2019 BAFT Future Leaders Papers Now Available

The class of 2019 delivered its final projects on four main themes – building collaboration in GTB, current trade dynamics, the future of correspondent banking, and the role of humans in transaction banking during the BAFT Global Annual Meeting in San Diego.

In now its fourth year, the batch of 2019 Future Leaders successfully completed a five-month program which kicked off last January at BAFT’s Annual meeting in London.  This year’s class of 32 individuals from 14 countries and a variety of disciplines within transaction banking, tackled some of our industry’s most relevant issues we face today. Each of the participants engaged in a [virtual] group project with a final report presented to a room-full of 400+ transaction banking senior executives and industry experts during the BAFT Global Annual Meeting – the Americas in San Diego, CA this May.

The mission of the BAFT Future Leaders Program is to engage future leaders in solving common industry challenges. Program objectives include:

  1. Recognizing rising talent in the transaction banking industry
  2. Forming guidance on industry issues from the perspective of future leaders
  3. Building a network of young leaders that will lead the next generation
  4. Providing future leaders exposure to current transaction banking industry leaders
  5. Creating a pipeline of talent that will contribute to industry issues through BAFT

With the support of the BAFT Board of Directors, program sponsors and mentors, the class of 2019 delivered its final projects on four main themes – building collaboration in GTB, current trade dynamics, the future of correspondent banking, and the role of humans in transaction banking.  The papers listed below may be found here.

The BAFT Europe Council Intraday Liquidity Working Group today released an Industry Briefing on Intraday Liquidity Management in Europe.

The BAFT Europe Council Intraday Liquidity Working Group today released an Industry Briefing on Intraday Liquidity Management in Europe. The working group, led by Sandra Laielli van Scherpenzeel at UBS Switzerland AG, formed in September 2017 to examine the increasing importance of intraday liquidity in the daily routine of transaction bankers.

Working Group members, in conjunction with FImetrix, surveyed banks in Europe in order to assess how they had reacted to the market and regulatory pressure of monitoring and reporting on intraday liquidity positions. The survey focused on five key areas:

  • Management of intraday liquidity lines and facilities
  • Charging for intraday liquidity usage and related services
  • Current and future usage of liquidity monitoring tools
  • Investments in liquidity monitoring and forecasting
  • Deposit management

Working Group members reviewed the survey findings in detail and added the expertise of their financial institutions to the analysis to provide a more granular interpretation of the survey findings in a meaningful market context. The survey results, subsequent dialogue among Working Group members and the broader BAFT Europe Council are captured in the Industry Briefing.

The Industry Briefing is available for all BAFT members and can be found in the Library of Documents under White Papers.

BAFT today announced the release of an updated New York law Master Participation Agreement (MPA). The original was drafted more than 10 years ago, and serves as the industry standard for secondary market transactions to facilitate the buying and selling of trade finance-related assets globally.

BAFT, together with ITFA (International Trade and Forfaiting Association), put together a working group of experts to review the existing forms and identify necessary changes based on current market practice. International law firm, Sullivan & Worcester, drafted the modernized New York law MPA form and associated usage guidelines.

The agreement continues to help standardize documentation for trade finance transactions and facilitates the communication around trade finance assets between financial institutions, investors of all types and government bodies globally.

“The revisions to the BAFT MPA continue our efforts to standardize industry documentation, facilitate better transaction efficiency and provide greater consistency,” said Tod Burwell, president and CEO of BAFT.

The updated MPA covers secondary market activities  related to  various types of  trade assets. The document is free for BAFT members and available for purchase for nonmembers. Read More.

BAFT joined with others in the industry to file a letter supporting BSA reform. Read the letter here.

BAFT announced today Mark Garfield of Zions Bancorp will serve as the chair of its board of directors for the 2019-2020 association year.

BAFT announced today Mark Garfield of Zions Bancorp will serve as the chair of its board of directors for the 2019-2020 association year. Garfield and other board officers were elected at BAFT’s Global Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Garfield is the head of global financial institutions at Zions and a long serving member of the BAFT board. He has over 30 years of banking experience, with more than 25 years covering trade finance, foreign exchange and correspondent banking. Garfield has served on the DEC National Advisory Board, Board of the World Trade Center (Utah), and Chair of the Utah District Export Council.

“I am excited about the opportunity to serve as the board chair for BAFT,” said Garfield. “I have seen the organization grow over the years and look forward to continuing the tradition of serving as a leading voice for the global transaction banking industry.”

BAFT board officers include:

  • Vice Chair: Raffaele Martino, Intesa Sanpaolo
  • Secretary / Treasurer: Stephanie Wolf, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Other directors include:

  • Vivek Gupta, ANZ
  • Tod Burwell (CEO), BAFT
  • Ziad Ghosn, BankMed
  • Keith Mackie, Barclays
  • Suresh Subramanian, BNP Paribas
  • John Ahearn, Citi
  • Patrick Gmür, Credit Suisse
  • Miriam Ratkovicova, Deloitte
  • Ulf-Peter Noetzel, Deutsche Bank
  • Serena Smith, FIS Global
  • Amy Sahm, Fulton Financial
  • Patricia Gomes, HSBC
  • Jan-Willem Sudmann, Mashreq
  • Steve Lotito, MUFG
  • Jonathan Elkins, National Bank of Canada
  • James Peterson, Northern Trust
  • Kimberly Burdette, PNC
  • Bart Timmermans, Santander
  • Tarik Muzaffar, TD Bank
  • Christian Stolcke, UBS
  • F. H. Ahlborn, US Bank
  • Kai Fehr, Wells Fargo

BAFT, an international financial services association, today announced the graduates of its Future Leaders program class of 2019.

WASHINGTON – BAFT, an international financial services association, today announced the graduates of its Future Leaders program class of 2019. The program – now completing its fourth year – recognizes upcoming leaders in the transaction banking industry. The graduates were recognized during the annual BAFT North America Conference in in San Diego.

Nominated by their respective institutions, the class of 2019 included 32 individuals from 14 countries and a variety of disciplines within transaction banking. This year’s group was divided into four project teams to address current industry issues such as the future correspondent banking, the role of humans in transaction banking, trade dynamics, and building collaboration between global transaction banking.

“Through the Future Leaders program, the class of 2019 graduates have taken on leadership roles and helped advance important issues in the transaction banking industry,” said Tod Burwell, president and CEO of BAFT. “This program continues to serve as a way for BAFT to invest in the next generation of banking leadership and solve common industry challenges.”

The class of 2019 began the program at the annual BAFT Europe Bank to Bank Forum in London. Several future leader council members supported the current class as mentors, joining BAFT board members who served as project sponsors.

BAFT congratulates the following graduates from the Class of 2019.

  • Arezu Abedinzadeh, SEB
  • Abdul Aleem, ITFC
  • Rami AlHusari, Arab Bank
  • Media Alimorad, BMO Capital Markets
  • Sylvie Bartelmaos, Banque Libano-Francaise
  • Michael Beispel, Tradeshift
  • Josephine Bergman, Swedbank AB
  • Michael Boede, MUFG
  • Jennifer Couch, PrimeRevenue, Inc.
  • Ryan Dalrymple, U.S. Bank NA
  • Matthew Giannotti, NatWest
  • Anthony Guide, PNC Bank NA
  • Guus Huijgen, Deutsche Bank AG
  • Kerry Jordan, CIBC FirstCaribbean
  • Annina Keller, Credit Suisse
  • René Klose, Commerzbank
  • Luke Kneeshaw, Columbia Bank
  • Ryan Knoll, BNY Mellon
  • Donald Monson, Deloitte, LLP
  • Katherine Mueller, INTL FCStone
  • Rodrigue Nakindavyi, Danske Bank
  • Osman Ansari, JP Morgan
  • Sureen Pannagas, Société Générale
  • Abhijit Patil, State Bank of India
  • Silvio Pestalozzi, UBS AG
  • Joshua Quigley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
  • Chanpreet Sawhney, Wells Fargo Bank
  • Saurabh Sharma, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
  • Gert Sonck, ING Bank NV
  • George Stergianopoulos, HSBC Bank
  • Anton Suphal, RBC Investor & Treasury Services
  • Anthony Williams, Scotiabank

Learn more about BAFTs Future Leader Program here