Neil spent 43 years with the HSBC Group, half on their international management and half in the group head office in London specialising in trade finance. 

He retired at the end of 2015 as global head of policy and compliance, global trade and receivables finance. He is also the former head of the ICC Banking Commission Executive committee and chair of the Financial Crimes Compliance group, as well as the former chair of the Wolfsberg Group.

David joined the IMB in 2007 having previously worked in the Middle East in the oil and gas sector.

He assists in overseeing the daily operations of the IMB’s London activities. In addition to advising member banks with suspect or irregular presentations, he also co-ordinates with the IMB’s trading, shipping and insurance company members with regards to loss prevention and advice.

David has carried out investigations into several large-scale shipping and financial frauds, identifying those responsible and providing recommendations for improved working practices. He conducted several on the ground investigations into smuggling and cargo mis-declaration.

David has spoken at numerous conferences and seminars worldwide about documentary and insurance fraud, cargo theft and maritime sanctions.

George Devereese is a former Royal Navy officer. After passing out of Britannia Royal Navy College in 2007, he served on several vessels, including aircraft carriers, destroyers, and frigates, and was involved in anti-piracy and maritime interdiction operations around the world. He also served in the Fishery Protection Squadron in UK waters and trained as a mine warfare officer. He then transferred to the reserve list in 2013 and served in UK maritime trade operations until 2015. He has subsequently been granted Associate Fellowship of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Freedom of the City of London and is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights.

Since leaving the Royal Navy, George has continued to work in the maritime sector, both as a deputy designated person ashore and company security officer. His work has focused on internal safety and security inspection of the fleet, and he has gained experience working with bulk carries, container vessels and cruise Liners. Latterly he has worked in the Lloyds and London maritime insurance markets as a claims handler and then in the P&I market as senior loss prevention executive for an International Group Club.

George started working at S&P Global in February 2020 where he is the Maritime Risk and Compliance Product Manager tasked with developing IHS Markit’s Maritime Solutions including the Maritime Intelligence Risk Suite (MIRS) and Maritime Portal 

Derek Ennis is CEO of Coastline Solutions, the leading provider of online training and information resources to the trade and trade finance community worldwide. For over 20 years Coastline Solutions has provided online training in all of the traditional trade finance products including letters of credit, collections, guarantees and standby LCs.

In more recent years Coastline has developed online courses in trade-based financial crimes, supply chain finance and sustainability in trade and trade finance. Coastline, LIBF and IIBLP cooperated in the development of the Certificate in Trade Finance Compliance (CTFC), the leading internationally recognised qualification in trade-based financial crimes. 

Priya is a specialist in investigations and compliance with over 25 years’ experience. She is an experienced Skilled Person and has worked successfully with firms under s166 instructions by focusing on pragmatic and proportionate solutions.

Priya works with firms to identify risks and assess the effectiveness of the controls environment, including the governance and oversight arrangements. She also works with boards and senior management to help improve compliance culture.

Priya has led skilled person reviews covering the end to end financial crime framework including trade finance controls. She was appointed as the Skilled Person for a UK financial institution where all of its trade finance transactions were subject to independent review and authorisation prior to execution. The work identified enhancements to trade finance operations which improved the overall compliance quality rate and thereafter lift the business restrictions placed upon the firm.

Priya is currently appointed as Skilled Person to UK branch of an overseas firm where the main focus of the business is trade finance for trade in high risk jurisdictions.

Prior to joining Guidehouse, Priya built and led the UK financial crime risk management team at Promontory, an IBM company and held multiple senior roles at KPMG during the course of her career, including as partner focused on forensic and risk consulting. As a former auditor, Priya has a foundation in assessing control environments.

As Head of Trade and Transactional Banking, Alex Gray is responsible for all of LIBF’s trade qualifications and training. He joined the organisation after 30 years in international banking which saw him conduct a number of different banking roles overseas as part of HSBC’s international manager cadre. Within that time he specialised in trade finance and led teams in India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vancouver and the UK.

Alex developed HSBC’s first anti trade-based money laundering programme adopted across the group globally. His awareness of trade-based financial crime was heightened further when he and his team of 200 had to prepare for a visit from the US Department of Justice under HSBC’s DPA. Alex holds LIBF’s CTFC qualification and is more than happy to talk further about that experience. 

Michael joined the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in May 1994 and closely coordinates with the IMB’s banking, shipping, insurance and trading company members with regards to loss prevention and advice.

Michael has been instrumental in identifying systematic international fraudsters, invited to provide evidence and appear as a witness in trade related criminal cases and assisted in the investigation of the largest fraud in trade finance history. As part of his duties Michael has also investigated a number of cases worldwide relating to cargo losses, the suspicious sinking of vessels and their cargoes and the phenomena known as phantom ships.

He has travelled on investigations to a number of countries, spoken at numerous conferences and seminars worldwide and written papers on areas connected with the subject of piracy, fraud and malpractice in trade finance and international trade.

In January 2020, Michael became the CEO of ICC Commercial Crime Services – the anti-crime unit of the International Chamber of Commerce – of which IMB is a part of. 

Byron McKinney is the Product Management Director for trade finance and compliance solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Byron's focus at S&P Global Market Intelligence is on the automation and simplification of the compliance and workflow process within trade finance. He has over 15 years of experience in trade finance and commodity trading most recently from Accuity, where he led the business team in designing and delivering dual-use goods identification and vessel monitoring for the banking and cargo markets.

Previously, he worked at Thomson Reuters in the energy and shipping business with time spent on developing cargo tracking models and price forecasting applications for gas and power. Byron holds a degree in History and Iranian Studies. 

Robert’s practice includes financing arrangements across the commodity and trade industry. He represents banks and non-bank financiers, funds, large and medium-sized commodity traders, producers, credit insurers and other participants in financing and monetising the international production, storage, movement and distribution of both raw materials and manufactured goods.

He advises regularly on structured trade and inventory finance and the use of financial instruments such as letters of credit, bills of exchange, promissory notes and other secure payment arrangements in international trade, as well as having expertise in related disputes.

Robert has an established reputation in the increasingly important field of digital trade, working on the establishment of digital platforms and the use and enforceability of electronic trade documents and payment instruments. He is also a regular speaker and writer on both digital trade and commodity and trade finance and is the editor of the legal journal Finance and Credit Law. 

Leanard has a MSc. in Financial Regulations and Compliance Management from London Metropolitan University. His dissertation focused on regulation of Islamic Banking for which he was awarded a distinction.

He also holds a Diploma in Anti-Money Laundering from Sir John Cass Business School, City University, London and is an Accredited Counter Fraud Specialist with qualifications from University of Portsmouth. He holds a diploma in Forensic Accounting and a Non-Executive Directorships Diploma from the Financial Times Board Director Programme.

Leanard has been approved as a SMF17 for a number of firms and let a number of financial crime compliance remediation programmes resulting from regulatory actions including Section 166. He has utilised his education and experience from a career spanning 25 years to demonstrate he is a subject matter expert with the ultimate goal of ensuring that financial services provided by his employer are done within a safe regulatory environment. 

Kaushika is currently the Global Head of Financial Crime Compliance of HSBC’s Global Trade & Receivables Finance, the world’s largest trade finance bank.

He has broad-ranging experience in Risk at a senior leadership level across trade finance, payments, wholesale & retail banking with specialism in AML, sanctions, transaction monitoring, fraud, operational risk and regulatory compliance including conduct risk. 

Chris Southworth is Secretary General at the International Chamber of Commerce UK and a regular voice for business in the international media. He is also Co-Chair of the Legal Reform Advisory Board at the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, co-founder of the UK Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation and ICC Representative to The Commonwealth. He is a member of the ICC World Council as well as the International Advisory Boards of the Digital Trade Network and Queen Mary-UNIDROIT Institute of Transnational Commercial Law.

Chris is a leading international expert on creating modern digital trade ecosystems, the founder of the ICC Digital Trade Roadmap, a member of the global team supporting the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, ICC G7 United Kingdom representative, a member of the ICC G7, G20, Digitisation and Ecommerce Working Groups.

He is also a lead independent adviser to the UK government on the digitisation of trade on behalf of industry working with the Department for International Trade, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Her Majesty’s Treasury and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. 

Lorna Strong, Deputy General Counsel for HSBC Global Trade & Receivables Finance (GTRF), acts as the primary legal advisor for GTRF’s operations globally; advising GTRF and playing a role in shaping HBSC’s contribution to regulatory and policy debates on trade finance. She provides global oversight, coordination, and training for legal counsel in over 40 jurisdictions. Lorna and her global legal team have been instrumental in advising innovative digital solutions for trade finance, including the first financial trade blockchain transactions: the award winning blockchain platforms we trade and Contour. In 2020, Lorna and her team were instrumental in managing the response to the disruption of global trade due to Covid-19 and as member of the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) Legal Committee, Lorna drafted industry guidance papers dealing with the risk of force majeure as well as the mitigation of economic sanction risk.

Lorna holds a doctorate in law and a bachelor of applied science from the University of British Columbia and has been recognized in the areas of banking law, trade finance, and international law, including as a recipient of the 2012 Global Counsel Award for Regulatory (Financial Services): Individual of the Year and the 2017 Letter of Credit Lawyer of the Year. 

Jan has a diverse career spanning over 25 years in the international commodity trade industry. He started his journey at Control Union World Group, where he was involved in their physical collateral and stock monitoring services in South America and Europe.

In the early 2000s, he moved to Hong Kong to implement and lead these efforts in that region. In 2003, he moved to Jakarta to serve as President Director for PT Peterson Mitra Indonesia / Control Union Indonesia, where he oversaw general management in the coal, grains, and certification services sectors.

After holding leading roles in the international commodity trade business, including as Global Head of Operational Risk & Insurance at Noble Group and at Banco BTG Pactual/Engelhart CTP, in Hong Kong and London respectively, Jan Willem transitioned into the finance sector in 2019. He is now Global Head of TCF Collateral Risk and member of the Fraud Risk Committee at Rabobank International in Utrecht and London.

By combining the variety of perspectives gained throughout his career in logistics, risk management, insurance, and trade & commodity finance, Jan is in a unique position to appreciate the complexities of physical risk management and apply them to fraud risk control.

Jan holds a master’s degree in Dutch civil and environmental law. 

Geoffrey Wynne is head of Sullivan & Worcester’s London office and also head of its award winning Trade & Export Finance Group. Geoff is a leading trade and finance lawyer with extensive experience in structured trade and commodity finance and related legal and compliance issues. He has recently been involved in several digital initiatives for trade finance, including digital payment obligations and the use of LIBOR in the BAFT MPAs – of which he was a key draftsman.

Geoff sits on the editorial boards of a number of publications and is a regular contributor and speaker at conferences. He is a member of ITFA’s Market Practices Committee (MPC) and has been assisting with a number of key legal issues relating to trade and export finance. Geoff is currently co-chair of the ICC Committee writing the Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions (URDTT).

In Chambers and Partners Geoff is ranked a Tier 1 lawyer for Commodities: Trade Finance. He holds a Fellowship award for trade finance from Trade and Forfaiting Review and is recognised in the UK Legal 500’s “Hall of Fame”.