Events

Michael Evan Avidon is Senior Counsel at Moses & Singer LLP, after 36+ years as a Partner, and as a former Co-Chair of its Banking & Finance Practice Group. He is widely recognized for his knowledge of letters of credit (LCs), lending, and secured transactions. Mike handles secured and unsecured lending; agented and bilateral deals; trade finance and supply chain finance, including discounting, receivables purchases, and payables agreements; loan agreements, LC reimbursement agreements, security agreements, guarantees, LCs, and participation agreements; electronic contracting, outsourcing, and white label agreements; and LC disputes and litigation. His work involves standby, direct pay, and commercial LCs, and demand guarantees. His clients include money center banks, smaller banks, and other financial institutions.

Merlin is a senior product manager within CGI’s strategic trade solutions group where he is primarily responsible for the design and delivery of forward-looking and client-centric trade solutions. He leads digital strategy initiatives and develops product value propositions using emerging technologies such as AI, APIs, and blockchain. He also manages third-party fintech vendor engagements and industry developments. Previously, Merlin spent 15 years at J.P. Morgan in various global product management roles. He led digital strategy for traditional trade products, launching innovations such as electronic bill of exchange and an omni-channel connector whilst collaborating with numerous fintechs. He also managed the design and delivery of a multi-year project focused on trade asset risk distribution and contributed to expanding J.P. Morgan’s global trade footprint. He continues to actively contribute to industry-wide initiatives through his role as a Vice-Chair on the ICC Banking Commission, leading efforts to digitalize trade finance in close coordination with the ICC’s Digital Standards Initiative.

Mr. Kim Manchester brings his extensive background in international banking to the global financial services industry. While based in both Hong Kong and Singapore, Mr. Manchester held senior regional and global positions in corporate banking, institutional banking and capital markets for one of the world’s largest emerging markets financial institutions. Mr. Manchester returned to Canada in 2003 and founded ManchesterCF. Based in Toronto, the practice provides financial crime risk management training programs and advisory services to financial institutions and public-sector agencies. The most successful training programs from ManchesterCF include the Financial Crime Training series for international banking and the FINTEL series for financial intelligence units.

Agnes Martinez is an accomplished professional currently serving as the Capital Markets - Trade Finance Operations Manager at City National Bank. She efficiently oversees the processing of trade finance products, including Letters of Credit, Documentary Collections, and Supply Chain Finance. Before joining City National Bank, Agnes made significant contributions to JPMorgan Chase bank as the Manager for their Global Trade Finance West Coast division. Her expertise and leadership skills played a pivotal role in driving the division's success. Agnes's exceptional abilities and dedication to the field have earned her recognition in the banking industry. She had the honor of chairing the BAFT (Bankers Association for Finance and Trade) West Coast region and now holds the position of Co-Chair of the BAFT Regional Committee. Agnes contributes to advancing and collaborating within the trade finance community through active involvement in these esteemed committees.

David Meynell is the founder of TradeLC Advisory, an advisory and consultancy service, and the co-owner of www.tradefinance.training, an online training platform for all aspects of trade finance. He previously worked for Deutsche Bank for over 30 years in a number of international locations, culminating as Global Head Trade Product Management for Financial Institutions. David is Chief Examiner for the Certificate in International Trade Finance (CITF®) and Senior Technical Advisor for the ICC Banking Commission.

Fiore (Frank) Petrassi is Global Product Manager for Standby Letters of Credit and Guarantees with JPMorgan Chase responsible managing and growing the global Standby Letter of Credit and Guarantee offering to the JPMorgan client base for all lines of business. Frank is a long standing member of the BAFT Trade Finance Committee and current Chair of the BAFT National Standby Letter of Credit/Guarantee Committee. He was former Chair of the BAFT North Central Standby Letter of Credit Committee and Co-chair of the IIBLP Government Mandated Letter of Credit Committee.

Glenn Ransier is the SVP Head of Documentary Trade and SBLCs with Wells Fargo Bank. He is currently a Technical Advisor assisting the production of official Banking Commission Opinions for the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, France. He also has delegation experience at the ICC and at the International Organization for Standardization. Mr. Ransier has been an involved member of BAFT for decades and was most recently the Chair of the Oil and Commodity LC Working Group in 2015.

Ms. Kristine Siebel retired in 2022 after 45 years in the Letter of Credit world. At retirement she was a Vice President at Societe Generale in their Trade Finance Group, previously she had been a Senior Credit Officer for Royal Bank of Canada responsible for their Captive Reinsurance Business in New York. Prior to joining RBC, Ms. Siebel was Assistant Vice President and Standby Letter of Credit Risk Officer for JPMorgan Chase Bank in New York. Ms. Siebel began her career in Trade Services with JPMorgan Chase’s predecessor bank Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. Ms. Siebel has extensive experience in both the issuance and the risk aspects of Standby Letters of Credit. She has been a member of the BAFT North American Standby Letter of Credit Committee since its inception in 1994 and was the Chair of the committee until her retirement. At this time she is also an Honorary Member of BAFT.