Events

Achraf Abourida joined ING in 2001. He holds the position of Global Head of Trade responsible for the full trade spectrum from L/C’s and Doctrade products to Working capital solutions (Receivables Finance and Supply Chain Finance). Achraf has a strong innovation mindset that reflects the position ING has in the Trade industry. During his 22 years with ING, Achraf has specialized in the receivables finance business where he has been responsible for setting up different business Units across Europe before moving into his current role.

Matthew is a Sustainability subject market expert. In his role as Director, Sustainability Management Consulting, he supports and advises clients across different industries on developing and implementing purpose-driven sustainability programs and strategic solutions to meet their specific challenges. Matthew has more than 20 years of experience in capital markets, focused on structured trading, debt origination and syndication and enterprise risk and regulatory programs. Most recently, he was responsible for initiating and leading the LIBOR Transition Program at a global bank based in Canada.

Samantha Azzarello is an Executive Director and Head of Content Strategy based in New York. She publishes research that synthesizes and curates views related to economics and financial markets from thought leaders across Global Research. Previously Sam was a cross-asset strategist at J.P Morgan Asset Management, and prior to joining J.P. Morgan worked in the Chief Investment Office of Bank of America and as an economist at CME group. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Toronto and a MA in Economics from New York University.

Kalyani Bhatia is the Global Head of Payments & PMI Go To Market in Business Development at SWIFT. Her team of payment and payment market infrastructure experts execute the SWIFT Strategy through data driven prioritization, standardized programmes and global expertise. She is responsible for supporting global business product programmes including gpi, ISO20022, transaction management, SWIFT GO and Instant payments. Kalyani is on the US Advisory Board for Women In Payments and is the Co-Sponsor of the Race & Ethnicity Chapter 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.

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.

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.

Amr Elsolamy is the Global Head of Transaction Banking Group for Arab Bank Plc. Amr comes with 28 years of experience in Wholesale Banking across Corporate Credit, Relationship Coverage, Transactional Banking, and Working Capital Digital Products & solutions within reputable international and regional institutions. Amr started his career at Commercial International Bank Egypt and later held several leadership positions across extended geographies at Citigroup, whereby he was the Head of Global Relationship Banking in Egypt, the Global Head of Transaction Services for North & Francophone West Africa Cluster, followed by Head of GTB for MENA Region out of Dubai, UAE, respectively. Amr had an extensive leadership role with Samba Financial Group in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he held the position of Global Head of Transaction Services & FI Trade for 13 successful years since 2009. Amr holds a number of global achievements and awards such as but not limited to The Citigroup Chairman’s Club Award, EMEA Best Performance Commendation, The Five Stars Trade & Supply Chain Finance Awards . He also holds a Master Degree in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

Vanessa Manning will be responsible for driving further profitable growth across MUFG's Transaction Banking business in EMEA, as well as overseeing the strategic development of the Trade and Working Capital and Cash and Liquidity Management functions. With over 22 years' leadership experience in Global Cash & Trade Management gained from ABN AMRO, RBS, Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank, Ms Manning is also an active member of institutional Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, including UK and European Women in Payments, and is a motivated mentor and mentee within the European Techstar Rise community.

Sriram joined DBS in 2018 as Managing Director, Global Transaction Services. His current remit as Group Head of Product Management covers cash management, liquidity, trade finance and supply chain finance solutions offered by the Bank. With more than 20 years of banking experience spanning across several key international financial hubs, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and India, Sriram spearheads DBS’ digital product initiatives across the region and is responsible for leading overall business performance, strategy and product innovation across the bank’s suite of transaction banking solutions. Prior to joining DBS, Sriram held several senior leadership roles in global banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered covering areas such as corporate banking, transaction banking and trade finance.

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.

Ted Sheen is Standard Chartered Bank’s Head of Clean Tech Americas and joined the bank in 2022. In this role, Ted’s coverage includes renewables, energy storage, electrification, hydrogen, waste/recycling and other decarbonization technologies. Prior to SCB, Ted was at BNP Paribas for 14 years in the Power, Utilities & Renewables coverage team. He has an MBA from Columbia Business School and BBA from University of Tennessee.

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.

Enno’s primary role is to help Surecomp fulfill its mission to enable seamless, sustainable trade for everyone by removing barriers and fostering collaboration. He is responsible for driving Surecomp’s strategic direction to ensure product development is completely aligned with customer needs. A seasoned expert in the field of corporate banking with a focus on cash and trade, Enno joined Surecomp in March 2021. Prior to that he spent five years at leading global management consultancy firm McKinsey. He has also held senior positions at Commerzbank, one of the world’s top 20 trade finance banks. Enno’s command of the trade finance industry and his strong customer orientation are key to enabling customers drive growth through enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, fostering collaboration and improving customer service.