Speakers line up 2026

Murat Ayik

Senior Trade Finance Officer & Head of Operations, International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group. With over three decades of experience in international banking and trade finance, Murat currently serves as Senior Trade Finance Officer and Head of Operations at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Since joining IFC in 2010, Murat has been leading the operations team for the Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP), overseeing the processing of guarantees that support cross-border trade in emerging markets.

Neil Chantry

Independent Consultant on Trade Finance & Compliance, UK. 40 years with HSBC - on the international executive staff, serving countries in the Middle East & East Africa, on the UK Group executive staff, specialising in Trade Finance operations, procedures, finance, compliance. Recently, consultancy with Standard Chartered Bank. Neil held many ICC positions, e.g. Former Chair, Wolfsberg Group Trade Finance Committee; Joint Wolfsberg Group; Financial Crimes & Anti-Terrorist Financing Group; ICC & BAFT drafting group for the “Compliance Principles Paper; former Chair of the Executive Committee;).

Izabela Czepirska

Product Manager / Solution Expert at Komgo. Izabela’s experience in financial services cuts across banking, FinTech and academia. In Komgo, she manages the digital trade finance products allowing banks and corporates to connect and transact securely. In her role, she focuses on guarantees, documentary credit, receivables discounting and secondary market. In 2019, she was awarded a PhD cum laude in finance for her dissertation on microfinance around financial inclusion and use of technology. Under ITFA Market Practice Committee, she’s the author of the ITFA-Komgo Trade Finance Taxonomy.

Barbara Dorner

Head of Transaction Services Sales at ING Austria Branch of ING Bank NV, works in Trade since more than 35 years. In the past she worked for international banks like Citigroup and Deutsche Bank as well as for a local Austrian bank. She is part of the local ICC Banking Commission for more than 20 years. In ING she is not only working for Austrian and international clients but also an active part of the CEE Trade community.

Vera Economou

CEE Regional Lead for the Sustainable Solutions Group within Wholesale Banking at ING, Austria. In this role, she drives the execution of ING’s EMEA sustainable finance strategy across Central and Eastern Europe. She is an active member of the Sustainability Advisory Board of the Qorus Sustainability & Regulation Committee and regularly shares her expertise as a guest lecturer in Global Sustainability Management and CEMS Programs at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. She holds an MBA in International Finance from the WU Executive Academy and is a certified expert in multiple sustainability disciplines, including CESGA-certified ESG Analyst, ICMA-certified Sustainable Bond Expert, Sustainable Energy Consultant and Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies Expert (University of Cambridge Judge Business School).

Sean Edwards

Head of Legal at SMBC Bank International plc, UK and serves as Chairman of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association. He is widely recognised as a leading trade finance lawyer with deep expertise in receivables finance and structured trade finance. He is one of the principal draftsmen of the Uniform Rules for Forfaiting (URF) and has contributed to key industry frameworks, including the Standard Definitions for Supply Chain Finance. Sean has held roles within the ICC Banking Commission and its digitalisation initiatives, and is a member of the WTO Trade Finance Expert Group. He is also a non-executive director of Komgo and a frequent author and speaker on trade finance topics, contributing to leading industry publications and conferences.

Mostafa El-Toweiry

Vice President - Head of Trade Finance Ops & Fund Transfers Monitoring Unit at The National Bank of Kuwait, Egypt. Started working in banking industry in 1990 and finally joined National Bank of Kuwait in Egypt since January 2025 to present. Experienced & specialist in Trade Finance and corporate Banking operations, professional with a strong background in managing import/export transactions, International Guarantees and Standby L/C’s, ensuring regulatory compliance, financial risk management. Accredited as an instructor at the Egyptian Bank Institute since 2015. Assigned to be Egypt’s representative at ICC – Paris in the Task Force Committee for bank Guarantees in 2019.

Zeynep Ersamut

Head of Foreign Trade Operations, Yapı Kredi

With over 25 years of experience in trade finance Zeynep Ersamut is the Head of Foreign Trade Operations at Yapı Kredi, where she leads and oversees the operation of trade finance activities including letters of credit, guarantees, documentary collections, export and import transactions and international payments. She has been an active member of the ICC Turkey Banking Commission since 2007 and is a recognized speaker in the industry, regularly delivering seminars and sharing expert insights on trade finance practices

Philipp Hank

Working Capital Sales & Structuring DACH, Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt, Germany. Philipp is a member of Deutsche Bank’s Working Capital Solutions team, where he partners with corporates to unlock liquidity, optimize value chains, and achieve strategic working capital objectives. Leveraging innovative and alternative financing solutions - including Factoring, Supply Chain Finance, and Asset-Based Finance - Philipp helps clients strengthen their financial resilience and drive sustainable growth. Before Working Capital, Philipp worked many years in corporate finance at Deutsche Bank, delivering tailored solutions for complex financing challenges.

Beate Helmreich

Director Trade Finance/Guarantees, Raiffeisen Bank International AG, Vienna, Austria. Active in the field of Trade Finance/Guarantees for more than 25 years; extensive knowledge and long-standing experience in drafting, negotiating and handling guarantees, standby letters of credit and similar instruments in both national and global context. Acts as trainer for ICC Austria guarantee seminars. Member of the ICC Austria Banking Committee since 2022 and appointed to chairperson beginning 2026.

Amelie Huber-Starlinger

highly experienced dispute resolution mediator with over fifteen years of expertise, specializing inter alia in banking and financial services. She began her career as a lawyer and arbitrator and is now a full-time independent mediator, negotiation consultant, and trainer. In the banking and finance sector, she has negotiated complex loan and security agreements, including pledges and guarantees, adjudicated disputes as an arbitrator, and now helps parties resolve conflicts efficiently as a mediator. Throughout her career, Amelie has worked with leading institutions including VIAC, ICC, ICSID, and UNCITRAL.

Gabriele Katz

Director, Deutsche Bank AG, Germany; in charge of Global Transaction Banking in Product Management for the Documentary Trade Business for Europe & MENA; has a more than 25 years’ experience in the LC and BG business. Member of the ICC Germany Banking Committee;

Michael Lehotzki

Managing Associate General Counsel at HSBC – acts as global Wholesale Lead for Digital & Transformation projects using new and emerging technology such as DLT, digital assets or AI.

Semih Özcan 

Senior Advisor – Banking Relations & Trade Finance at TradeQraft AG, Zurich and Chairman of the ITFA CEE Region. At TradeQraft AG he supports strategic banking partnerships, structured trade finance solutions, and cross-border institutional cooperation. 

Until year-end 2025, he was Group Head Wholesale & Retail Banking Director at VakifBank International AG (Vienna), with full P&L responsibility for corporate banking, FI, and trade finance activities and previously held senior roles at DenizBank AG (Emirates NBD Group) and Raiffeisen Bank International.

Stephanie Powell

CSDG, Senior Consultant Trade Finance Advisory at Siemens Mobility GmbH, Germany. Stephanie joined Siemens in 2010 and after various operative roles moved to trade finance in 2017, where she gained substantial experience advising Siemens’ large-scale projects on guarantee and suretyship topics as well as corporate risk mitigation measures. Since 2019, she has been specializing exclusively on mobility projects, providing guarantee advisory to projects as well as providing internal trainings on guarantee-related risk and risk mitigation.

Glenn Ransier 

Principal Product Manager, Wells Fargo Bank NA, USA: 1 of 5 Technical Advisors to the ICC, One of the authors of URDG, ISBP, e-rules e.g. eURC, etc. Vice-Chair of ISDGP WG. In addition to ICC, he provides strong support to global community with organizations such as SWIFT (MT798 WG); BAFT (various committees), IIBLP (speaker), etc. Has led global operations and/or product management with 44 plus years of experience.

Judith Schmalnauer

Senior Trade Finance Advisor, Linz. Judith joined Primetals Technologies (former Siemens VAI) in 2011 where she gained extensive experience in trade finance activities as well as export financing for projects all over the globe. In 2015, when MHI became the main shareholder of the former Siemens VAI and when Primetals was founded, Judith was greatly involved in setting up the new centralized Center of Competence for guarantees and LCs in Austria, Linz, incorporating headquarter responsibility. Since then, Judith is servicing the Primetals group on all trade finance related questions as well as globally responsible for harmonizing guarantee and LC wordings with Primetals’ customers worldwide, executing and updating of the internal processes and guidelines hereto and majorly involved in shaping the digital future of Primetals’ trade finance.

Christina Elisabeth Seierup 

Vice President, Trade Finance Operations, Dankse Bank AS, Denmark; Member Danish Banking Committee. Since 2010 Head of Training & Education for Trade Finance, Danske Bank Group - responsible for corporate Trade Finance and related subjects as AML trainings; She joined Danske Bank A/S in 1985 and has been working with International corporates since 1989;

Lorna K. Strong

Managing Director, Strong Consulting Group (SCG) & Associate Programme Director, MSc Law & Finance, London School of Economics (LSE), UK. For over 20 years, Lorna Strong has advised financial institutions on legal and regulatory risk, including international trade finance, financial crime compliance (AML & sanctions), int disputes, ESG, digital innovation, and policy development, and risk management and played a lead role in the finance industry’s regulatory and policy debates. For the last ten years, Lorna Strong has held the position of Managing Director and global lead counsel for HSBC Global Trade, As Deputy General Counsel, she managed HSBC legal counsel in over 50 jurisdictions. In 2024, Lorna left HSBC to join the Finance Department of LSE as Associate Programme Director of the MSc Law and Finance Programme and to set up Strong Consulting Group She continues as a member of the ICC Legal Committee and is also a regular lecturer with the ICC, IIBLP, LIBF, and BCR Receivables Finance & Alternative Finance Forums.

Mireille Troosters

Senior Risk Manager Trade Finance at KBC Bank Belgium, chair of Credimpex Belgium, member ICC Belgium National Committee, Board Member of ICC Belgium, member of ICC guarantees task force amongst others; Active in documentary trade finance and bank guarantees since 2005 in different roles including Trade Finance Officer, heading operations teams, compliance and risk manager.

Martin Wolfbauer

International Legal Department of STRABAG Group (CML). Martin is an Austrian and New York qualified lawyer. In STRABAG’s legal department he is in charge of guarantees in international projects. He gained extensive experience in reviewing, drafting and negotiating guarantees for major construction contracts in various countries but also advises and supports STRABAG entities in litigation and arbitration proceedings related to guarantees. Martin holds lectures on international law and securities.

Geoffrey Wynne

Partner at Sullivan & Worcester LLP, UK; head of the firm’s Trade & Export Finance Group. He is widely recognised as one of the leading trade finance lawyers globally, with extensive experience in banking, international and structured trade and commodity finance. He advises major banks, financial institutions and multilaterals on complex cross-border transactions, particularly in emerging markets across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Geoffrey is actively involved in industry bodies including the ICC, BAFT and ITFA, contributing to the development of market standards and digital trade initiative.