Authors Page - Trade Finance Global

Robert Terpstra has over 20 years of experience as a senior editor across news, energy, politics, sports, and business desks. He has written, edited, and filed dispatches from 40 countries, serving as a correspondent in the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, the GCC, China, India, Southeast Asia, and Afghanistan-Pakistan. His reporting includes coverage from significant events such as the UN, Olympics, World Economic Forum, Federal Reserve, Champions League, and Global South. Additionally, Robert is skilled in various photography mediums, including conflict, events, travel, sports, wildlife, landscape, portraiture, and architecture.

Sven Olaf Schmidt is the Regional Head of Europe & Americas Trade Finance Operations at Commerzbank AG. A seasoned professional with extensive experience in financial services, Sven specializes in Financial Institutions Sales and Emerging Markets, with proven leadership in establishing new teams and operational units, including Sales, Customer Support, Client Service, and Processing. He is dedicated to leveraging innovative technology to enhance client satisfaction while driving efficiency for service providers. Sven is passionate about leading growth-focused projects to achieve impactful results with his team. He also serves as a Steering Committee member of the ICC’s working group on Sustainable Trade Finance.

Alinea is a term derived from Latin, meaning “a new train of thought.” Holly Piggott joined Alinea Customs as director in 2019. Alinea Customs are a UK customs brokerage and international trade consultancy that provides import and export clearance and have inhouse legal expertise addressing all aspects of UK customs compliance and practice. Holly Piggott has an LLM in International Corporate and Commercial Law, King’s College. On a consultancy basis, Holly Piggott provides corporate and commercial advisory addressing areas related to the international sale of goods including Incoterms, quotas, rules of origin, special procedures such as temporary admission, fluorinated gas regulation, carbon emissions regulation, cultural heritage laws, sanitary and phytosanitary controls, market conformity, and indirect taxation to businesses. She is a regular editorial contributor to Trade Finance Global, a member of SIITACE, and an Ambassador for E2E and OWIT UK. She was nominated in the ‘Women In Maritime’ category in the ‘Women in Trade, Treasury and Payments 2023’ campaign by Trade Finance Global, was an invited speaker on ‘Exporting for Growth’ in the House of Lords, and participated in the Border Innovation Hub lead by the Cabinet Office.

Grant Hunter is BIMCO’s Director for Standards, Innovation and Research investigating the future of the shipping business to help BIMCO deliver digitalised products and services to members and the wider industry. He has worked in the shipping industry for over 40 years. Grant began his shipping career at sea in 1978, followed by eight years working ashore in the commercial and operations department of P&O Bulk Shipping in London. He has worked for BIMCO since 1997 – the past 25 years as Head of Contracts and Clauses. Grant has a Masters degree in Maritime Policy and Law from the London School of Economics (LSE).

Ben Ellis is the global head of Visa B2B Connect. In this role, Ben leads the ongoing growth and evolution of Visa B2B Connect. Launched in 2019, Visa B2B Connect is a net new, open network that allows banks and their business clients to send and receive high-value cross-border business payments to more than 100 markets quickly, securely and at a lower operational cost.    Prior to this role, Ben served as the global head of strategy for Visa Business Solutions, a team that brings to life innovative products and solutions to Visa’s clients and partners who support businesses of all sizes – from SMBs to large multi-national corporations – and governments around the world. Previously, Ben helped expand Visa’s consulting and analytics capabilities and managed Visa’s enterprise risk team.   Prior to joining Visa, Ben was a partner in McKinsey & Company’s financial services practice. At McKinsey, Ben’s work focused on helping financial institutions drive growth and improve profitability, all while managing the risk associated with doing so. He spent significant time serving clients in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil.    Ben holds a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.S. in Economics from MIT, and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.  He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two kids.  

Glee Baniago is responsible for the TFG Weekly Trade Briefings and content at Trade Finance Global.

FX & Macro Strategist at Western Union Business Solutions.  

Buddy Baker is Vice President in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Chicago, IL, and US representative to the ICC Banking Commission.

Pradeep Taneja is the founder member and Chairman of ICC Bahrain Trade Finance Forum, Board member and Co-Chairman of ICC Bahrain. Pradeep retired as Group Head of Trade Technical Services with Bank ABC, Bahrain and now has his own consulting firm, Taneja Global Trade Consulting WLL. Pradeep has served in the Banking / Trade Finance industry for close to 40 years, then retired as Group Head of Trade Technical Services with Bank ABC to set up the Trade Finance Consulting Company, “Taneja Global Trade Consulting WLL”, a specialist company incorporated under the Laws of Bahrain. The company is engaged in providing Trade Finance related advisory / consulting and training services to banks, import-export corporate/MSME companies, law firms, audit firms etc. Taneja is a member of: 1. ICC Banking Commission Paris 2. ICC Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG 758) Drafting Group 4. ICC-ITFA joint Drafting Group for Uniform Rules for Forfaiting (URF 800) 5. ICC UCP 600 Consulting Group 6. ICC International Task Force on Guarantees 7. ICC International Standard Demand Guarantee Practice (ISDGP) Drafting Group 8. ICC Financial Crime Risk & Policy Group 9. ICC Task force on Forfaiting, now ICC Global Supply Chain Finance Forum 10. Middle Eastern Regional Advisory Council of Institute of International Banking Law & Practice, USA

Daniela Santos is the Marketing Assistant at Trade Finance Global (TFG). She holds a BA in Politics and Economics from the University of Leicester and an MSc in International Business and Politics from Queen Mary, University of London.

Kimarie Cheang is a  dispute resolution partner in Watson Farley & Williams’ Singapore office specialising in international trade, commodities, maritime and energy matters. Triple-qualified in Singapore, Hong Kong and England & Wales, she is a litigation specialist and handles matters relating to international trade and transportation, oil and gas, mining and commodities, shipbuilding, offshore and construction, technology and insurance. She has been involved in several substantial arbitrations in Singapore, London and Hong Kong. Prior to joining Watson Farley & Williams, Kimarie worked in the commodities department of a leading international law firm in Hong Kong and Singapore. She has in-depth industry knowledge, having completed a number of secondments in her previous tenure at an oil and gas company, an international commodities trading company, a Norwegian P&I Club and an international mining company.

Kelroy James is a Supply Chain professional, and a Percy Hobart Innovation Fellow in the Royal Navy. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Logistics and Operations Management, Micro Masters in Predictive Analytics using Python, and is a recent DeFi Talent with Frankfurt School Blockchain Center. He has an interest in Blockchain applications in Supply Chains, Trade Finance, and Digital Identity.   

James Hookham is the Secretary General and a Director of the Global Shippers Forum, globalshippersforum.com, the voice of cargo owners in international supply chain. He is a graduate in Environmental Science from the University of Bradford and completed a Masters degree in the safe transport of dangerous goods from the University of Manchester. James was previously Deputy Chief Executive at the Freight Transport Association (now Logistics UK) and has held several positions on UK and EU transport advisory bodies.

Jane Marsh works as an environmental writer, covering topics such as net zero and renewable energy. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania, where she grew up between urban landscapes and expansive farms, fostering a deep connection with the outdoors. She has spent over four years as the Editor-in-Chief of *Environment.co*, an online publication dedicated to environmental science and policy, sustainable living, energy, and agriculture. As a writer, she has contributed to numerous platforms, including *BOSS Magazine*, *EP Online*, *Energy Central*, and *Manufacturing.net*.

Susan Hawley is the executive director of Spotlight on Corruption. Dr Susan Hawley is an anti-corruption expert who has researched and campaigned on the UK’s role in facilitating global corruption for over 20 years. Her work has included taking the UK Export Credits Guarantee Department to court for weakening anti-bribery procedures, challenging the decision to drop the investigation into the BAE/Al Yamamah scandal, working to secure aid funding for international anti-corruption enforcement in the UK, and being part of efforts to ensure that corporate liability was included in the Bribery Act. She is a founder of Spotlight on Corruption, having previously worked at Corruption Watch UK, The Corner House and Christian Aid on corruption issues.

Luca Castellani is a legal officer in the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). After graduating in law in the University of Torino, he received a doctoral degree in comparative law from the University of Trieste and a master in international law from New York University. He joined the Office of Legal Affairs of the secretariat of the United Nations in 2001 and the UNCITRAL secretariat in 2004, where he works in the areas of international sales and of electronic commerce. As secretary of UNCITRAL Working Group IV (Electronic Commerce), he oversaw the preparation of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records. He is also active in the field of paperless trade facilitation and has contributed to drafting the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific. From March 2012 to November 2013 he was assigned as first Head of the UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, located in Incheon, Republic of Korea. He has published several articles and other materials on international trade law and comparative law, namely sale of goods, electronic commerce and trade law reform in developing countries.

Sean has been the driving force behind the strategic direction and technological breakthroughs which have driven VERIDAPT forward over the last 20 years to develop its world leading fluid management solutions. Sean now works to apply VERIDAPT’s capabilities to new opportunities and technology developments in commodity monitoring in energy, ag and metals and supply chain decarbonisation strategies.  

As CEO, Founder Member and Senior Executive of Ship4wd, Carmit Glik is at the forefront of digital transformation in the global freight industry. She brings more than 23 years of industry experience, working with startups and large multinational enterprises alike, covering strategic supply chain management, digital transportation, and freight forwarding solutions. Learning from her extensive career in an array of internationally located supply chain roles, she sought to find a new way to do things—a better way that placed small- and mid-sized emerging enterprises at the centre of the shipping equation. Prior to Ship4wd, Carmit served as an Advisory Board Member at theDock, Europe CEO and Managing Director at Cogoport, Director Global Head of Sales at Damco (14+ years in various roles). In these roles, she established operations and new businesses in multiple countries, including China, Italy, Denmark, and the Netherlands.  Carmit holds a Global Executive MBA from INSEAD, as well as a BA in economics from Tel Aviv University and graduate of Maersk International Shipping Education (MISE) in Denmark, Copenhagen, a prestigious program focused on building broad international shipping knowledge and developing future leaders of A.P. Moller Maersk Group, a well-respected Fortune 500.