Amsterdam, 25 June 2020 The 2020 FCI Annual Review has been published online today. Usually published and distributed to the membership during the FCI Annual Meeting, the 52nd Annual Meeting that was to be held 21-25 June 2020 has been postponed until next year. Hence, FCI will mail the Annual Review to all of its 400 members.
The FCI Annual Review is a globally recognised publication in the world of Factoring and Receivables Finance. In addition to publishing the final statistics for the Industry, it includes the highly appreciated Global Industry Annual Report (GIAR) analysis that reports on quantitative but also qualitative data.
Peter Mulroy, FCI Secretary General, introduces the publication highlighting the major achievements in 2019 but also the challenges and opportunities facing FCI and the industry today. Mulroy stated,
“Our industry is in turmoil stemming from COVID-19, however in this 2020 edition of the Annual Review, we can see the continued positive performance and contributions the factoring and receivables finance industry generated in 2019!”
The publication also profiles regional views with updates, challenges and vision presented by the FCI Regional Directors (Mrs. Betül Kurtulus, Mr. Lin Hui, Mr. Thompson Lui and Mr. Alberto Wyderka), the Chair of the FCI Africa Chapter Mrs. Kanayo Awani as well as the Chair of the EU Federation Mrs. Françoise Palle-Guillabert.
In this year’s edition we have a special roundtable discussion moderated by Tony Brown (The Trade Advisory, USA) which discusses with Senior Executives spread around the world (Liu Yunfei – Bank of China, Michelle Knowles – ABSA South Africa, Luis Carrera Sarmiento – Banco de Credito BCP Peru, Stuart Brister – Wells Fargo Commercial Capital USA and Miranda Stokkingreef – ABN AMRO Asset Based Finance Netherlands) on Building a Bright Future in Disruptive Times. Key takeaways of the discussions include the effects of the pandemic on digitization, debtor risk and supply chain transparency.
The publication highlights also the importance of Education even more in these challenging times via an article from Alex Gray (LIBF). FCI offers a globally recognised learning platform, FCI Academy that provides students with certifications in factoring and receivables finance.
Commenting on the publication, Patrick de Villepin, FCI Chairman who has also written the introduction in the Annual Review states,
“I believe it of utmost importance to publish our Annual Review as planned as the receivables finance world needs today more than ever before to read about the current state of our Industry. Preparing the publication in this special time has been a challenge as it reports on 2019 but we could not avoid to write about COVID-19 and its impact on our business. I trust that our existing and prospective members, multilateral organisations, development institutions, national factoring associations and other stakeholders will be interested to read how Factoring has reached a 4.05% GDP penetration globally, increasing from 3.95% last year, even in this challenging geopolitical environment we live in today!”
Expert Interview – Factoring and Receivables Finance Predictions for 2020 – Peter Mulroy, FCI
