Michael Bickers is managing director of BCR Publishing, a UK specialist publishing company dedicated to the provision of in-depth market information on areas of business finance, particularly factoring and supply chain finance, through books, the Internet (factorscan.com) and global factoring conferences. He is author of 12 editions of Factoring in the UK, a market report and guide to the factoring industry in the UK; editor of nine editions of World Factoring Yearbook (published annually by BCR since 1996); publisher of the World Supply Chain finance Yearbook 2010 and 2011 (published by BCR); Editor of Equipment Leasing in the UK (HMSO, 1995); Editor of Venture Capital in the UK (HMSO, 1996); Series Editor, International Business Intelligence Reports (published by the Stationery Office Ltd, 1997 – 10 titles including International Trade Finance, Credit Insurance in the UK and Europe, Securitisation in Europe; Editor and joint author of A Review of Global Trade Finance and the Effects of the Current Financial Crises on Emerging Markets, A report commissioned by the World Bank, December 2008; and creator of factoring news and information portal, www.factorscan.com, published by BCR. His views, opinions and findings have also been printed in leading newspapers and journals.

André Casterman is the founder and Managing Director of Casterman Advisory and advises early-stage fintechs active in trade financing, payments and digital assets. He is a board member of trade-focused fintechs. In addition, he chairs the Fintech Committee at the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA), which focuses on helping banks automate trade finance to establish it as an investable asset class for institutional and retail investors. Prior to this role, he spent more than 20 years with SWIFT leading various technology innovations in inter-bank payments, corporate treasury, and trade finance. During that time, he established an institutional partnership between SWIFT and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and created the first digital trade settlement instrument.

Export Champion at Department for International Trade (DIT) and CEO at Coltraco Ultrasonics

Richard Bishop is Director of Financial & Political Risk at Parker Norfolk. Specialist and an experienced insurance professional with 35 years experience in helping clients to achieve the best protection for the risks they face. Acknowledged expert in the field of Islamic insurance and reinsurance (Takaful/reTakaful)

Marcus is the Co-Chairman of the British Exporters’ Association (BExA) with specific responsibility for the Large Exporter members. He has been the Rolls-Royce representative at BExA since 2013 and was previously Chairman of the Industry Committee. Marcus is the focal point for all of the Rolls-Royce Group’s ECA activity including maintaining Rolls-Royce’s relationship with various government ECA departments, specifically UKEF, US ExIm and GIEK in Norway. He is also responsible for all Customer Financing activity in the Americas and Europe for Rolls-Royce’s aerospace customers and globally for any land based power projects. Following graduation from Manchester University in 1997, with a MEng in Aerospace Engineering, Marcus joined Rolls-Royce on the Graduate Engineering scheme. Since then he moved from Engineering to Finance and has amassed over 15 years’ experience in Customer Financing and Treasury related roles. He obtained an MBA from the Open University in 2004 as part of the Rolls-Royce Management Development Curriculum.

Dr Grace Lordan is an Associate Professor in behavioural science at the London School of Economics. She is an economist by background, and her research is focused on understanding why some individuals succeed over others because of factors beyond their control. In this regard, she has expertise on the effects of unconscious bias, discrimination and technology changes. Grace is also interested in using the techniques of behavioural science to design interventions for firms to promote good conduct, diversity and inclusion and curb biases that creep into high stakes decision making. Grace has advised and given talks to large investment banks and international conferences on these topics. Grace has also led projects to advise commissioners in the UK and policy makers in the EC. At the LSE Grace trains executives in these approaches through her teaching on corporate behaviour and decision making.

Geoffrey Wynne is a partner and head of Sullivan’s Trade & Export Finance Group and the firm’s London office. Recognised as one of the leading trade finance lawyers globally, Geoff advises major trade finance banks and financial institutions around the world on trade and commodity transactions in virtually every emerging market and works on structured trade transactions covering a wide range of commodities. Geoff also acts extensively for industry bodies including BAFT, ITFA and the ICC on documentation and rules promulgated by them in trade finance. He has recently been involved with issues across the trade finance spectrum including the move towards digitising of trade documents. Geoff was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by RFIX in 2024 and is recognised as a leading lawyer by Chambers UK, the Legal 500, UK and IFLR1000.

President at STENN. Dr Kerstin Caroline Braun has 18 years of experience in leading sales organisations for multinational companies focused on financial risk products. She brings proven success in top and bottom line growth and expansion of distribution channels. Dr. Kerstin Carolin Braun is a C-suite executive in corporate financial services with over 20 years of experience, known for driving exponential portfolio growth for multinational companies and expanding their investor base. She excels at building businesses and unlocking value by creating scalable, digitised platforms and developing talent to enhance efficiencies, leverage resources, and amplify brands. Dr. Braun is recognised for her ability to thrive in uncertain environments while maintaining a strong focus on risk minimisation.

Baris Kalay is head of Corporate Sales, Global Payments Solutions (GPS) for Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. He leads a team across the region focused on delivering cash management, working capital, trade and supply chain finance, liquidity, commercial card and transactional FX solutions to a portfolio of APAC headquartered corporate clients, as well as APAC buying centers of global multinationals. Baris joined Bank of America in 2011 in as a director in trade sales and worked in a number of leadership roles in Turkey, Middle East and UK, most recently as the head of Large Corporate Sales, EMEA, based in London. He began his banking career at Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi AS in 1999 and has also held roles at various financial institutions in Turkey, the Netherlands and Russia. He holds a degree in Economics from the Middle East Technical University, Turkey, and an MBA from Koc University, also from Turkey. Baris is based in Singapore.

Mr. Beck has managed the exponential growth of ADB’s Trade Finance Program, and implemented its first supply chain finance business. Prior to joining ADB, he worked for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and was an advisor to the Canadian Minister of Finance. Mr. Beck played a key role in the start-up of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, and was a consultant for USAID in Southern Africa and for a start-up financial institution in Armenia. Mr. Beck is on the Advisory Board of the International Chamber of Commerce Banking Commission, and a member of the WTO Working Group for Trade Finance.

Richard is the Director and Head of Business Development, Marketing and Communications at UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency. Richard joined UKEF after gaining 20 years’ experience in leading specialist teams in project and structured finance, including five years at ‘Global Top 5’ project and export finance institutions. He has a particular specialism in the renewable energy sector, having acted as financing lead or adviser to low carbon projects since the mid-1990s. Other previous positions include Head of Energy & Utilities project finance at Lloyds TSB and Senior Director of the Renewable Energy division at Lloyds Banking Group. In this role, Richard was responsible for building a renewable energy portfolio/market leading franchise in excess of £1 billion, earning him the number one ranking as Lead Arranger of renewable energy projects in the UK between 2010 and 2012. Richard has a BSC (Hons) in Financial Services (First Class) from UMIST and is ACIB and SFA (CF30) qualified.

Persiana is Marketing Executive at Trade Finance Global. Persiana did a joint degree in Economics and Finance at Queen Mary University London and Bocconi University of Milan. Her interests include macroeconomic policy, sustainable development and green finance, central banking, treasury and payment systems.

Trevor is a Chief Technical Strategist at Corpay and an FX Consultant with over 20 years of trading and sales experience. He is also a specialist in commercial FX trading and sales with deep overall knowledge of financial markets servicing clients across the spectrum with a focus on; SME Enterprise Corporates and Wealth Managers/Boutique Investment Providers.

Anabel is the Vice President for Countries and Regional Integration at the Inter-American Development BankShe has worked in the field of economic development for over 30 years, focusing on trade, investment, competitiveness, and the role of the private sector. Her experience spans international organisations, the public sector, consulting, and research. Prior to joining the IDB, she served as Deputy Director-General at the World Trade Organization (2021-2023), where she facilitated trade negotiations and oversaw the divisions of economic research, market access, services trade and investment, and intellectual property. Previously, she was Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (2018-2021) and served as Senior Director of the World Bank’s Global Practice on Trade & Competitiveness (2014-2017). Ms. González has also extensive public sector experience in Costa Rica, the last of it as Minister of Trade (2010-2014), when she played a key role in the country´s pursuit to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), negotiated major free trade agreements and contributed to attracting numerous investment projects. Ms. González has written extensively on trade, investment and economic development, and has presented in over 70 countries across the world. She has also been associated with the World Economic Forum, the T20 Trade, Investment and Growth Task Force, and the Friends of the Multilateralism Group, among others. She holds a master’s degree in international Trade/Business Law and Policy from Georgetown University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Costa Rica.

Mr. Matthias Verbeke is a RegTech leader and CEO of Complidata, an emerging regtech start-up which focuses on A.I.-driven Process Automation Solutions for Compliance. Its key solutions include: Trade Finance Risk Monitoring, AML Optimisation and Corporate KYC Automation. Known for its fully configurable, regulatory compliant and explainable A.I.-driven solutions, Complidata was recently awarded with “Best A.I. Start-up of the Year” at Disummit, Belgium.

Valeria joined DRUM in 2014 and is responsible for managing daily reporting on a wide range of international projects and supporting due diligence investigations. Prior to joining DRUM London Valeria worked for DRUM Moscow, where her main responsibilities included analytics and preparation of due diligence reports. Valeria holds an MSc degree in Economics from University College London and a BA in International Economics from the Russian State University for the Humanities. She is also pursuing a part-time degree in Applied Mathematics.

Todd Davison graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in Accounting and Finance in 2011. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (“ICAEW”) in 2013. His training contract was with Deloitte LLP. Todd spent six years at Deloitte LLP under his training contract. Within this time he worked in Financial Services Audit (statutory audit, internal audit) working with SME owners/Directors and providing value-add services for SMEs, corporates and pension schemes. He then moved into Corporate Finance Advisory (M&A), advising SME owners/Director, Corporates, Private Equity Houses on corporate acquisitions, disposals and strategic consulting. Todd co-founded Purbeck Insurance in May 2016 to provide an insurance solution for Director guarantors, giving them the confidence to access business finance and pursue their growth objectives. The business obtained FCA regulatory approval in February 2017 for Insurance Mediation and in June 2017, obtained Binding Authority approval to provide Personal Guarantee Insurance to SME Director guarantors. Since launch in June 2017, Purbeck Insurance has supported SME Directors on over £40,000,000 of Personal Guarantees. Insurance cover is arranged directly and through a network of over 200 intermediary partners.

Emmanuel Petter is a Philosophy, Politics and Economics student at the University of Warwick. He is part of the TFG Student Writer Programme.