FCI is represented by the respective Regional Leaders. They are the incharge of promoting FCI and factoring in their regions, namely Africa, Americas, Central Eastern Europe, South Eastern Europe and the Middle East, North East Asia, South & South East Asia and Western Europe.
For FCI membership or information about factoring in your region please contact the respective Regional Leaders.
Secretary General
Neal Harm is the Secretary General at FCI. He has over 30 years of experience in working capital finance, having successfully led and managed complex and large commercial finance, international, and payments businesses at leading US Banks. Neal is a graduate of Lenoir Rhyne University, USA. At Wachovia (now Wells Fargo), he started his career as a collateral analyst in the Asset-Based Lending division.
Neal later joined Bank of America’s factoring division. He was responsible for all aspects of business operations ultimately becoming the President of Business Finance in 1999. In 2005, he joined BB&T (now Truist) leading to his role as President of the bank’s international banking division to include Trade, FX, Factoring, and Correspondent Banking. While at BB&T, he was a member and chairman of FCI’s Business & IT Committee, and an FCI Executive Committee Member and Vice Chairman.
Regional Director Americas
Alberto Wyderka is responsible for strengthening and expanding the network of FCI factors in the Region and spread knowledge of international factoring. Alberto was a member FCI Executive Committee for 18 years and several times Vice Chairman. In 2007 he was elected Chairman, the first Latin American to be appointed in that position. Alberto Wyderka was the International Business Advisor of “TANNER Servicos Financieros”, the largest non-bank owned factoring company in Chile reporting to its President and Representative in Argentina.
Previously he was SVP, Head of Trade Finance of Banco Galicia and CEO of Galicia Factoring, the first company to introduce international factoring in Argentina. He was Resident VP of Citibank, Argentina, Head of Foreign Trade Operations and "Senior Product Manager" of International Products.
Regional Director Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe and the Middle East
Regional Director for Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe and the Middle East FCI. Betül Kurtuluş has 25 years’ experience in the Factoring and Leasing industry. She started her career at Anderson Consulting and joined the factoring industry in 1992. Prior to Strateji Factoring, Betül worked at Toprak Banking Group.
Until 2018, she has been General Manager at Strateji Factoring, also a Board Member of Yatirim Leasing.
Betül Kurtuluş served as a Board Member of the Association of Financial Institutions of Turkey since 2016. The association consists of three major industries, Factoring, Leasing, and Consumer Finance, with a member of 103 finance companies. She joined FCI since January 2019. She has a university degree in Economics.
The Western European factoring market is one of the most developed and longest-standing markets in the world so this chapter focuses on supporting regional needs and opportunities while lobbying, when required, with legislators and policymakers.
Americas has both an established and emerging set of markets; with economic growth and a real focus on import and export operations as well as domestic business, this Chapter is there to support members who want to develop new knowledge, skills and markets.
Central and Eastern Europe, along with the former CIS countries and the Middle East have a rapidly developing Invoice finance industry. Skills development and the sharing of best practices are a real focus in these quickly evolving marketplaces. This Chapter focuses on supporting these particular regional needs and opportunities.
Regional Director North East Asia
Lin has over 20 years of experience in the Chinese factoring and trade finance market. He had launched two leading bank factoring divisions with Bank of Communication and China Minsheng Bank, and one commercial factoring enterprise located in mainland China and Hong Kong.
Lin came to FCI with broad professional network experience across Greater China’s banking and financial services industry, including working closely with credit insurers, commercial factors, government regulators, industrial associations, and corporate customers in various export industries.
Regional Manager Africa
After obtaining a master MSTCF in Accounting and Finance in 2003 at the UCAC University, Cameroon, he began his career as an auditor at PwC. Since then, he has gained experience in the field of Audit and Consulting, including 15 years in Factoring and Credit insurance (Regional Head of Factoring Projects for a credit insurance company for 8 years). Nassourou Aminou has been the Director of a Consulting Firm specializing in the development and implementation of Factoring in African countries, he launched the first Factoring activity in West & Central Africa in 5 countries with the main Banks. Nassourou was an Exclusive Regional Agent in Africa Sub-Saharan Market for a Major Factoring Software provider in UK.
Regional Manager South and South East Asia
Thompson Lui came to FCI with over twenty years of global factoring and trade finance experience in the Asia Pacific region, having worked in the industry for two US factoring giants, GMAC and later Wells Fargo Bank, where he served as Senior Vice President, responsible for business development in Asia. He speaks three languages, English, Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese.
Thompson spent the past seven years overseeing a team of Trade Finance/Factoring experts working in South and SE Asia. Thompson earned his BA Degree in Economics, University of Western Ontario, Canada.
North-East Asia comprises the greater China region (China, HK, Taiwan) along with Japan, Korea, and Mongolia. China is moving fast. With the One belt One Road initiative, this trend will have a significant and direct impact on the trade in the region.
It is generally recognised that Africa presents some of the most exciting global opportunities for economic development and expansion. Our Industry is capable of providing support to this growth but knowledge and capability need to be developed and shared. The African Chapter is in place to help support this expansion and skills creation at a regional level.
South and South-East Asia comprise some of the fastest-growing economies on the planet; it also is home to many start-up and emerging invoice finance industries. Awareness, understanding and support are key for these developing markets.