NEWS FROM SERC - VERONA EVENT

ITFA is very pleased to report another successful Educational Event, which was organised thanks to the revamped Southern European Regional Committee (SERC). A well-attended event which attracted individuals coming from Italy and France, representing ITFA members, as well as non-member entities.  

This Educational Event was held on Monday, 31 October, 2016 at the premises of Banco Popolare, at Piazza Nogara 2, Verona. Following the seminar, an enjoyable reception was held in an informal setting, together with a visit to the Roman Villa. The event was held in both English and Italian and provided a balanced mix of the two languages, so that everybody was able to catch the spirit.

The Educational Seminar started with an opening speech by Barbara Salazer, Manager Trade Finance of Banco Popolare, who emphasized that banks which normally look at one another as rivals were on this occasion, asked to share their knowledge and experience, creating a relaxed environment, having education as a prime and common objective. 

Silja Calac, ITFA Board Member (Head of Insurance Relations and Head of Treasury) and Senior Surety Underwriter at Swiss Re, delivered the first presentation, wherein she briefed the audience about our Association, who we are and our achievements. Silja mentioned the cooperation ITFA currently enjoys with associations like BAFT and ICC, and explained the ongoing collective efforts aimed, for instance at improving the MRPA. She also presented the achievements of the ITFA insurance committee and discussed other active topics and events concerning ITFA.

A second presentation delivered by Lorna Pillow - Senior Vice President, London Forfaiting Company Limited and ITFA Board Member (Head of Communication and Membership), entitled “Trade Finance and Risk Mitigation”, dealt with Trade Finance and touched upon a number of key definitions and articles from the URF800 as well as UCP600. In the second part of her presentation, Lorna addressed Risk Mitigation, discussing in further detail new Insurance Law, CRR, as well as BAFT Risk Participation Agreements.

A panel discussion conducted in Italian then ensued, with Lorna Pillow and Barbara Salazer as moderators, while experts from the top three banks in Italy (Vittorio Ballerio from Intesa Sanpaolo, Stefano Cesari from Unicredit and Roberto Ruffini from Banco Popolare) interacted with the audience. Ettore Santinelli, from UBIBanca contributed to the panel bringing the perspective of a Bank Credit department.

The greatest achievement was detected in the unconditional attention received by the speakers, the contributions and questions from the audience and a kind plea from the Italian smaller banks to make the occasion a periodic event, focussing every time on more specific aspects. The Insurance element attracted a lot of interest by the Italian banks.

Please visit the ITFA Facebook page to view photos of the event.