Announcing the ITFA conference speakers in Budapest

The ITFA Board is excited to welcome you at the ITFA Conference in Budapest. With just under one month to go, all final preparations are falling into place. We are pleased to announce that our Chairman Sean Edwards, will be moderating the panel session titled: ” The end of civilisation as we know it or are we back from the brink?’’

Leadership is the single most important quality needed in banking today. Trade Finance faces multiple headwinds – trade wars, the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation, the Basel IV process and many others.

This panel at ITFA 2019 brings together some of the leading practitioners of the modern business: global heads of trade finance and distribution in some of the biggest banks in the world. Covering the globe our panellists are: Daniel Schmand, Masakazu Hasegawa, Surath Sengupta and Minos Gerakaris.

Located in Frankfurt, Daniel Schmand drives Deutsche Bank’s Trade Finance & Lending business. He is responsible for strategy and performance across its full range of products including Trade Flow (encompassing Supply Chain Finance), Structured Trade & Export Finance, Structured Commodity Trade Finance as well as Lending. Daniel also coordinates and oversees the Corporate Bank’s activities in the EMEA region. Additionally, he is the Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Banking Commission. Daniel joined Deutsche Bank in 1987 as a trainee. He holds a Bachelor’s degree of Business Administration as well as executive education at INSEAD and the International Leadership Program at Ashridge, IMD and Duke.

Masakazu Hasegawa joined Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”) in 1987 and served various positions primarily in the International, Corporate & Investment Banking area of the bank with more than twenty years experience in Trade & Structured Finance. He studied at The University of Tsukuba, College of Social Sciences, Japan where he obtained a degree in Bachelor of Social Sciences. Masu is born in Ako City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan on August 20, 1964; he is married with one son.

Surath Sengupta is Managing Director, Global Trade & Receivables Finance at HSBC responsible for Portfolio Management, Distribution, Financial Institutions and Public Sector. His chief responsibilities include capital management, risk, and profitability of trade assets, structuring complex transactions for distribution to a diverse investor base, and driving origination activities for clients across the globe. Prior to this role, Surath was the Head of Trade for HSBC India, and before that he held a multitude of other senior leadership roles across Global, Commercial and Transaction Banking. He is a Chartered Accountant, and has a degree with specialisation in Commerce. Surath loves travelling and is a passionate sampler of local cuisines.

Minos Gerakaris joined the FirstRand Banking group (Rand Merchant Bank) in 2000 and has worked in Custody Services, International Banking, Banking Group Treasury, Global Markets and the Corporate Bank in various management positions. Over the past decade, Minos has been responsible for African bank relationships and the Emerging Market Financial institutions team and in 2010 he was asked to lead the Client Coverage sector responsible for Banks and Development Finance Institutions (FIG) globally. In 2013 Minos was asked to lead the Trade Finance business for the bank. Minos holds a degree in commerce and a post graduate diploma in management. He is a qualified stockbroker and a (non-practicing) member of the South African Institute of Stockbrokers.