ITFA AMERICAS HOLIDAY EVENT, Dec 2022

By the ITFA Americas Regional Committee

ITFA Americas Chapter hosted a highly successful Holiday Event on December 5^th in New York City at the prestigious Yale Club. The evening kicked off with a 1-hour panel discussion on Commodities led by moderator Anton Posner, CEO and Co-founder of Mercury Group with panellists Kim Cordero from Marsh, Alex Pliskin from JPMorgan-Houston, and Will Tully from Brown Brothers Harriman. With a tongue-in-cheek nod to the then-impending railroad strike, the panel was aptly named “Are Commodity Markets and the Supply Chain off the Rails?” The panel focused on current market challenges related to trade finance and risk management. It was agreed that banks are being more selective about borrowers and the market has seen an overall shift towards lending to corporates versus privately-owned, family businesses involved in commodity trade. The panel also delved into trends in the trade credit insurance market. And not surprisingly, an ESG focus among banks was front and centre during the session. 

The ITFA Americas leadership then gave a ‘shout out’ to certain trade finance “Hall of Famers” in the audience who have laid the groundwork for advancement in our industry and served as a legacy for others to follow. These trade finance pioneers and long-time practitioners included Mike Sullivan, Greg Bernardi, Rick Striano, Cameron Letters, Erich Michel, Derek Hudson, Lynn Galkoski, Renato Schulman, Al Giandomenico, Brendan Herley and Harpreet Mann. The nearly 160 attendees enjoyed a 2-hour networking reception, where they connected with new and old friends over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres all while enjoying the New York City skyline in the background. 

As part of ITFA Americas’ holiday charity initiative, guests brought gifts for children in order to support the charity “Toys for Tots” led by the U.S. Marines. This non-profit foundation donates holiday gifts to underprivileged children in our community. Two marines in full blue dress uniforms attended the event and collected a multitude of toys at the end of the evening.

ITFA thanks to Mariya George, Jim Logan and Cleareye.ai for their generous sponsorship of the event as well as Yale Club Member-Sponsor Mr. Neil Hohmann of Brown Brothers Harriman.