CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE – Sean Edwards, ITFA Chairman / Head of Legal and Special Adviser to The Global Trade Finance Department At SMBC, Aug 2021

Dear Members and Friends,

A big welcome to this month’s edition of the ITFA newsletter!

Good vibes are still in the air following our successful first in person event, the NERC Summer Event, which we hosted on 12th August. The well attended event, with over 120 participants, was held at the Savage Gardens, London. Certainly, a great catch up between ITFA members, colleagues, professionals, and, old and new friends, enjoying business discussions as well as swapping lockdown stories, after such a long absence. The video recording and event photographs can be accessed via the member area on our website.  Thanks once again to the great panelists, the sponsors, the organisers and to all those who attended.

Naturally, our team’s focus now shifts towards our next physical event…our much-awaited Annual Conference. Our speakers and panels are in place and we’re finalising the dinners and entertainment – there will be no disappointments on both counts! With less than 2 months to go, may I take the opportunity to remind you to register at the earliest. I’m glad to report that we have already received a fairly good number of registrations and counting! The Early Bird rates are now closed and the standard rates apply. Important to mention that given the current Covid situation, hotel rooms at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel are on a first come first served basis.

If rooms do run out, you will then need to book using the local delegate rate and plan your own accommodation. This, unfortunately, will prove to be a more expensive option and one which we’d like to avoid at all costs, as having everyone together in the same hotel is what truly makes our conferences special in so many ways.

We are close to finalising the programme which is regularly being updated on the conference website.  We have secured a good number of top speakers, covering a vast range of topics, from Fintech to Insurance to LIBOR transition to ESG, and much much more! Keep tuned for further updates.

Some more positive updates – according to the recent UK Government Covid regulations, people who have been fully vaccinated in the EU or US will not need to quarantine when coming to England from an amber list country, although travellers would still need to take either a lateral flow or PCR test pre-departure and a PCR test on the second day after they land. The change came into force at 04:00 BST on Monday, 2nd August 2021. Whilst we urge you to keep following, we will of course keep you posted should any other important updates be released.

In this edition of the newsletter, Andre Casterman – ITFA board member and chair of the ITFA fintech committee – contributes an interesting article on the ITFA fintech developments, titled: ‘Summer update on our Fintech Initiatives’. Dr Rebecca Harding, CEO Coriolis Technologies, gave her input on the ‘Imperative of sustainability‘. Shannon Manders, ITFA Consultant, provides a good overview of what was discussed at the ITFA NERC event with an article titled: ‘’Top takeaways: ITFA’s first in-person event of 2021.’’

Although I don’t normally do this when announcing Newsletter stories, I’d like to give a special thanks to Clarissa Dann for contributing her heart-felt and engaging piece titled: ‘’A Family Reunion.’’ Clarissa’s article demonstrates, in such a personal way, the depth of the friendships and the community that ITFA has built up over its lifetime.

Finally, we wish to welcome two new ITFA members: Investec Bank Ltd and Tesselate Group. Our message continues to be heard!

We look forward to hearing from you with any feedback you may want to share with us by sending an email to myself, any of the Board Members or to our general email, info@itfa.org.  

Best wishes,

Sean Edwards