Committees and Working Groups

Name	Description	Participation	Staff Contact
BAFT - Asia Payments Committee	The Asia Payments Committee monitors and addresses national, regional, and global payments issues, especially those involving high-value, cross-border payments. The committee follows compliance requirements related to payments, including AML/CFT and sanctions. It covers significant changes to payments formatting and processing. The committee also discusses the development and management of funds transfer products. The committee interacts with the key messaging and payment system operators to ensure it keeps abreast of and communicates changes in their processes, rules, and standards. The committee assists the industry in the formulation of policy positions and shares industry best practices related to payments.	Open to BAFT Members. Meets monthly.	Deepa Sinha ([email protected])
BAFT - Asia Trade Finance Committee	The Asia Trade Finance Committee addresses the interests of BAFT Asia-based members seeking to optimize the role they play in supporting their clients’ open account and traditional trade finance activities. This includes trade financing, transaction processing, payments, and associated regulatory compliance concerns. The committee provides the opportunity for participants to engage in dialogues on market practice and develop best practices within the banking industry that can be leveraged across stakeholders in trade finance. Participation: Open. Meets every other month.	Open to BAFT Members. Meets every other month.	TS Shankar ([email protected]) Scott Stevenson ([email protected])
BAFT - Commercial Letters of Credit Committee	The Commercial Letter of Credit Committee focuses on issues and responds to questions that directly impact the processing environment related to commercial letters of credit. The committee provides comments on various ICC rules, practices and queries related to commercial letter of credit operations. The Commercial LC Committee also develops input, case study material, speakers and oversight to the LC workshops as well as applicable participation in conference sessions on Trade. Additionally, the committee supervises and supports the on-going work of the regional sub-committees: West Coast Letters of Credit, Southeast Letters of Credit, and Central Letters of Credit.	Subject to eligibility. Meets monthly. Participation in Regional Subcommittees open to BAFT Members.	Scott Stevenson ([email protected])
BAFT - Financial Crimes Committee	The Financial Crimes Committee monitors and addresses financial crimes issues related to payments, transaction banking and trade including sanctions, compliance and regulatory requirements. The committee interacts with key global regulators and network providers to ensure members are kept abreast and updated on changes in processes, rules and standards. The committee assists in developing industry positions and shares best practices as they relate to the mitigation of financial crimes. The committee is the primary provider defining advocacy initiatives and commenting on policy positions and questions.	Open to BAFT Members. Meets monthly.	Deepa Sinha ([email protected])
BAFT - Global Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy Committee	The Global Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy Committee provides subject matter expertise to BAFT staff on legislative and regulatory matters important to the general membership of BAFT. Participation: Open to all members who lead regulatory or government affairs. Meets on an ad hoc basis.	Open to BAFT members who lead regulatory or government affairs. Meets on an ad hoc basis.	Tod Burwell ([email protected])
BAFT - IBOR Transition Working Group	The IBOR Transition Working Group assesses the implications of IBOR transition for transaction banking and develops industry priorities to present to reference rate committees across various geographies. Meets on an ad hoc basis.	Open to BAFT Financial Institution Members. Meets on an ad hoc basis.	Tod Burwell ([email protected])
BAFT - Legal Advisory Group	The Legal Advisory Group provides legal advice for the vetting and creating of products and ideas that affect the industry. The group provides advice on how and whether to proceed on various projects and initiatives and advance the discussion on industry best practices. Meets on an ad hoc basis.	Meets on an ad hoc basis.	Tod Burwell ([email protected])
BAFT - Membership Committee	The BAFT Membership Committee is established under the aegis of the board of directors, and is responsible for oversight of membership policy, development of member recruitment and retention strategy, approval of new members, and guidance regarding changes to membership benefits or dues.	Subject to eligibility. Meets quarterly.	Nancy Monahan ([email protected])
BAFT - Payments Committee	The Payments Committee monitors and addresses national, regional, and global payments issues, especially those involving high-value, cross-border payments. The committee follows compliance requirements related to payments, including AML/CFT and sanctions. It covers significant changes to payments formatting and processing. The committee also discusses the development and management of funds transfer products. The committee interacts with the key messaging and payment system operators to ensure it keeps abreast of and communicates changes in their processes, rules, and standards. The committee assists the industry in the formulation of policy positions and shares industry best practices related to payments. Finally, the committee oversees and updates the BAFT Interbank Compensation Rules.	Subject to eligibility. Meets monthly.	Deepa Sinha ([email protected])
BAFT - Standby Letters of Credit/Guarantees Committee	The Standby Letters of Credit Committee is an operations-oriented committee focused on issues that directly impact the daily processing environment related to standby letters of credit. The committee provides comments on all ICC rules, practices, and queries related to standby letter of credit operations.	Subject to eligibility. Meets monthly.	Scott Stevenson ([email protected])
BAFT - Structured Trade/Export Finance Committee	The Structured Trade/Export Finance Committee focuses its efforts on structured trade finance, commodity finance, international credit risk developments, legislation and export credit agency actions that could impact the members’ ability and willingness to finance structured trade transactions. The committee’s work focuses on trade finance products, export credit agencies, activities of the international financial institutions, such as members of the World Bank group, and private insurance.	Open to BAFT Members. Meets quarterly.	Scott Stevenson ([email protected])
BAFT - Supply Chain Finance Committee	The Supply Chain Finance Committee plays an integral part in defining the role of global financial institutions in the banking aspects of the global supply chain by aligning financial supply chain strategy to business strategy. The committee’s mission is to identify early issues of importance to trade bankers and attempt to shape those issues to support the strategies of commercial banks.	Open to BAFT Members. Meets every other month.	Scott Stevenson ([email protected])
BAFT - Sustainability Working Group	In 2021, BAFT launched a Sustainability Working Group to address the needs for standards, tools, education, and policy advocacy on behalf of the industry. To address these challenges, the working group will be developing resources, training and best practice standards to promote sustainability across the trade finance and global payments industry. The working group is focusing its efforts in five work streams: developing standards for sustainable transaction banking, principles on how to apply ‘Net Zero’ to transaction banking, guidance on sustainability reporting, advocacy and education on sustainable transaction banking, and defining an industry approach for full spectrum of ESG – beyond the “E”.	Open to BAFT Members. Meets monthly.	Tod Burwell ([email protected])
BAFT - Trade Compliance Committee	The Trade Compliance Committee monitors and addresses compliance issues that directly impact the trade finance functions of financial institutions. The Committee assists in developing industry positions and comments on compliance issues affecting Trade Finance. The Committee addresses KYC, AML, OFAC and other sanctions-related matters as they relate to trade finance.	Open to BAFT Members. Meets every other month.	Scott Stevenson ([email protected])
BAFT - Trade Finance Committee	The Trade Finance Committee is a product-oriented committee focused on issues affecting Trade Finance products, standards, best practices, international trade risk developments, and matters affecting the broader Trade Finance community. The committee’s work focuses on traditional trade finance products, supported by the work of the operations committees focused on commercial and standby letters of credit, collections and reimbursements.	Open to BAFT Members. Meets monthly.	Scott Stevenson ([email protected])