Events

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 is a Vice Chair on the ICC Banking Commission where he both sponsors and chairs the Commercialisation Working Group. In his capacity as chair of this working group Merlin leads several initiatives primarily focusing on the digitization of trade. As of August 2023, Merlin also became a member of the ICC Digital Standards Initiative Advisory Board. Alongside his role at the ICC, Merlin Dowse is an Executive Director and a Global Product Manager within the Core Trade Product team. In this capacity, Merlin leads a global team responsible for the management of proprietary and 3rd party digital solutions J.P. Morgan offers across the globe to both Corporate and FI clients. Merlin has over 20 years of experience in banking always with a focus on product development and digitalisation. He is an active contributor to both BAFT and ITFA industry associations and a regular industry speaker on the topics of trade digitalisation and innovation.

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 Banking & Finance practice. Her practice focuses on the global trade finance space, including supply chain finance, open account, 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 spearheaded the global rollout of a trade payables financing program which entailed oversight and supplier set-up and legal due diligence in some 15 jurisdictions and has structured, documented and executed a wide range of seller-centric receivables and drafts/bills of exchange sale programs. 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 and as counsel to Bank of America’s Global Transaction Services Global Trade and Supply Chain Line of Business (2012 to 2017) where Rebecca worked extensively with the business on structuring, documenting, negotiating and providing risk-mitigation strategies for supply chain finance transactions. In this role, Rebecca also advised the Bank on the banking regulatory aspects of supply chain finance.

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 Lead, Trade Strategy based at Singapore. Avanee has over 19 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 19 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.

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 is a managing director in Wells Fargo’s Global Payment Services (GPS) group, serving financial institutions in more than 35 countries around the world. She leads a team dedicated to technical solutions and the development of payments business strategy. Joanne also leads the network management team responsible for enterprise cash nostro accounts and aggregation strategies. Her team deploys global payments business strategies for USD, multicurrency, and treasury/FX payments, to grow the Global Payments franchise, and to broaden and deepen strategic relationships. Joanne’s team brings deep payment product expertise to global payment solutions working closely with the GPS client consultant, relationship management, and global product management teams to help identify and implement enhanced and new solutions.

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 also a member of the US Faster Payments Council where he serves 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 Strategy and Innovation for the Global Transaction Bank at TD Bank that encompasses the Financial Institutions, Cash Management and Trade Finance lines-of-business. He has been in the financial Industry for over 30 years in different business divisions from Consumer Banking to Corporate and Institutional Banking with roles from Front Office Financial Services Sales and Relationship Management to Back Office Operations and Technology. He is a seasoned Treasury, Cash Management and Payments practitioner with extensive experience in the Foreign Exchange integrated Payments and Clearing space. He has extensive international exposure with working assignments in Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America.

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 also a member of the US Faster Payments Council where he serves 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 an independent consultant for organizations needing Trade Finance, Supply Chain, and other Transaction Banking expertise. Craig serves as an advisor to the Global Trade Professionals Alliance, an organization dedicated to the development of international standards to harmonize and facilitate inclusive and trusted Trade. Craig is also an Executive Practicum Adviser within the North Carolina State University Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (and a member of the SCRC Advisory Board). Craig is an Advisory Board member of the Falcon Group, a leading inventory management solutions provider and also an advisor to Capital and Credit Risk Manager (CCRM), a Singapore-based FinTech. Craig was appointed as a Senior Advisor to ESG Validation, a London based entity providing the investment community with independent, consistent, and evidence-based assessment of ESG performance. In March 2019 Craig was appointed to the 2019-2020 cohort of the Trade Finance Advisory Council (TFAC) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Craig served as SVP and Manager of the International Banking Group of US Bank where his responsibilities included managing the Trade Finance, International Financial Institutions, and Supply Chain Finance teams. Prior to US Bank, Craig was President and CEO of IRIA (US) Inc., a subsidiary of a Swiss-based specialist broker of commodity-related structured credit, and political risk, insurance products. Craig’s experience includes 4 years at Citibank and 14 years with JPMorgan where he served as MD and Global Trade Sales Head for both institutions.