On Friday, 23 September 2022, FCI, in partnership with the EBRD, held the latest conference on the resilience and development of Factoring in CEE and SEE regions. The event was hosted at The Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul, Turkey, the day after the 2022 EBRD TFP Trade Finance Forum.
This event offered EBRD TFP members, local FCI members and targeted industry professionals the opportunity to meet, network and discuss the latest developments in the region. Over 100 industry professionals from the region attended and heard about the latest updates and trends for the region from leading industry trail-blazers. FCI Regional Director CEE, SEE and the Middle East, Ms Betül Kurtulus, moderated the conference.
FCI’s Secretary General, Mr Peter Mulroy welcomed participants to the event with his opening remarks and moved onto a presentation on Global Factoring Industry Trends with insightful and in-depth statistics on global volumes, market shares, a breakdown of products, and the comparison to other forms of trade finance. Mr Mulroy also highlighted FCI’s activities, public policy and industry advocacy.
Ms Irina Tyan, Principal Banker at EBRD Trade Finance Programme (TFP) Business Leader for Factoring, presented on the EBRD & FCI Collaboration in CEE & SEE region. In her presentation, she highlighted TFP Statistics, how it works, TFP Factoring and how EBRD plays a part. She finished off with insightful case studies and other products that the EBRD TFP offers including training and events.
Before the coffee break, event participants listened to a Panel Discussion on Export resilience in an Environment of the heightened Geopolitical Risk, The success story of Turkey. The panel included the likes of Mr Cagatay Baydar, Chairman of TEB Faktoring & Vice-Chairman of FCI, Mr Ahmet Albayrak, Deputy CEO - Treasury & International Banking at Kuveyt Türk Katilim Bankasi and Ms Nana Khurodze, Associate Director, Senior Banker at EBRD TFP, and was moderated by Mr Michael Bickers, Managing Director of BCR Publishing. After an panel introduction, Cagatay took a couple minutes to lay some ground understandings for the panel with statistics of the industry, highlighting Turkey’s positions. Following this, the panel answered various questions from Michael.
After this, all the participants returned to the event hall for an in-depth Panel Discussion on Digital Transformation in Receivables finance. Ms Filiz Unal, Deputy Secretary General – Factoring at The Financial Institutions Association, Mr Koray Kaya, Deputy General Manager at KKB and Findeks, Business Management Department; and Ms Ana Kavtaradze, Strategic Business Development Advisor at BasisBank participated alongside moderator Mr Deepesh Patel, Director of Partnership and Marketing at Trade Finance Global (TFG). Ms Filiz prepared the panel with a short presentation on the digital transformation of the Finance sector in Turkey, highlighting regulatory updates, future plans and new technologies available.
Mr William Brydie-Watson, Senior Legal Officer at UNIDROIT addressed attendees on the Factoring Model Law (FML). The FML was first initiated in 2018 by the World Bank representatives who recognized the importance of a standalone Model Law on Factoring, especially for those emerging markets who are considering introducing factoring in their countries. William shared updates on where the project is currently, highlighting that it is currently under review by industry players, including FCI members.
Mr Tim Moran, CME Term SOFR Consultant at CME Group, spoke about the Libor Transition. In a video presentation, Tim shared the update on the USD market, new developments in Trade Finance and he explained the IBOR transition in the Eurozone. Next, the event sponsor, CODIX, got a chance to introduce themselves to participants and share their offerings.
FCI’s Education Director, Ms Aysen Cetintas, shared information on the FCI Academy and its work, then participants watched a short clip to understand more. Following this, Peter Mulroy closed the event with his closing remarks. After a networking lunch, where attendees got to chat with speakers and fellow attendees, CODIX held a session with updates from Codix on software capabilities for the factoring / SCF Industry. This session was hosted in Turkish by CODIX’s Business Analyst, Ms Sibila Ivanova.
Ms Betül Kurtulus, FCI’s Regional Director for the CEE, SEE and the Middle East, had this to say: ‘’After the two-day of EBRD TPF conference, we hosted EBRD TFP participants, FCI Turkish members, the BRSA, the Financial Institutions Association, and our business partners in İstanbul. We shared the latest developments in CEE and SEE countries, which have a significant place in FCI with their export-based growth model as a region. It was great to see and host old and new friends.”
FCI would like to thank all who were involved in the preparation of this event and all those who attended. This event was the perfect display of the three major areas of activities that FCI focus on; connect, educate and influence. FCI looks forward to future events within the region as we bring awareness to the industry and share updates with those already in it.