Authors Page - Trade Finance Global

Head: Institutional Trade Finance at Investec Bank Limited George qualified and practiced as a Common Law and Commercial Barrister in London for 4 years before moving in 2000 to in-house Legal and Compliance in CSFB and BarCap Investment Banking and Global Markets, London. In 2005, George began his career in emerging markets banking through the regulatory management of the acquisition of Absa Bank Limited by Barclays in South Africa before moving to Hong Kong and transferring to the Asian Credit Trading, Structuring and Special Situations businesses in UBS, Lehmans and Nomura, where he co-managed the largest ever, Asian Collateralized Loan Obligation. Moving back to South Africa 5 years later, George transitioned into Absa Capital FX Sales, then Transactional Banking Product and Trade Finance Sales to eventually become Head of Barclays Africa (then Absa) Institutional Trade. George recently transferred with his team to Investec South Africa to head up Institutional Trade Finance and initiate Trade Finance for the bank. George specializes in innovative, short-term Trade financing solutions for Emerging Markets Financial Institutions and their clients through collateral, DFI and Credit risk mitigation techniques to resolve the African SME Trade funding gap, hard currency liquidity and Trade regulatory capital returns challenges.

Cynthia Shaw-Pereira is Director and Head of Client Solutions Design for BNY Mellon Global Risk Solutions. Cynthia is responsible for building client-centric data, performance and risk measurement solutions for sophisticated institutional investors across North America. Cynthia’s specific areas of focus include Environmental, Social and Governance performance and compliance oversight, navigating data complexities across multiple asset classes and geographies, and supporting clients as they navigate data and technology needs and develop their overall data strategy goals and implementation roadmaps. Cynthia represents our asset servicing and digital enterprise at Canada’s Responsible Investment Association (RIA) and participates in the RIA’s Canadian Responsible Investment Working Group, at which asset owners, asset managers, insurance companies and other industry stakeholders collaboratively explore responsible investment topics prevalent in Canada. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events on topics related to performance and risk analytics, ESG and responsible investing, and is a regular guest on CIBC Mellon’s Industry Perspectives podcast series.

Patrick DeVilbiss is a subject matter expert in trade finance and supply chain finance, with a specialized focus on the areas of receivables and payables finance. He also delivers SaaS product management services to clients, defining client needs based on industry changes, platform metrics and user feedback, as well as implementing long-term product enhancements to Software as a Service platforms. In addition, he specializes in agile development, leveraging agile development methodologies to deliver large-scale SaaS platforms to top 10 global financial institutions.  

Mr. Tooker is a recognised expert in wholesale banking and has been involved in operations and systems transformation and modernisation related projects for global banks and hardware and software firms as both a line manager and consultant for more than 45 years. Throughout his career, he has managed day-to-day operations for major money centre and super-regional banks. He has planned, organised, directed, and managed major banking initiatives—including leading payment systems transformation efforts and other critical software installation projects for financial services organisations around the world. He is a past member of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) Board of Directors and currently serves as a member of the BAFT Payments Committee and the US Faster Payments Council. Barry currently serves as the Principal at TransactionBanker.com

Gilles is a Product Marketing Manager at Windward, in charge of the supply chain market and Windward Ocean Freight Visibility. He joined Windward in 2021 with a background in digital transformation & cyber security. Gilles holds a B.A. in Marketing, Communication and Public Relations.

Ian is a Partner in Dentons’ London office. He focuses on international commodity, structured trade, receivables and export finance transactions.  Ian’s work includes advising on various financing structures and commodity types, including borrowing base, pre-export and structured prepayment financings as well as bilateral trade finance facilities.  Ian also has expertise in export credit financings, receivables financing transactions, and trade finance distributions. Ian acts for financial institutions, alternative finance providers, borrowers, trading houses and export credit agencies.

Cindy He is an Industry and Innovation Analyst in the Institutional Transaction Banking division at ANZ Bank. Based in Melbourne, she researches emerging technologies and trends disrupting banking and financial services, including blockchain, IoT sensors, Web 3.0, and AI and ML for data analytics. Previously, she has worked overseas promoting trade and investment on behalf of the Australian Government. She holds a BA and LLB from Monash University.

Martin Grunewald is a Chief Business Officer at BankservAfrica. With over two decades of experience in financial services and payments, Martin Grunewald has acquired a deep understanding and knowledge of South Africa’s payments landscape relating to modernisation, digital identity, banking operations and general banking. As the Chief Business Officer at BankservAfrica, Martin is responsible for overseeing the organisation’s business development, product lifecycle and strategic partnerships. He is also the Executive Sponsor of BankservAfrica’s Digital Identity project within the community. Some of Martin’s career highlights include driving the complete modernisation implementation, business re-engineering, achieving balanced scorecards and championing innovative digital systems across the relevant environments. Martin has participated at various payments and financial services conferences globally as a subject matter expert on industry topics for payments modernisation in Africa, national payment system design and digital identity.

Dr. SOH Chee Seng has a Phd in Law, CUPL

Christopher S. Byrnes is Assistant Vice President of the Institute of International Banking Law & Practice and Executive Editor of the trade finance industry’s monthly journal publication, Documentary Credit World. Byrnes attended The Catholic University of America and is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Stella Watts works as a writer and researcher for Trade Finance Global (TFG). She holds an BA in Journalism and Media Studies, with extensive experience in the finance industry. Her works include thought leadership pieces on macroeconomics, blockchain and financial instruments. Formerly, Stella worked as a reporter covering current affairs in video, digital, and print. She loves conveying complex information in an insightful and tangible way for her readers.

Rachna Pandya is a certified AML-KYC-Compliance Officer and Fraud & Chargeback Analyst with a wealth of experience in marketing and finance. Rachna holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Calcutta University, Kolkata, and a Master’s degree in Accounts and Finance from Madurai Kamaraj University. Rachna has worked across various organizations in different roles including Payment Analyst at Digital Marketing Specialist at Swadesh Softwares Pvt Ltd, Chief Planner at RnD at Coingrammar, Head Of Product Marketing at Money Transfer Application, and more. As a journalist and full-time writer-editor at Indian Scriptures and a news writer at TrustSquare Infomedia, Rachna has extensive experience in content creation and publication. Rachna’s core competencies include AML-KYC Compliance, Fraud Detection and Prevention, Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing, Product Marketing, Quality Assurance, Mystery Shopping, and Writing and Editing. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated excellent organizational and leadership skills, and has the ability to work independently or as part of a team.

Richard Rawlinson is the VP Partner Sales EMEA for Irish fintech unicorn TransferMate global payments. Prior to this Richard was Global Client Champion at Markets.com where he ran the global sales and account management teams. He has worked at the world’s largest non-bank international payments provider and has also built an OTC oil brokerage. Richard has worked with thousands of UK, EMEA, and global clients; from SME to large multinationals, governments, and banks advising on the operational efficiency of their international payments processes.’

Pelumi Agbolabori is responsible for the TFG Weekly Trade Briefings and content at Trade Finance Global. An experienced WordPress developer, Pelumi is passionate about SEO and using technology as a means to include a wider demographic. He is curious about the digitisation of trade finance in terms of how it can remove global barriers. 

Megha Shrestha (MBA and MSc information systems) is a digital innovation and data science specialist with many years of experience in developing networking, events and education solutions and experiences through technology. From pioneering educational systems in Asia to networking algorithm for European C-Suites, she is currently leading Metabloqs, a virtual world that democratizes the way we network, collaborate, learn and play.

Rishikesh R. Tinaikar is the Global Head of Corporates and Trade Go-To-Market at SWIFT, with over 20 years of experience in financial services. He specializes in corporate strategy, product management, marketing, and transactional banking. At SWIFT, Rishikesh leads initiatives to advance corporate treasury payments and trade digitization, driving innovation through seamless cross-border payment solutions. He collaborates with corporates, banks, and platform players to deliver instant, frictionless payment experiences. Previously, he spearheaded efforts to implement SWIFT’s Global Payments Innovation (gpi) across APAC markets, enabling banks to enhance cross-border payment processes for greater speed, transparency, and reliability. His career also includes defining long-term strategies, consulting on payment transformation projects, and leading M&A and post-merger integration initiatives. Key competencies: Business Transformation & Strategy Product Management & Marketing Consultative Selling & Business Development Go-to-Market Strategy Cross-Functional Leadership Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

Alan Koenigsberg is the SVP and Global Head of Treasury and Working Capital Solutions at Visa

Mark has been in the banking industry for over 30 years specialising in trade finance and cash management holding senior positions in global banks across sales, product and operations functions. He is also a previous board member of the transaction banking industry body, BAFT, and has been engaged with the ICC in various capacities over the years