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

Dear Members and Friends,

As we come to the end of another year, let me first take the opportunity to thank all those who attended our Market Update Seminar and Christmas Cocktail Party, which was held on the 6^th December at the Savage Garden Rooftop Bar of the Doubletree, Tower of London Hotel. For the ITFA Board, this event was an opportunity to thank you, our members, for your continuous support and enthusiasm. All ITFA members may access the seminar presentations, and view videos and events photos by clicking here.

As I write this message, the ITFA team is already compiling a list of events for 2022. The 2022 Events Calendar can be viewed on our ITFA website and will be updated on an ongoing basis.

I am always happy to talk about our flagship annual conference! As announced earlier on this month the 48th ITFA International Trade and Forfaiting Conference will be held in the lovely city of Porto, Portugal between the 7^th and 9^th September 2022, so I urge you to SAVE THE DATE! Please stay tuned for further updates. Feel free to reach out to us if there are any topics that are particularly relevant to you and your business as we are building our programme.

We will shortly also be releasing our conference sponsorship brochure. Should your institution wish to sponsor this event, we encourage you to reach out to us by sending an email on info@itfa.org. I am pleased to point out that to promote sustainability, next year’s sponsorship merchandise will all be environmentally friendly, made out of recycled materials and responsibly sourced.

In this month’s edition of our newsletter, Rebecca Harding, CEO of Coriolis Technologies looks to the future in: ‘’Trade in 2022 – A look ahead.’’ The ITFA Emerging Leaders Committee provides a summary piece including a community survey and a call for applications. Alexia Boutin-Somnolet from the ITFA Insurance Committee writes about ‘’Discovering the Insuretech Landscape.’’

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.

On behalf of the ITFA board may I take the opportunity to wish you all the best for the festive season and a successful 2022! I look forward to the return of physical events as soon as we have beaten the new COVID variant. In the meantime, take care.

Best wishes,

Sean Edwards