking to bring efficiencies to Trade Finance. He is the Founder & CEO of Skuchain. He has previously built a company selling risk management solutions to wall street firms, founded an ecommerce startup during the dot-com heyday and played Entrepreneur-In-Residence with a small silicon valley fund. He has been a qualified Captain of ocean going merchant ships, enjoys hackathons and has done the Executive Program at Stanford GSB.
Scott Stevenson is the Senior Vice President of Trade at BAFT. Stevenson leads the association’s trade-focused policy, practices, and education initiatives, and supports its trade-related councils and committees. Prior to joining BAFT, Stevenson was a senior advisor for AF Capital Partners, which provided expertise in emerging market structured and project finance for development banking institutions. For two years, he consulted development banks and export credit agencies following a 17-year career at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank Group in various trade and investment project leadership roles. Before joining the IFC, Stevenson was the regional head of financial institutions at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Colgate University, and his MBA from York University.
As a member of the Chief Leadership TEAM at PrimeRevenue, Caleb Tyndall spearheads building systems and processes that enable TEAMs to be successful as the leader of Customer Success. Today, he manages $1T in spend, $150B in global supply chain finance trades for programs in over 90 countries. He works with multinational and mid-market organizations across all industries, to achieve their strategic supply chain initiatives with the support of PrimeRevenue’s line of B2B payments solutions and services. Caleb joined PrimeRevenue as the Global Program Coordinator in 2019 with several years of experience in account coordination.
Bernd Waizenhöfer is a Director, and the Head of Clearing Products within the Institutional Cash Management’s Product Management group. Based in New York he is globally responsible for the development and management of Deutsche Bank’s correspondent banking payments products and represents the cash management business in key market infrastructures and industry groups. Bernd has well over 20 years of payments and product management experience. Prior to this he held positions in Relationship Management for Financial Institutions, Corporate Banking, as well as Private & Business Clients, having joined Deutsche Bank in 1985.
Elena Whisler is Chief Client Officer at The Clearing House, responsible for creating and managing the holistic experience for its customers and partners. This role includes growing the RTP® network across U.S. financial institutions, evolving the customer engagement model for all TCH payments networks and promoting the company’s work to its diverse target segments. Elena has deep experience with product and customers in the payments industry. Prior to joining The Clearing House, Elena held regional and global product management positions at FIS, Clear2Pay and Fiserv where she was focused on building products and services across the global enterprise payments landscape. These roles included managing R&D across ACH, Wires, Swift, ISO 20022 and real-time payments. She also worked at the Federal Reserve Bank within the Retail Product Office and Monetary Policy Divisions with a focus on cross-border activities and economic policy in Latin America. Elena holds a B.A. in Economics and International Affairs from Denison University and an M.S. in International Affairs from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Sereen Ahmed is an accomplished professional with a wealth of experience in the finance industry. As the Americas Head of Trade and Working Capital , Sereen has demonstrated exceptional expertise and leadership. Sereen’s educational journey began at Amman Alahliye University, where she completed her studies in banking and finance. Eager to expand her knowledge and skills, she pursued an MBA in internal Finance from Ashland University solidifying her foundation in the field. With a career spanning over two decades, Sereen has made significant contribution to renowned financial institutions. She started her journey at HSBC in 2002, where she gained a valuable experience and developed a strong understanding of the banking industry. In 2012, Sereen took on a new challenge by joining Barclays Dubai to oversee the Middle East business, and moved to New York in 2023 to take a new role as Americas Head of Trade and Working Capital.
Ben has been with Complidata first as Chief Product Officer and is now the CEO. His in-depth knowledge of trade finance and financial crime compliance has been invaluable in crafting and executing our product strategy. We are confident that Ben is the perfect fit for the CEO role. Before joining us, Ben worked for most of his career at HSBC in trade finance around the world. He left HSBC in 2021 having run trade services in North America and Financial Crime Compliance for commercial banking in the USA. Ben has since built and led several successful companies in the FinTech sector.
Leonardo Baccala is the Global head of Product Development in Trade & Working Capital Solution organization and takes a horizontal leadership role across Trade Working Capital Loans, Receivables Finance, Payables Finance and Core Trade. Mr Baccala's is responsible for setting the product platform strategy, promote business digitization and infrastructure modernization and improve client experiences, considering the evolution of the industry and clients’ needs globally. Prior to this appointment, Leonardo was the head of Product Development for Trade Americas and Regional Product Manager responsible for Trade Digitization in Latin America. Mr Baccala joined Citi as Senior Project Manager in Brazil starting in 2011, and moved to US as head of Enterprise Services for Latin America in 2014. Ever since, Leonardo has managed the implementation of a variety of projects, driving efficiency product transformation and digitization for the business.
Bernard has over 25 years of experience in legal and regulatory compliance overseeing financial propriety. He is responsible for ensuring that the company and its employees meet and exceed the industry’s legal and compliance requirements in every jurisdiction of operation. Until his departure in December 2009 as SVP, Chief Compliance Officer at Custom House Ltd (Western Union Business Solutions) a high growth company that specialized in foreign exchange trading and commercial payments, Bernard directed a team of compliance professionals, business risk consultants and legal experts in the development and maintenance of processes and systems to manage business risk and for legal compliance globally. By overcoming barriers to entry, Bernard guided the company through stringent regulatory and financial services licensing requirements in the countries the company operated in. The compliance and risk programs contributed substantially to the success and growth of the company and its sale for $370m
Dyanne is a world-wise executive with experience in the banking sector including transaction banking, lending, product management and strategy creation. She is a multi-lingual, high energy, enterprise solutions leader with a proven track record for building relationships and leading high-performance teams. Dyanne re-joined Scotiabank and as Vice-President, Head Trade Finance & Supply Chain, she has global responsibility to build and promote the traditional trade and supply chain finance businesses. Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Dyanne graduated from McGill University with a major in Economics and successfully completed programs at Queen's University and the Richard Ivey School of Business. She is passionate about cross-border flows and in helping businesses realize their success in international markets. Dyanne is sought after as advisor and board member for numerous public, private and government entities. In addition, she is often called on to present at conferences and industry association meetings.
Robert Cleary is responsible for the delivery of U.S. Cash Management products and services for Barclays. Mr. Cleary has been active in the financial services industry since 1993 and joined Barclays in 2021. He holds a BA from Old Dominion University and an MBA from Rutgers University. He earned his Certified Treasury Professional accreditation in 2002.
David is an advisor to banks and Managing Director in EY’s Financial Services Organization based in Chicago. At EY he leads their Trade Finance and Working Capital Finance practice in North America as well as EY’s Trade Automation Platform solution. David is has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry, primarily in Transaction Banking, including developing new innovative growth strategies, achieving revenue growth, improving efficiencies, deploying leading-edge technology and leading large-scale global transformation programs. He recently led EY’s Trade Finance and Working Capital Finance practice in North America. Previously he held global executive roles in at Citibank and ABN AMRO/LaSalle Bank as well as consulting firms advising the sector. He has served as a Director of bank subsidiaries focused on Trade and was a Founder / Director of the Trade Information Network, an industry consortium designed to improve small to medium-sized enterprise access to funding.
Patrick DeVilbiss is a subject matter expert in trade finance and oversees product management of CGI Trade360, a SaaS-based end-to-end trade finance platform utilized by global financial institutions to deliver trade services. He has supported the development of large-scale platforms delivered to top 10 global financial institutions in the trade finance space. Previously he worked for the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade, where he helped to position the transaction banking industry for long-term growth and success by developing best practices and delivering education and training to member institutions.
Merlin Dowse is an Executive Director and a Global Product Manager within the Core Product team. In this capacity, Merlin leads a global team responsible for the management of digital solutions and innovation available to the clients of J.P. Morgan across the globe. Merlin previously held the position of Global Product Manager for the Portfolio Management Group within Global Trade at J.P. Morgan. In this role he led the digitization efforts of both the internal and external processes supporting the distribution of all trade finance assets. Prior to this, while based in London, he was managing the EMEA Trade product set for the Corporate client segment, where he worked on various initiatives such as the Bank Payment Obligation, SWIFT for Corporates whilst also helping expand J.P. Morgan’s global footprint. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Merlin worked in various capacities in the Trade Services department at Rabobank in the Netherlands. Merlin has been involved in numerous industry-wide initiatives and was recently appointed as Vice-Chair to the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Banking Commission and he is also the Sponsor of the Commercialisation Working Group under the auspices of the ICC Digital Standards Initiative (DSI).
Mr. Ahmed El Hefnawy is the Chief Business Service Officer of Buna. During his 25 years of experience in the payment industry he has held various positions of increasing responsibility in the Payment field and banking sector. Prior to joining Buna, Mr. El Hefnawy spent 10 years at the National Bank of Egypt, as Payment System Manager and PMO Deputy General Manager, and was a board member at Misr Real Estate Assets Company. Mr. El Hefnawy played major roles in different organizations across the Middle East and GCC regions ranging from Solution Providers, National Switches, Islamic and Conventional Banks, Card Processors, and Consultancy Firms. Mr. El Hefnawy holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and electronics engineering from Ain Shams University and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), major in marketing management, from Maastricht School of Management, the Netherlands. He is PRINCE2® Practitioner certified. Mr. El Hefnawy also holds a graduate school of banking program diploma and executive leadership diploma from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in the United States.
Ivan Fernandez is the Director of Sales for the Payment and FinTech Ecosystem team at Google Cloud leading cloud transformation engagements at fintechs, global payment processors, and multinational card networks. He advises customers on how to leverage best in class Gen AI, data and analytics offerings to capture new market opportunities now and into the future. Ivan has over 25 years of financial services technology experience, previously with AWS where he was one of the early leaders of the consulting group directing global cloud transformations at several of the largest and well known companies in the world. He also spent 14 years at EMC leading global consulting programs at Fortune 500 financial services firms in the US, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific. Ivan sits on the Board of Industry Advisors to Miami Dade College's School of Computer Science and Engineering. Ivan is bilingual in English and Spanish. He has been married for over 15 years and has a 10 year old daughter.
Jim Filice currently serves as Vice President and Head of North America Money Movement. In this role, Jim is responsible for strategy and market engagement in real-time payments, including market engagement for real-time payment experiences delivered by financial institutions, fintech, bigtech and enabling partners. Jim has 20+ years of payments and fintech experience with a variety of payment ecosystem participants across North America, Australia and UK markets. His passion is in delivering innovative and seamless payment solutions that uplift businesses and consumers everywhere. Along with several Executive Leadership and Strategy designations from Insead and Queen’s University, Jim holds an Honors Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, and a Business degree from Sir Wilfred Laurier University.
Rebecca Fruchtman is counsel in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office and a member of the Firm’s Global Trade Finance practice group. Her practice focuses on the global trade finance space, including supply chain finance, Receivables financing, letters of credit, structured letters of credit and risk-distributed trade transactions, and asset-based financing transactions—both domestic and cross-border. With respect to supply chain finance matters at Mayer Brown, Rebecca has worked extensively with FI, hedge fund and private equity clients financing trade assets on various Fintech platforms, has spear-headed numerous global SCF roll-out initiatives on behalf of FI clients and structured, negotiated and executed a wide range of complex and bespoke revolving letters of credit facilities. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Rebecca served as general counsel to Bank of America’s Business Capital line of business (US Central Region) on asset-based lending matters (2017 to 2019) and supported Bank of America’s Global Transaction Services Global Trade and Supply Chain Line of Business (2012 to 2017). Rebecca is active in BAFT, currently co-chairs the BAFT supply chain finance committee and is involved in various trade digitization initiatives in the industry.
Mark Garfield’s current role is Head of Global Financial Institutions at Zions Bancorporation responsible for foreign bank relationship development. He joined Zions Bancorporation in 2005. He has over 30 years of banking experience with 25 years in international banking management covering trade finance, trade services, foreign exchange, correspondent banking and product development. Throughout his career he has worked closely with corporate and commercial entities in the Midwest and Western U.S. providing banking support for cross-border trade. Mr. Garfield currently serves as a Director of BAFT and Chair of the Utah District Export Council. He served on the DEC National Advisory Board and Board of the World Trade Center, Utah.
Mariya George is the Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of cleareye.ai. Before starting cleareye.ai, Mariya was the Head of Banking and Insurance at UST Global. She was responsible for the industry group’s overall vision, strategy and investment priorities, developing the network of alliance partners and an aggressive revenue growth goal of 70%. She was also responsible for the global P&L, sales, business development, consulting, client relationship management and technology execution. Prior to this, Mariya was the Business Head for East and Midwest market in North America. She led the global sales organization across North America and primary markets in Asia (India, China), and built a team to lead and manage new Fortune 500 customer acquisitions and doubled her portfolio.
Avanee joined Swift in April, 2023 as the Global Head, Trade Strategy based at Singapore. Avanee has over 20 years of banking experience across Singapore, North America, Hong Kong and India. At Swift she is responsible to help formulate and drive the core strategic trade agenda as well as help swift redefine its role in the exciting and evolving global payments and trade eco system. She also helps drive partnerships with banks, corporates, fintechs, governments and industry bodies on various initiatives to ensure frictionless trade for the community. Before Swift, Avanee was responsible for global product management for trade and supply chain finance at ANZ. In her 20 years of banking, she has worked in a variety of roles including sales for trade, payments & cash management, relationship management covering the shipping and logistics sector, credit, strategy, and technology. Avanee has a master’s degree in computer engineering from State University of New York and an MBA from INSEAD.
Madhav Goparaju is a managing director in the product team for Global Trade & Supply Chain Finance in Global Transaction Services. In his primary role, Madhav leads the digital transformation of the trade & supply chain finance operating model, developing the strategy, and overseeing the design of new products and platforms. A large part of this effort involves collaborating with fintechs, third party providers, consortiums, and other financial institutions to create a pathway towards universal accessibility and adoption of a digital end-to-end experience. Madhav joined Bank of America in 2019 from McKinsey & Company where he led the North America transaction services practice. Madhav’s consulting experience, which spans seven years, also includes working at Ernst & Young and Capco in roles that supported global financial institutions, private equity, fintechs and technology companies on digital transformation and operating model transformation. He spent a further ten years at financial institutions such as RBS, ABN Amro and Wells Fargo.
Juan Gorricho is the Head of Business Intelligence & Data Transformation. He leads multiple teams focused on providing actionable business intelligence and insights and modernizing the bank's data and analytics infrastructure in the cloud. Previously, he was VP of Global Data Platforms at Visa, where he drove revenue through data initiatives and led data infrastructure modernization. He also served as the chief data and analytics officer at Partners Federal Credit Union within The Walt Disney Company and managed multimillion-dollar data and analytics projects at Disney Parks & Resorts. With over 20 years in data and analytics, Juan is a respected industry expert and conference speaker. He holds an industrial engineering degree from Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, and an MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. Juan lives in McLean, VA, with his wife Margarita and two children, Camila and Daniel.
Nicolas is the head of USD clearing at Societe Generale CIB NY. Before that he was North America Head of Product Management for USD Clearing at Bank of America and held several positions in product management at Citibank and BNP PARIBAS in New York covering both FIs and corporate.
Todd Koehn, has twenty years of payments and financial industry experience, with past roles at payments providers and core processors, he has presented to over 250+ Community Banks on RTP/FedNow. Todd understands the technology needs of community banks to help them serve a diverse customer base while at the same time, making their processes more efficient and how to make or save money with these new payment rails. Todd helps community banks better understand how RTP/FedNow can help retain, attract and grow critical banking relationships and the benefits of adopting Bankers’ Bank’s Aite-Novarica awarding Funding Agent Solution with liquidity management to facilitate settlement. Todd is on the BOD of the US Faster Payments Council representing all Community Banks under $10b, a member of the Bankers’ Bank Strategic Planning Committee for all things payments, including instant payments, instant settlement and Crypto. He also works with community banks to create effective payments & technology strategies and seeks out new partnerships for Bankers’ Bank.
One of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics 2023, Dr. Monica Lopez is the Co-Founder and CEO of CIfAI working in AI risk management, governance and compliance across various industries. Prior, she co-founded and led as CEO and business strategist La Petite Noiseuse Productions. She advanced novel ethical and human-centered research and data analytics projects and policy initiatives across the AI lifecycle, advising partners in healthcare, autonomous vehicles, and cybersecurity. Dr. Lopez is a sought-after speaker and writer, presenting and publishing her work nationally and internationally. Speaking engagements include the National Academy of Sciences, StarTalk, IS&T Electronic Imaging Symposium, IEEE Women in Engineering, AutoSens, BioTalk, Executive Women’s Forum, and Sundance Film Festival, among others. Accolades include receiving a research fellowship award from Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law’s Center for Law, Science and Innovation to propose solutions for AI in healthcare; being named Baltimore’s Top 10 BioHealth Startup CEOs, The Business of Biotech; a Millennial Leader of the BioHealth Capital Region; and a Particularly Imaginative Polymath, Imagination Institute, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lopez is also faculty at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in the Whiting School of Engineering and the School of Advanced International Studies. She teaches courses in AI, ethics, business, and public and global policy and governance. Dr. Lopez holds a PhD in Cognitive Science and a Graduate Certificate in International Studies, both from JHU. She also has a Certificate in AI Policy from the Center for AI & Digital Policy in Washington, D.C. and a Certificate from the Venture Capital University Independent Director Initiative, University of California Berkeley, School of Law. She is also a fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar in Salzburg, Austria and Washington, DC, and recently joined the GPAI (Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence) as an AI Expert.
Gwynne joined Lloyds Banking Group in Feb 2018 to lead the Global Transaction Banking (GTB) Financial Institutions (FI) and NBFI Sales teams. Gwynne was then asked to lead the GTB Global Trade business, which included Open Account and Traditional Trade Product, Solutions and Sales across SME, Mid-Caps, Large Corporates and FIs. In 2021 Gwynne took on the role as Head of Working Capital within Client Products, responsible for the suite of Invoice Financing solutions in addition to Trade Finance. Effective June 2022, she became CIB of Head of Trade, Lending and Working Capital Solutions & Sales. Gwynne has significant International experience through her time with Barclays Bank, Wells Fargo and SCB. She spent 18 years in Asia, as Managing Director, Head of Asia FI and Co-Head of Asia Corporate with Barclays as well as CEO & MD of Southeast Asia for Wachovia Bank, when she acquired the Hanoi business and was responsible for six offices in the region. In her earlier career with Wachovia (Well Fargo), Gwynne was based in the both the U.S. and Italy, opening the Milan Office and leading Coverage & Sales across some of the Southern Europe markets. In addition to her current role as Managing Director & Head of Lending, Trade and Working Capital, Gwynne is a passionate advocate and driver of diversity and sustainability initiatives across the organisation and has developed relationships with a number of FinTech's within this space – championing partnerships and pilots to address sustainable supply chain finance, mapping and risk mitigation, as well as carbon scoring to support UK corporates with Scope 3 emissions reduction. She is engaged across industry bodies such as UKEF, ITFA and BAFT, representing Lloyds Bank.
Keith Melton is Senior Vice President and RTP® Strategic Program Manager and will drive execution of the next phase of TCH’s instant payments strategy and, in particular, the growth of the RTP network, strengthening its position as the instant payments leader in the United States. Melton, who has over 20 years of experience in financial services and technology, joins The Clearing House from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS) where he was Senior Vice President and Head of Product Management for all payment services across the Federal Reserve System (FedACH®, Check, Fedwire® Funds, Fedwire® Securities and FedLine®). Earlier in his career, Melton had tenures at IBM and SunTrust Bank, among others.
Pankaj Mundra, a distinguished Chartered Accountant and Management postgraduate, boasts an impressive two-decade career in finance, notably at ICICI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, and Mashreq Bank. Post the 2009 Global Financial Crisis, his visionary approach birthed Nimai Management Consultants, evolving into 360tf, an innovative digital marketplace merging trade finance expertise with cutting-edge technology with the recent achievement of getting a regulated lending license in GIFT city, India. Leading this venture, Mundra's adept guidance garnered accolades like the UAE Superbrand, Cosmopolitan's Fastest Growing Trade Finance solutions provider, and the IFC SME Finance Forum's product innovation award. Noteworthy initiatives, including training 380 graduates in trade finance and fostering talent, underscore his commitment. His leadership roles in prestigious committees like BAFT, board member of ICC UAE Banking Commission, and board member of ITFA MENA showcase his unwavering dedication to reshaping global finance.
John Neblo is the Head of Lending and Business Development at Private Export Funding Corporation (“PEFCO”). John brings 30 years of experience to PEFCO from the trade and Export Credit Agency (“ECA”) finance space. Before PEFCO, he spent three and a half years as the Product Manager of Global Trade Receivables at Citi. Prior to that, he was the Head of Export and Agency Finance USA for Investec and the Chief Lending Officer at PEFCO from 2008 – 2013. His previous engagements include ABN AMRO Bank, N.V., Chemical Securities, EXIM Bank, and the law firm of Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon. John completed his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from Northwestern University.
Deepesh Patel is Editor-in-Chief at Trade Finance Global (TFG). In this role, Deepesh leads efforts in developing TFG’s editorial and research strategy in key markets, including the UK, US, Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong. Deepesh regularly chairs and speaks at industry events covering trade, treasury and payments, including The Economist, Reuters, UN, WEF and WTO, as well as industry associations including BAFT, FCI, ICC, ICISA and ITFA. Deepesh hosts the popular ‘Trade Finance Talks’ podcast and TV station, with a combined 300+ episodes and 50k+ followers. He is co-author of ‘Blockchain for Trade: A Reality Check’ and ‘Accelerating Trade Digitalization to Support MSME Financing’ with the ICC and the WTO, alongside other industry research. Deepesh is an advocate for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the industry, founding the Women in Trade, Treasury and Payments initiative in 2019. In addition to his work at TFG, Deepesh is a Strategic Advisor for WOA, and is a Member of the ITFA ESG Committee. He also sits on the Fintech Working Group of the Standardised Trust. Prior to TFG, Deepesh worked at Travelex where he was responsible for the cards business and the Travelex Money app in Brazil, Europe, US and UK. Deepesh is Chair of Governors and co-opted LA Governor of the Wyvern Federation, which has responsibility for 5 primary schools in South London.
Daniel Pinho was appointed the Vice President of Operations and Business Management at BAFT on July 31, 2023. Daniel previously was the SVP & AGM at PNC's Trade Finance group. He has over 20 years of experience in structured trade financing programs. Prior to joining PNC, Daniel was a Manager at UPS Capital Business Credit where he supervised the Export Credit Agency Operations group. He also served as the Director of Trade Finance at a consulting firm in Brazil. Pinho also previously served on BAFT's North American Council and co-chaired the Structured Trade and Export Finance Committee. He is a member of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting and is chair of the board of Ten Thousand Villages in Pittsburgh, a fair trade nonprofit organization.
Daniel Pische serves as the National Director of Trade Finance within the SBA’s Office of International Trade in Washington, DC. As Director, Daniel is responsible for the design and delivery of SBA’s export loan programs and oversight of SBA’s national staff of Export Finance Managers. Prior to joining the SBA, Daniel worked at First American Bank for over 15 years where he led their Trade Finance Division and served as a member of the bank’s Senior Loan Committee. Daniel served on Department of Commerce’s Trade Finance Advisory Council during the second charter term and continues to serve as the SBA’s ex-officio representative where he assists with recommendations on improving access to Trade Finance for small and midsized exporters.
Jack leads market engagement for Swift’s Innovation team with a focus on digital assets and currencies. He was responsible for leading Swift’s blockchain interoperability experiment for tokenised assets and represents Swift on various industry initiatives like the Regulated Liability Network. Jack joined Swift from Deloitte Consulting and also spent a number of years in Deutsche Bank’s cash management business responsible for a portfolio of corporate and non-bank institutional clients. Jack received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Marc is responsible for the strategic development and positioning of cash clearing products for Deutsche Bank globally. The Clearing Product function is an integral component of the bank’s franchise in terms of strategic direction, product & service development, positioning, thought leadership as well as identifying and executing growth opportunities. Marc has been engaged in the financial services industry since 1998, re-joining Deutsche Bank in 2014 after having worked for JPMorgan and ING in various positions in both product management and operations. He is Deutsche Bank’s representative in various industry forums/working groups and holds a bachelor in foreign trade from the Liege Management School.
Sandra is a proponent for ‘human-centric tech’. From investment banking and currency markets to blockchain technology, she is an early angel investor and advocate of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. She currently serves as the CEO of Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), the world’s largest leading Swiss-based non-for-profit association with more than 500 institutional members, 231 ambassadors, across 109 jurisdictions and disciplines. In 2023, she was appointed onto the CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham’s Global Markets Advisory Committee (GMAC), Digital Asset Market Subcommittee (DAMS) and cochairs the Taxonomy and Tokenization Infrastructure workstreams within the subcommittee. She was previously appointed as the Senate representative of the New York State Digital Currency Task Force, and serves on the AIFC Fintech Council (Kazakhstan), World Economic Forum’s Digital Currencies Governance Consortium, International Securities Services Association’s DLT & ISO Standards, GI Trust FATF Travel Rule Standards Task Force (South Korea), GBBC’s Global Standards Mapping Initiative, Blockchain for Climate (BxC) Board, Salesforce’s AI Advisory Board, Filecoin Foundation Advisory Board, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator Advisory Council, and several government Convergence AI working groups and councils as well as Board director of several fintech start-ups. Sandra was a founding member of many of the earliest blockchain associations including Hyperledger Foundation, The Linux Foundation, the Post Trade Distributed Ledger Group (PTDL) and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA).
Karrie Rodriquez is an Assistant Vice President for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. She leads the FedNow Business Integration Team, working closely with other business lines within the Federal Reserve to support the FedNow Service operating around the clock. Karrie began her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Oklahoma City Branch and transferred to Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 2005, managing projects and implementation efforts for Federal Reserve accounting applications. Karrie holds a B.S. and M.B.A from the Oklahoma City University.
Juanjo Ruiz leads IBM products and solutions for Trade Finance, including the Connected Trade Platform. He works with leading banks and Fintechs/Tradetechs to accelerate trade finance digitization and deliver better customer experiences. At IBM he has developed first-of-a-kind industry solutions (e.g., IBM Food Trust and TradeLens) that leverage emerging technologies to address systemic challenges. Juanjo has twenty years of strategy, business development, and offering management experience in Financial Services in Information Technology bringing a global perspective after having worked in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In his free time, Juanjo is an active start-up mentor in the NYC area and volunteers in local youth sports organizations.
Mr. Michael Salerno is the Vice President of Global Banking at First National Bank of Omaha where he manages a diverse portfolio of corporate and correspondent bank customers. He consults with trade and treasury management professionals to help define, create, and implement effective trade finance, global payments and international risk management solutions. Mr. Salerno specializes in providing foreign exchange and international payment solutions for financial institutions. He is the Treasurer for both the Nebraska District Export Council and the National Association of District Export Councils.
Sunil is Product Head for Inward Remittances at ICICI Bank, India and based in Mumbai. At ICICI Bank, he is responsible for enhancing the remittance business across India linked corridors through product innovation, service delivery & synergies with the correspondents globally. Offering new products and seamless service with a faster TAT is the key focus area being driven by him globally. He is also the member of the SWIFT Payments Working Group. He has over 23 years of experience in banking across various roles with key expertise in Payments/Remittances, Risk & Controls, etc
Anjali Shah is the Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Sales and Relationship Management for the Americas region for BNY Mellon’s Treasury Services line of business. Her teams cover North American and Latin American Banks, Non-Bank Financial Institutions, Corporations, Government Agencies and Reseller Partnerships. She also manages Treasury Services’ overall pipeline and sales performance, working with partners across the company to drive key global opportunities. In 2023, Anjali joined BNY Mellon from Wells Fargo, where she served as Head of Innovation Strategy, leading design and innovation teams focused on the next generation of experience, platforms, and partnerships. Prior to Wells Fargo, Anjali held a variety of senior leadership positions in corporate development, strategic partnership development, sales operations, and business development at such companies as PricewaterhouseCoopers, CompuCom and Hewlett Packard.
Joanne Strobel-Cort is a managing director and head of CIB Segment Solutions & Advisory in Wells Fargo’s Global Treasury Management group. Joanne leads a team of Global Treasury Management professionals who focus on CIB market segments, and segment specific solutions and advisory to position Wells Fargo as the strategic Global Treasury Management partner to CIB clients. Prior to her current position, Joanne led the Technical Solutions and Network Management teams within Wells Fargo’s Global Payment Services group. Joanne has 30+ years of experience in Global and Domestic Treasury Management across various roles, including operations, account relationship management, sales, product, and project management at Citibank, ABN Amro, Deutsche Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland/Citizens Bank. Joanne participates in various industry groups, including SWIFT U.S. Cash & Trade, SWIFT gpi, SWIFT Platform, and SWIFTGO User Groups, CHIPS Business Committee, BAFT Payments Committee, and Euro Bankers Association (EBA).
Kenneth M. Tinsley is the Chief Risk Officer and Senior Vice President of the Office of Risk Management. The Chief Risk Officer is an EXIM Charter-mandated position responsible for, inter alia, all risks to which EXIM is exposed. Pursuant to the execution of his responsibilities, Mr. Tinsley oversees credit policy and compliance, country risk and economic analysis, and enterprise risk management. Previously Mr. Tinsley was the Senior Vice President of Credit and Risk Management, effectively the chief credit officer, and has held a number of management positions in the credit underwriting area.
Mrs. Joanne Tognarelli joined Export Development Can- ada (EDC) from the telecom industry in 2001, and over the years has gained a range of experience in the corporate finance, commercial lending, and insurance businesses in both business development and underwriting functions, across numerous industries and geographies. In 2023, she was appointed to head the Global Business Development and Global Corporate Partnerships teams, which manage relationships across the international markets EDC oper- ates in, as well as with key multinationals with a strong contribution to the Canadian economy. Prior to this, she was the head of the Corporate Lending International team, which manages EDC’s international corporate loan portfolio in support of its global customers, multinationals with a presence in Canada, and in support of Canadian financial investors abroad. Prior to this, she held a number of Director roles, including that of the Cor- porate Lending, Latin America team.
Barry is the Principal at TransactionBanker.com, a payments consultancy, and is a recognized expert in wholesale banking and the payments industry. He has been involved in payment operations, systems transformations, and modernization related projects for global banks and hardware and software firms for decades. Barry has managed day to day operations, as well as planned, organized, directed, and managed, major banking initiatives for banks around the world. Barry is a current member of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) Payments Committee and Co- Chairs their Payments Roadmap Workgroup. He is a past member of their Board of Directors. He was recognized in 2021 and 2022 as one of two BAFT Ambassadors of the Year. Barry is a former member of the US Faster Payments Council where he served as the Chair of their Cross Border Payments Workgroup and as member of their Operational Considerations Workgroup.
Rogier is the Product Head for Trade & Working Capital at Lloyds Bank, which includes Traditional Trade, Structured Trade Lending, Open Account and Invoice & Asset Finance. His team help large and small businesses access cash, sustainable financing and manage risk as they trade – domestically or internationally. Lloyds Bank are working hard to digitalise Trade to make it more accessible, faster and secure. In addition to his product management, development and innovation responsibilities, Rogier has a strong focus on capital treatment and optimisation and he has been working closely with the ICC UK on the implementation of Basel 3.1 in the UK. Prior to his current role, Rogier held various positions within Lloyds, most recently as the Head of Pricing and Balance Sheet Management in the Transaction Banking division. He joined Lloyds Banking Group in 2009.
Renata Vilanova Lobo is the Head of Global Clearing at J.P. Morgan, being responsible for Clearing infrastructure, product, solutions and services related to cross border payments provided globally. Renata leads the product development, innovation and maintenance, go-to-market strategy, and client messaging of Cross Border Payments solutions globally offered to Financial Institutions and Corporate clients. In this role Renata has responsibility for providing strategic direction, leadership and oversight for the global correspondent banking business, working with J.P. Morgan stakeholders to deliver safe, efficient and innovative cross-border payments solutions. Renata joined J.P. Morgan in 2011 and for almost a decade she focused on building core cash management capabilities and growing the Payments business in Latam (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia). Renata has 25+ years of experience in the financial market, holding various positions leading local and international cash management and liquidity services, from a Product, Risk Management and Sales perspective.
Paul Warfield’s current role is to expand and grow product offerings within global trade products and global treasury services. He joined Huntington National Bank in June of 2021 and has more than 30 years of international banking experience working with trade services, trade finance, foreign exchange, and correspondent banking. Throughout his career he has been focused on looking for innovative solutions and technology enhancements that provide regional banks with competitive solutions. He is an active member with BAFT working on various committees and is past co-chair of the Regional Bank Council and past Board Member.
Moshe joined Traydstream in 2020 and is Global Head of Sales and Implementations for Europe and the Americas. Before joining Traydstream, he was Executive Vice President at Surecomp for over 12 years responsible for sales and pre sales. Moshe has an MSC in Computer Science and an MBA degree from Tel Aviv University and has been a lecturer on Information systems for over 20 years.
Ken Wong is Head of Product Innovation and Partnerships for the Global Transaction Bank at TD Bank. Ken has been in the financial Industry for over 35 years in different business divisions from Consumer Banking to Wholesale Banking with roles from Front Office and Relationship Management to Back Office Operations and Technology. He is a seasoned Treasury, Cash Management, Payments practitioner as well as an innovator with Patents accredited to him. He has extensive international exposure having lived and worked in Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America. Prior to re-joining TD Securities, Ken was Global Head of Payments and Clearing for Standard Chartered Bank; and prior to that he worked for Citibank in the eBusiness group. In 1999, Ken was a pioneer in a payments infrastructure start-up, in partnership with VISA International and Allianz Group, where he designed and built an alternate cross-border / cross-currency clearing system that guaranteed delivery to which he is accredited as inventor in two patents.
Nelli is the Head of Platform Settlement Solutions for the Onyx Digital Payments team at Onyx by J.P. Morgan, where she focuses on product development and structuring related to the the use of Onyx Digital Payments product suite, including the JPM Coin System, as a first-of-its-kind cash on chain solution for a wide range of transactional platforms, including novel digital asset platforms and traditional FMIs. Nelli originally joined J.P. Morgan as an attorney in the Payments Legal department. She was the global legal lead for Payments blockchain initiatives, and led the creation of the legal frameworks for core Onyx products such as the JPM Coin System and Liink. Nelli also led the JPMorgan legal team for the initial establishment of Partior, a blockchain based technology platform.
Katherine Zaveri is Senior Vice President at StoneX Payments, where she specializes in helping financial institutions, corporates, and development organizations make payments around the world. In 2019, Katherine was the first from StoneX to participate in the BAFT Future Leaders Program. Since then, she has spoken on several BAFT panels, speaking on topics ranging from cross-border payments to the future of the workplace in a post-pandemic world. Prior to joining StoneX, Katherine worked under Ray Dalio at Bridgewater. She has lived and worked throughout Latin America and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Roger Burkhardt - is Capital Markets Chief Technology Officer and Co-head of AI at Broadridge Financial Solutions. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerburkhardt/ Roger Burkhardt is a seasoned CTO, CDAO, CEO with twenty years’ experience leading technology transformations. He has a track record in mission critical trading systems technology and accelerating value capture from AI . Roger’s broad industry expertise includes financial services, energy with broad technology experience spanning innovations in AI, big data, agile, mobile, cloud and user experience. Prior to joining Broadridge in November 2021 he spent four years as the co-lead of McKinsey’s AI practice for financial services driving large scale programs in top 4 financial institutions in US and Europe. Before McKinsey, Roger was the CTO of OpenLink Technologies (now part of ION) the largest provider of energy and derivatives processing platforms. Prior to this he founded the CDO role at the NY Federal Reserve Bank and was CEO of Ingres Corporation, a data and analytics company in Silicon Valley. Prior to Ingres, Roger was CTO and EVP at the NYSE where he designed and led the historic digital transformation from floor-based to electronic trading. Before his time at the NYSE, Roger was President at OptiMark Technologies an early “dark pool “ optimizing block trading in US Equities.
David is an advisor to banks and Managing Director in EY’s Financial Services Organization based in Chicago. At EY he leads their Trade Finance and Working Capital Finance practice in North America as well as EY’s Trade Automation Platform solution. David is has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry, primarily in Transaction Banking, including developing new innovative growth strategies, achieving revenue growth, improving efficiencies, deploying leading-edge technology and leading large-scale global transformation programs. He recently led EY’s Trade Finance and Working Capital Finance practice in North America. Previously he held global executive roles in at Citibank and ABN AMRO/LaSalle Bank as well as consulting firms advising the sector. He has served as a Director of bank subsidiaries focused on Trade and was a Founder / Director of the Trade Information Network, an industry consortium designed to improve small to medium-sized enterprise access to funding.
Fred Curry is the leader of Deloitte Advisory's Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Economic Sanctions practice within Deloitte Transactions & Business Analytics LLP. He leads the US team which assists clients in navigating financial crime challenges, from compliance programs improvement and remediation to investigations and responding to regulators and law enforcement and offers a full range of services to financial services companies, card and alternative payment companies, casino and gaming companies, retailers, and federal agency clients.
Idrissa DIOP is the Director Compliance of Afreximbank since June 2019. He before used to be the Group Head Compliance of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the Pan African bank headquartered in Lome, Togo, holding company of the Ecobank group present in 36 African countries, with internal offices in Paris, London, Dubai and Beijing. At ETI, he managed a team of around 180 compliance staff across the Ecobank country platform from June 2011 to his departure to Afreximbank headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. Before Ecobank, he worked during 10 years in Luxembourg where, he handled senior manager compliance roles at Schroder IM (Luxembourg), Amundi Luxembourg and at Societe Generale Bank & Trust (SGBT) as a senior internal auditor. Idrissa started his internal audit career in 1998 in Paris with Amundi France (formally Credit Agricole Asset Management) and has worked with the CIC Est bank (Strasbourg-France) as internal auditor before moving to Luxembourg.
Joanna works in the Strategy & Business Transformation practice for Ernst & Young LLP. She has eight years of experience in financial services, focused on wholesale banking, SWIFT payments, ISO 20022 and cross-border transactions. She excels in managing client relationships and overseeing transformation projects. She has a proven track record of high-performance and timely delivery of quality work products.
Liz Grennan helps organizations de-risk emerging technology by taking a cross-functional approach to ethical, legal, and regulatory issues around topics including digital and analytics, core technology, cloud infrastructure, digital design, quantum computing, and the IoT. Previously, Liz served as the global managing counsel for McKinsey Digital and brings a wealth of legal, risk, and regulatory expertise to her work. She also has a deep interest in the intersection of law and technology and specializes in emerging technologies, ethical AI, intellectual property, data privacy, cybersecurity, and software as a service. In addition to her client and firm work, Liz frequently writes on topics regarding digital trust, AI, and data governance and ethics, including for the World Economic Forum. Liz is a leader of McKinsey’s initiatives related to technology and risk. In addition to her work around digital trust, she is also a member of several firm leadership committees, including the McKinsey’s digital-risk committee.
Peter Hazou is Director of Business Development at Microsoft in the Financial Services Industry team and is responsible for client Corporate Banking and Trade Finance solutions and modernization worldwide. Prior to Microsoft, Peter was a Transaction Banking industry banker for 30+ years in the EMEA region. He was the Regional Head for GTB at HSBC for EMEA as well as the Regional Head for GTS at Citigroup for CEEMEA. He also headed Market Management for Treasury Services at BNY Mellon in London and was Head of Strategy for GTB at UniCredit in Milan. His background is in Product Management for Payments at Chase Manhattan Bank. He began his career in New York as a credit officer in correspondent banking at Manufacturers Hanover Trust.
Galina Klimenko holds the position of Principal Investment Officer at the Financial Inclusion team of Financial Institutions Group at IFC (International Finance Corporation). She is based in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the IFC HQ team, she has served as the hub leader for Central Asia IFC FIG team. Ms. Klimenko has been with IFC since 2009 and has led numerous inclusive, impactful transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Asia. Before that, her record includes working at Credit Agricole Indosuez and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Chicago, as well as the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Galina holds an MBA from DePaul University, Chicago, IL.
Matt Loos is the head of Wires and Clearing Products for the Global Treasury Management group. Matt joined Wells Fargo in his current role in November of 2022. He is responsible for the build out of all wires and clearing products and solutions, ensuring Wells Fargo’s payment transformation meets client and industry innovation requirements. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, att was part of SWIFT’s Strategy leadership team for two years. He was instrumental in SWIFT’s payments strategy, inclusive of market intelligence, new and emerging payments, consumer and small business payments, and the SWIFT Institute. Matt also spent 17 years at J.P. Morgan as a Senior Product Manager for Global Wholesale Payments in Treasury Services. He was the business lead for the product build out of nnovative client payment solutions and constructing a stable payment infrastructure to meet the demands of the changing global payment landscape.
Alexander R. Malaket, CITP, is the President of OPUS Advisory Services International Inc., in Canada, and Founder and Managing Director of Trade Finance Associates Pte in Singapore. Mr. Malaket is recognized internationally as a specialist and senior consultant in international trade and trade finance, having advised top-tier financial services, corporate, government and international institution clients across the globe, and having developed and delivered a variety of training seminars on an international basis. Mr. Malaket serves as a member of the Executive Committee and Technical Advisor to the ICC Banking Commission in Paris, as Secretary/Treasurer of the World Trade Centre in Winnipeg and is a long-time member of the Toronto Regional Board of Trade/World Trade Centre, as well as a member of the SWIFT/ICC Industry Education Group on the Bank Payment Obligation. Alexander is a member of the Board of Directors of the Forum for International Trade Training, Ottawa, Canada. Alexander is the author of “Financing Trade and International Supply Chains”, published by Gower/Ashgate UK.
Suresh Subramanian leads the Transaction Banking Americas business in BNP Paribas' Corporate and Institutional Banking division. The business provides global working capital, cash management and liquidity solutions to all corporate and institutional clients of the bank. Based in New York, Suresh is responsible for business strategy, product management and sales for the activity across North and South America. As a seasoned professional with over 30 years in the industry, Suresh’s expertise and leadership working within BNP Paribas across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas played a pivotal role in driving growth and innovation for the transaction banking business. His wealth of experience and ability to provide insight and guidance has afforded invitations to represent BNP Paribas on a variety of advisory boards, including serving as the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) and a recent appointment to the Board of BNP Paribas Asset Management North America.
Edward Thurman is the Chief Commercial Officer at GSS – Global Screening Services and has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry as a regulator, consultant and in senior management roles within financial institutions. He recently served as Managing Director, Global Transaction Banking and Managing Director, Financial Institutions at Lloyds Banking Group, and prior to that in senior strategy roles at ABN AMRO, McKinsey and Bank of England. Edward is also a Global Board Member for Mind Forward Alliance a global not-for-profit membership organisation.
Barry is the Principal at TransactionBanker.com, a payments consultancy, and is a recognized expert in wholesale banking and the payments industry. He has been involved in payment operations, systems transformations, and modernization related projects for global banks and hardware and software firms for decades. Barry has managed day to day operations, as well as planned, organized, directed, and managed, major banking initiatives for banks around the world. Barry is a current member of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) Payments Committee and Co- Chairs their Payments Roadmap Workgroup. He is a past member of their Board of Directors. He was recognized in 2021 and 2022 as one of two BAFT Ambassadors of the Year. Barry is a former member of the US Faster Payments Council where he served as the Chair of their Cross Border Payments Workgroup and as member of their Operational Considerations Workgroup.
Mr. Tumiwa is ADB's Representative to North America, where he works with the Canadian and United States governments and their agencies, bilateral and multilateral institutions, research and civil society organizations and the private sector, to increase understanding strengthen collaboration and of ADB's work. He was previously the Deputy Representative from 2011 to 2016. Prior to his current position, he was Director, Fragility and Engagement, overseeing the NGO and Civil Society Center which serves as the institutional focal for engagement with civil society, and ADB-wide efforts to improve the success of its operations in the most vulnerable, least-developed, fragile, at risk, and conflict-affected situations, including small island developing states. Mr. Tumiwa was also ADB's Country Director for Afghanistan, managing relations with the government and other development partners and overseeing a portfolio of about $4 billion, focused on agriculture and natural resources, energy, and transport.
Chris Ward is head of Wholesale Payments at Truist. He is responsible for developing and delivering comprehensive and integrated payment capabilities for Truist’s clients. He is intensely focused on continuous payments modernization and application of the latest technology to enhance the client experience and drive new business growth. In Ward’s last role as the executive vice president and head of product management and delivery for treasury management at PNC, he focused on continuous payments modernization and application of the latest technology to enhance the client experience and drive new business growth. Ward held several leadership positions at Capital One, including head of product management innovation and integration for the treasury management business. He has led strategic product development and commercialization initiatives to drive revenue growth, ensure customer retention and enhance customer satisfaction. Previous experience also includes 11 years at Wells Fargo.
Craig Weeks is the Senior Vice President – Trade for the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT). Craig is also a Transaction Banking subject matter expert for Fitch Learning and an Executive Practicum Adviser of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative of North Carolina State University. Craig served as SVP and Manager of the International Banking Group of US Bank as well as serving at Citibank and JPMorgan as Global Trade Sales Head for both institutions. Craig worked for Continental Grain Company, in New York, as Assistant Treasurer for Bank Relations, and in Geneva, Switzerland as Trade Finance Risk Manager. Craig has a Masters of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management (Glendale, AZ) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dickinson College, (Carlisle, PA) where he is an Emeritus Trustee. Craig also studied at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (Medellin, Colombia). Craig was a board member and former Chair of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT). Craig is a Disaster Services volunteer for the American Red Cross Serving Western North Carolina and an avid hiker and golfer. He and his wife Lorraine reside in Weaverville, NC USA.
BAFT is delighted to introduce the inaugural edition of the BAFT International Trade and Payments Conference. With the increasing interplay between trade and payments, we are uniting thought leaders, trade professionals, and payments experts for an exceptional gathering from February 27 – 29, 2024 in Washington, DC.
This conference is a combination of our Annual Conference on International Trade and our Global Payments Conference, attracting over 300+ trade and payments professionals from across the world.
Benefits |
Platinum |
Gold |
Silver |
Thought Leadership |
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Speaking opportunity in event programming | Yes (General Session) | Yes (General Session) | Yes (Trade or Payments Track) |
One-page flyer for conference registration desk | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Event Registrations and Lead Generation |
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Complimentary registrations | 4 in-person | 3 in-person | 2 in-person |
Event Attendee List with Email Contact Information (pre- and post-event) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Marketing and Branding |
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Custom giveaway to all attendees | Yes | – | – |
Pull-up banner in registration area for the duration of conference | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Table-top display | Yes | Yes | – |
Logo featured on event website, registration page and confirmation email | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Recognition as sponsor during event introduction and event PPT presentation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Logo included on all email communications and any recordings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The 2024 International Trade and Payments Conference will be held February 27 – 29 at the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia. Easily access the area’s best offerings, from high-end shopping and renowned restaurants at the attached Tysons Galleria, to iconic attractions in nearby Washington, DC.
The venue has convenient metro access at Tysons Station connecting you to Washington DC, and nearby areas within Northern Virginia and Maryland. The hotel is located 12 miles from Washington Dulles International Airport, 15 miles from Ronald Reagan National Airport, and 15 miles from Union Station.
Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner
1700 Tysons Blvd
McLean, Virgina 22102
United States
We have reserved a block of rooms for BAFT conference attendees at a special room rate of $299 + tax. Rooms are limited, book by February 13, 2024 to guarantee your room and special room rate.
You may make your guest room reservation directly with the hotel using one of the two options below:
The room may be canceled directly with the hotel up to 72 hours prior to arrival without any penalty. Please note the hotel will charge a one-night room rate and taxes if the guest requests an early departure after check-in.
Additional fees (as applicable): On-site/valet parking $49 USD daily rate.
“This forum enables networking with peers at other FIs and helps keep abreast with the latest industry developments. It also helps us to understand what the tech partners are working on in the Payments space.”
New York City, New York
“Coverage of new and emerging topics tied to trade finance was interesting. The coverage of AI, fintechs, compliance, and other non-trade finance themes was worthwhile.”
Dansbury, Connecticut
“The topics were interesting and relevant, the speakers engaging and informed, and the networking aspect was beneficial.”
Los Angeles, California
“The panelists were fantastic. I brought a lot of good information back to my organization.”
Jersey City, New Jersey
“The agenda was robust and filled with topics that are critical to the emerging payments landscape. ”
Atlanta, Georgia
“This was my first time at a BAFT conference. I found the presentations to be very engaging and well-run and the networking opportunities were the right balance of fun and useful. ”
Denver, Colorado
“It was easy to connect with other attendees and speakers both in-person or virtually.”
Houston, Texas
Interested in sponsoring the 2024 BAFT International Trade and Payments Conference? We can tailor your sponsorship package to meet your goals.
To discuss your sponsorship options, please contact:
Matthew Kaitz
Director, Business Development
[email protected]
+1 (703) 200-9071
© 2025 BAFT (Bankers Association for Finance and Trade)