Trade & Forfaiting Review Magazine Archive

Trade & Forfaiting Review magazine archive

Volume 10 Issue 7

Trade & Forfaiting Review has been in Miami this month, firmly ensconced in the Four Seasons Hotel, Brickell Avenue, where we have been attending the tenth annual Association of Trade & Forfaiting in the Americas (ATFA) conference. The event takes place in Miami each year, though the jury is out on where it will be staged in 2008 – ATFA members are considering a change of venue so a Latin American city could be on the cards next time round.

This year saw a strong presence from board members of the International Forfaiting Association (IFA), with Norbert Fritsch, Sean Edwards and Sal Chiappinelli all making appearances. Attendance, overall, was good (most delegates we spoke to were regulars). Speaker panels and presentations were particularly strong.

Meanwhile, missing from the ATFA conference but not from TFR is IFA Chairman Lucio Matassoni – who is the focus of this month’s profile. Matassoni surprised the forfaiting market late last year when he left SMBC to set up a forfaiting division at the London offices of OCBC. A hard man to reach, we finally tracked him down in-between trips (see ‘A familiar face’, this issue).

Looking ahead, we’re currently accepting nominations for the TFR annual awards for 2007. Voting closes on 29 June and we’ll announce the winners in our special July/August issue. To participate simply take a few minutes to visit us at www.tfreview.com/awards2007. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this issue.

Michele Martensen, Editor

Features

A familiar face This article is for subscribers only
Half a year into his tenure at OCBC, Lucio Matassoni has already carved a niche for the bank in the forfaiting industry. Trade & Forfaiting Review caught up with him in London.

Following the crowd This article is for subscribers only
The Islamic trade finance market has become an eye-popping $150bn opportunity. Trade credit insurers have taken note and are starting to roll out products compatible with Shari’ah tenets to support these transactions, reports Erika Morphy.

Global undercurrents This article is for subscribers only
After a fairly buoyant trading environment in 2006, Dennis Kennedy, export underwriter at Coface UK and Ireland, considers global market opportunities in 2007.

Powering up to green finance This article is for subscribers only
A steady proliferation of renewable energy and water projects has, in turn, resulted in an increase of environmental technology exports. After an initial surge of interest, why are so many export credit agencies and banks slow to tailor terms and underwriting to meet their needs? Erika Morphy reports.

Made in the Middle East This article is for subscribers only
Ian Cogswell, a director in the project finance division of Natixis, assesses the development of aluminium projects in the Middle East.

The misconceptions of political risk This article is for subscribers only
What is political risk? Andrew Underwood, head of political risks at Hiscox, debunks the widely held view that it only applies to the emerging markets.

Regulars

Metals forge ahead This article is for subscribers only
Natixis Commodity Markets reviews the base and precious metals markets with an outline of its forecasts for the second quarter of 2007 and beyond.

Letter from Hong Kong This article is for subscribers only
So during the period of remembering your ancestors in April, when Chinese people burn offerings to the dead, the local government decided (‘just like that’) to close down all coke plants, steel mills and non-ferrous smelters for one month – all 150 of them, writes David Sullivan.

Country risk appetite This article is for subscribers only
Notwithstanding the combination of political uncertainties in both Ukraine and Turkey together with the recent correction in the bond markets driving yields up, particularly in both dollars and euros, the trade and loan markets appear to have shrugged this off...

Emerging market debt pricing This article is for subscribers only
Creditors organised in the Paris Club reached an agreement in April of this year with the Central African Republic on a restructuring of the country’s external public debt... Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de México reported net earnings of $44m for the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 115% compared to the first quarter of 2006. Revenue for the quarter increased 20% year-on-year, the company announced in its quarterly financial report...