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Fostering Growth Through Connectivity
Be a part of the leading bank-to-bank forum in the MENA region, where senior bank executives and leaders in transaction banking, trade, and payments converge to shape the future of the industry. The 2025 BAFT MENA Bank-to-Bank Forum, set for January 21-22, 2025, in Dubai, UAE, will focus on the most pressing issues in the Middle East and North Africa’s financial landscape.
This year’s theme, Fostering Growth Through Connectivity, underscores the critical role of collaboration and innovation in driving sustainable business growth. As banks work together with fintechs, non-bank partners, and regulators, and harness the power of advanced technologies such as AI and tokenization, they open new pathways for regional and global expansion.
Throughout this two-day event, participants will engage in these insightful discussions and benefit from valuable networking opportunities and dedicated time for bank-to-bank meetings, ensuring meaningful connections and actionable insights to help drive business growth.
This year’s conference highlights:
Call for Speakers Now Closed
The call for speakers is now closed. We received an overwhelming number of submissions. We appreciate your patience as we review these submissions. We will revert with our decision no later than the first week in December.
All times are in Gulf Standard Time (GST)
10:00 - 18:30
10:00 - 15:00
12:00 - 15:00
13:00 -15:00
15:00 - 15:30
15:30 - 16:00
Raja Al Mazrouel
CEO
Etihad Credit Insurance
16:00 - 16:45
Hear from the industry’s global bank heads and executives on macro-level transaction banking trends in the region and globally. Discussions will cover changes in business flows, the evolving regulatory landscape, regional trade flows, strategies for navigating risks, and leveraging the region’s potential growth and emerging opportunities for FIs to innovate and bridge new economic gaps, given these changes.
Moderator
Najma Salman
Managing Director, Co-Head Cash and Trade FI – Middle East & Africa,
Deutsche Bank
Panelists
Sorab Khan
Managing Director, Head-Middle East & Africa
Financial Institution Group Sales
Payments & Co-Head of MEA Payments
J.P. Morgan
Sally Al Nammari
Global Head of Transaction Banking
Arab Bank
Sanjay Sethi
Senior Managing Director
Head of Global Transaction Banking
First Abu Dhabi Bank
16:45 - 17:30
A 2-way conversation between Sustainability leaders in MENAT with 4 main discussion points (1) MENA’s Current position vis-à-vis the Rest of the World when it comes to sustainability (2) Financial Inclusion as a Key initiative to growth in the Region & to become an ESG champion (3) Are Digitization & AI friends of the ESG agenda or taking away the focus from ESG – Use Cases (4) Transaction Banking possibilities in Payments and Trade for sustainability
Shargill Bashir
EVP & Chief Sustainability Officer
First Abu Dhabi Bank
Ian McCallum
Chief Sustainability Officer
Bank ABC
17:30 - 18:30
All times are in Gulf Standard Time (GST)
08:00 - 09:30
9:30 - 9:45
9:45 - 10:15
10:15 - 10:55
Explore how banks can improve their client journey by delivering innovative solutions through fintech collaboration.
Moderator
Daniel Szmukler
Director
EBA
Panelists
Ben Ellis
Senior Vice President, Global Head of B2B Connect
Visa
Jenni Himberg-Wild
Head of FI & Fintech
Barclays
Amanda Howkins
Global Head – Sales and Partnerships Customer Success
Form3
10:55 - 11:20
11:20 - 11:50
11:50 - 12:30
An insightful panel discussion on the evolving landscape of the cross-border payments industry. This session will delve into the pressing challenges and opportunities faced by banks in the realm of correspondent banking. The world of payments is being reshaped by new technology, migration to ISO20022 standards and advent of domestic instant payment infrastructures. There are new regional market infrastructures, as well as a push towards interlinking the domestic ones. New forms of value transfer like CBDCs and tokenization are keeping the futurists busy, and new segments like gaming industry demand a new approach. Then there are the realities like complexities regulatory compliance, high operational costs, and the risks that banks and payment service providers must navigate. Between the immediate demands for transformation and long term future of money – how are banks prioritizing? How do payment service providers build scale while continuing to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve security in cross-border transactions? Can we as a community work together to shape the future of cross-border payments in our region?
Moderator
Huny Garg
Executive Director
Country Head – KSA
Swift
Panelists
Anne-Fleur Felissent
Global Head of Sale for Cash Clearing
Societe Generale
Jean-Claude Ngaboyisonga
SVP, Correspondent Banking
StoneX
12:30 - 15:30
13:00 - 14:00
An open forum on business growth and partnership facilitated by select members of the BAFT Africa and MENA Councils. Participants learn and engage in an open dialogue on topics of interest to both regions. All conference attendees are welcome to attend.
Facilitators
Ayaz Kamlani
MD & Head of GTB Financial Institutions – Sales –
Global Transaction Banking
First Abu Dhabi Bank
Oscar Sanz-Paris
Deputy CEO, Head of CIB and Secretary of the Board
CQUR Bank
May Wafa
Head of Sub-Saharan Africa FIG
JP Morgan
15:30 - 16:10
Leveraging digital technologies to streamline trade finance processes, enhance efficiency, and reduce costs for businesses in MENA.
Moderator
Chris Southworth
Secretary General
ICC-UK
Panelists
Dominic Broom
SVP Working Capital Technology
Arqit UK
Kirsty Garrett
Global Head of Sales
Crown Agents Bank
Rohini Kamath
UAE Head of Global Trade Solutions
HSBC
Sinan Ozcan
Senior Executive Officer & Board Director
DP World Trade Finance
16:10 - 16:55
Stay for this one-of-a-kind, highly interactive closing session delivered by a CX influencer! This session is like no other – a unique blend of customer experience educational talk and a rock musical performance in one. As a bonus, one lucky conference attendee will win a special prize guitar at the end of the session. Don’t miss this must-attend session and avoid catching the FOMO bug.
Featuring
James Dodkins
Customer Experience Rockstar
*** At the end of this riveting session, there is a special prize giveaway awaiting a lucky attendee ***
17:00
| Registration Type | Early Bird Rate (Until December 13, 2024) |
Regular Rate (from December 14, 2024 – January 3, 2025) |
Last Minute Rate (After January 3, 2025) |
| Member | $550 USD | $650 USD | $750 USD |
| Non-Member | $775 USD | $875 USD | $975 USD |
Please Note:
You will be asked to log in to your BAFT web account to complete registration. Your username is the email address you used during registration. If you forgot your password, please click the password reset link. If you do not have a BAFT web account, please create one first. Once you have created an account or reset your password, please return to this registration page to complete your registration.
To register for this event, please login or register for an account.
Raja Al Mazrouei, an accomplished leader in the world of finance and technology, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), where her visionary leadership has been instrumental in reshaping the landscape of trade credit insurance and bolstering the UAE's position as a global trading powerhouse.
As the Global Head of Transaction Banking at Arab Bank, Sally Al Nammari leads teams that are responsible for developing and delivering the strategy for Transaction Banking, including digital channels, liquidity management, payments and receivables, trade services and trade finance.
Dominic Broom is an experienced fintech and transaction banking executive. He has worked in financial services for over 30 years, predominantly at global banks such as JPMC, ABN AMRO and BNY Mellon, where he was EMEA Head of Treasury Services from 2011 to 2019. He specializes in helping businesses assess their trade and supply chain finance needs, and optimize their working capital.
'Customer Experience Rockstar', host of Amazon Prime’s ‘This Week in CX’ and the UK’s #1 CX Influencer, James Dodkins will share stories, ideas, frameworks and mindsets that will guarantee that you turn your customer experience up to 11.
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.
Anne-Fleur FELISSENT is Global Head of Sales for Cash Clearing since 2022. She joined Societe Generale in 2006 in the International Audit Division, where she held different positions, before moving to Global Transaction Banking in 2012. As Corporate Cash Management Global Sales, she was in charge of Large Corporates for Media & Telco, and Insurance. In 2018, she joined the Cash Clearing business line, first as deputy Head of sales for Western Europe, with a focus on French-based banks, then as Head of Sales for Western Europe and Americas in 2019.
Jenni is the Head of Financial Institutions, FinTech and Broker Dealers for Barclays Europe. Based in Frankfurt, she leads a pan European team of dedicated coverage bankers who provide cash management, FX risk management, debt and partnership opportunities to a wide range of established and fast growth clients in these sectors.
Sorab is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan and heads the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region for Financial Institutions Payments business. Covering 30+ countries, his team provides innovative payment solutions to Banks, Non-Bank Financial Institutions, Central Banks and Sovereign Wealth Funds.
Jean-Claude joined StoneX in 2011 as a trader for the Payments department. In 2013, he moved to the correspondent banking team focussing on West Africa and MENA regions and, since 2016, has also been leading sales and business development in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, looking after various client segments including FIs that need to move funds across the world.
Sinan has 22 years of experience working in executive roles across various industries, focusing on several areas of banking, financial services & logistics i.e. trade & structured finance solutions, supply chain finance, new ventures and business development. Sinan joined DP World in April 2021, set up DP World Trade Finance where he continues to serve as Senior Executive Officer and Board Director, and globally leads DP World’s Trade Finance arm. In March 2017, he set up Maersk Trade Finance business in UAE, obtained regulatory license, rapidly grew business, and served as Senior Executive Officer, Board Director and Regional Trade Finance Head for Indian Subcontinent, Middle East & Africa region until 2021. Previously, Sinan was Regional Director of UK Export Finance (a British Government Department and the official Export Credit Agency of the UK) for Europe, MENA and Central Asia region, established UKEF’s overseas presence and originated trade & project finance deals. Prior to UKEF, he headed Trade Finance/Financial Services unit of CNH Industrial for Africa-Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. Before CNH, Sinan held the position as Auditor at VakifBank and covered many areas of banking & financial services.
In his current role, Daniel Szmukler is in charge of business development, thought leadership, innovation, events and educational activities. He runs the association’s working groups, the EBA day conference and EBA’s professional training seminars and schools.
Chris Southworth is Secretary General at the International Chamber of Commerce UK and a regular voice for business in the international media. He is also Co-Chair of the Legal Reform Advisory Board at the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, co-founder of the UK Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation and ICC Representative to The Commonwealth. He is a member of the ICC World Council as well as the International Advisory Boards of the Digital Trade Network and Queen Mary-UNIDROIT Institute of Transnational Commercial Law. Chris is a leading international expert on creating modern digital trade ecosystems, the founder of the ICC Digital Trade Roadmap, a member of the global team supporting the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, ICC G7 United Kingdom representative, a member of the ICC G7, G20, Digitisation and Ecommerce Working Groups. He is also a lead independent adviser to the UK government on the digitisation of trade on behalf of industry working with the Department for International Trade, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Her Majesty’s Treasury and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Join the transaction banking community along with others involved in cross-border payments and trade as they gather to discuss key issues and best practices at the 2025 BAFT MENA Bank to Bank Forum. The Forum will focus on pertinent regional topics including correspondent banking and de-risking, Islamic banking challenges and opportunities, the evolving trade and payment landscapes, and regulatory reform within transaction banking.
The MENA Bank to Bank Forum is your opportunity to position your organization as a thought leader amongst 225+ leading bankers and financial services professionals in the region. Network with your colleagues or have uninterrupted meetings with current, prospective and future clients during dedicated bilateral meeting times included in the program schedule.
Interested in sponsoring the 2025 MENA Bank to Bank Forum?
For more information, please contact:
Matthew Kaitz
Director, Business Development
[email protected]
+1 (703) 200-9071
The 2025 BAFT MENA Bank to Bank Forum will be held January 21 – 22 at the Habtoor Palace in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The hotel is centrally located in the landmark lifestyle development on the banks of the Dubai Water Canal and minutes from DIFC, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, and other local attractions.
Habtoor Palace Dubai
Al Habtoor City
Sheikh Al Zayed Road
Dubai, UAE
We pre-negotiated a special number of hotel rooms at a discounted conference attendee price. The Hilton Al Habtoor City is connected to the Habtoor Palace, which provides easy access to the conference room. Book your room early to guarantee your space!
Hilton Al Habtoor City : $255 USD single, $296 USD double
All room prices include breakfast and taxes with cancellation until December 15, 2024.
Need optional add-ons?
Airport transfers can be arranged from Dubai International Airport (DXB) at a charge of $60 USD per car each way, up to 3 adults per car.
Reserve Your Room Today
Download the hotel reservation form to reserve your room and any optional add-ons, then email it to [email protected].
Interested in sponsoring the 2025 MENA Bank to Bank Forum? 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
© 2024 BAFT (Bankers Association for Finance and Trade)
