The World Bank's Europe and Central Asia Region, in collaboration with the KfW Bankengruppe (KfW) and the World Bank Institute (WBI), is organizing a two-day conference to raise awareness of asset-backed financing mechanisms available for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Europe.
Asset-backed financing instruments present an opportunity to enhance financing to SMEs, which play a crucial role in Europe but are often credit-constrained. These mechanisms can increase SME financing by converting illiquid and high-risk SME related assets into tradable securities that have the creditworthiness of institutional investors. They have gained momentum in various parts of the world, often under the impulse of financial authorities, but remain underdeveloped in some parts of Europe.
There are clear benefits in the development of asset-backed financing instruments in Europe. They provide additional sources of funding for SMEs, offer new investment opportunities to institutional investors, and help financial institutions manage their balance sheets, liquidity and risks. However, the recent market turmoil has highlighted the need to adequately regulate and supervise risks while fostering the development of innovative mechanisms.
Conference overview The conference will provide hands-on experience in the development of asset-backed financing mechanisms for SMEs, including supply chain financing solutions, reverse factoring, and the securitization of SME loans and receivables.
May 15, 2008
Overview of SME asset-backed financing instruments, benefits
Securitization crisis, lessons learned
Examples from the USA, Western Europe, Latin America and Asia
Opportunities for their development in Eastern Europe
May 16, 2008
In-depth analysis of SME securitization in Eastern Europe
Legal framework for SME securitization
Critical role of financial authorities in promoting the development of asset-backed financing instruments
Role and importance of credit enhancement instruments
Speakers The conference will bring together more than 40 speakers from the European Commission, the European Investment Fund, KfW, the World Bank, as well as diverse market and government representatives from Europe and the rest of the world.
Keynote speakers include:
Vilmos Budavari - European Commission Alessandro Tappi - European Investment Fund Friedrich Jergitsch - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Philippe Madar - Société Générale
Target Audience The audience will be a mixture of representatives from the public and the private sector: mostly financial sector authorities, authorities in charge of SME support schemes, banks, non-bank financial institutions, representatives of SME associations, institutional investors, rating agencies, factoring companies, and export credit agencies.
Opening Remarks: Fernando Montes-Negret, Director, Private and Financial Sector Development, Europe & Central Asia, World Bank
9:15 – 10:30
SME asset-backed financing instruments: benefits for originators, issuers, investors, and financial development
SME financing needs in Europe
Availability of financing instruments for SMEs in Europe and the potential scope for less traditional instruments
Types of asset-backed instruments with a potential (leasing, factoring, and securitization of SME loans and receivables)
Advantages for originators, issuers and institutional investors
Securitisation as a risk and balance sheet management tool
Impact of these instruments on financial sector development
Moderator: Sophie Sirtaine, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, Europe & Central Asia, World Bank
Panelists: Nicolas Véron, Research Fellow, Bruegel, Belgium Vilmos Budavari, Policy Officer, Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General, European Commission, Belgium Michel Noel, Lead Financial Officer, Europe & Central Asia, World Bank John Daniel Pollner, Lead Financial Officer, Europe & Central Asia, World Bank Carolin Gassner, Vice President, Securitization, KfW, Germany
10:30 – 11:30
Securitization market outlook: causes and impact of the crisis, lessons for regulators and supervisors, the way forward
Causes and impact of the securitization crisis on SME financing and market development
Lessons learnt from the crisis: transparency, risks, regulatory needs
Moderator: Sophie Sirtaine, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, Europe & Central Asia, World Bank
Panelists: Peter Prestel, Director, Asset Securitization, UniCredit, Germany Tycjan Bielecki, Assistant Vice President-Analyst, Structured Finance Group, Moody’s, Germany Stefan Bund, Managing Director, FitchRatings, UK Fernando Montes-Negret, Director, Private and Financial Sector Development, Europe & Central Asia, World Bank
12:00 – 13:30
SME asset-backed financing instruments: developments in the USA, Western Europe, Latin America, and Asia
Examples of the development of SME asset-backed instruments in Western Europe, the U.S.A., Latin America, and Asia
Overall development of SME asset-backed financing instruments in the world
Moderator: Arvind Gupta, Lead Financial Sector Specialist, WBI, World Bank
Panelists: Bertan Yordem, Partner, Daruma Corporate Finance, Turkey Andreas Rahe, Vice President, Asset Securitization, KfW, Germany Emanuel Salinas, Associate Director, Structured Finance, S&P, UK Arvind Gupta, Lead Financial Sector Specialist, WBI, World Bank
13:30 – 14:30
Lunch
14:30 – 16:30
SME asset-backed financing instruments in Eastern Europe: an underexploited market?
Status of development of SME asset-backed financing instruments in Eastern Europe, including SME securitization
Types of transactions, challenges met
Potential for market development
Moderator: Harald Hüttenrauch, Vice President, Securitization, KfW, Germany
Panelists: Charles Smith, EBRD,UK Martina Spaeth, Managing Director, Head of Emerging Europe Securitization, UniCredit, UK Georg Feldscher, Head of Strategic Portfolio Management, Raiffeisen International Bank, Austria Tycjan Bielecki, Assistant Vice President-Analyst, Structured Finance Group, Moody’s, Germany
16:30 – 17:30
Financing for SMEs: innovative transactions, securitization of receivables and loans, reverse factoring
Securitization of SME receivables
Securitization of trade and leasing receivables
Reverse factoring
Securitization of loans to microfinance institutions
Cases studies; potential and challenges in Eastern Europe
Moderator: Constantinos Stephanou, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, World Bank
Panelists: Shane Maine, Managing Partner, SCF Capital, UK Adrian Katz, CEO, Finacity, USA Alberto Lara Lopez, Chief Financial Officer, FIRA, Mexico
19:00
Dinner
Friday, May 16
8:30 – 9:00
Breakfast
9:00 – 11:00
First synthetic securitization of bank SME loans in Eastern Europe: lessons learned
Issuer: objectives, benefits, costs, and results
Arranger: infrastructure, constraints, attitude of institutional investors
Lawyer: constraints, solutions, remaining issues
Regulator: lessons learned for the regulatory and legal framework
Guarantor: role of guarantor
Rating agency: view point of rating agency
Moderator: Harald Hüttenrauch, Vice President, Securitization, KfW, Germany
Panelists: Michael Weller, Partner, Clifford Chance Frankfurt, Germany Roland Mechtler, Deputy Head of Strategic Portfolio Management, Raiffeisen International, Austria Jiri Skoda, Head of Active Credit Portfolio Management, Raiffeisenbank Czech Republic, Czech Republic Piotr Konieczny, Director, Risk Management Department, Raiffeisen Bank Polska S.A., Poland Harald Hüttenrauch, Vice President, Securitization, KfW, Germany Tycjan Bielecki, Assistant Vice President- Analyst, Structured Finance Group, Moody’s, Germany
11:30 – 12:30
Legal framework for SME securitization: best practices and gaps in Europe
Situation in Europe: key issues for the private sector, cross-country differences, challenges and solutions
Conducive environment for SME securitization: legal and regulatory framework, taxation, and infrastructure requirements
The experience of Bulgaria in modernizing its legal and regulatory environment
Moderator: John Daniel Pollner, Lead Financial Officer, Europe & Central Asia, World Bank
Panelists: Friedrich Jergitsch, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Austria Stephan Kjutchukov, Partner, Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov, Bulgaria Marijana Jelić, Attorney at Law, Croatia
12:30 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 16:00
Role of financial authorities in promoting the development of SME asset-backed financing mechanisms
Examples from Europe and the rest of the world: impact of legal and regulatory reforms on market development
Impact of other public programs, including public guarantees and other public instruments (tax and non tax-based)
Impact on market development, cost for public sector, advantages for private transactions
Moderator: Constantinos Stephanou, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, World Bank
Panelists: Flavia Mouta, Manager of Corporate and Other Issuers Finance, Brazilian Securities Commission, Brazil Sergio Palavecino, Director, ALM & Funding, Banco Sabadell, Spain Sasho Tchakalski, Executive Director, Encouragement Bank, Bulgaria Eser Şagar, Expert, Capital Markets Board, Turkey Philippe Madar, Managing Director, Securitization Europe, Société Générale, France
16:00 – 16:30
Coffee Break
16:30 – 17:30
Credit enhancement instruments to support innovative asset-backed transactions
Role and importance of credit enhancement instruments
Nature of instruments available, costs, examples
Role of monoline insurer and challenges in face of the crisis
View point of rating agency
Moderator: Emanuel Salinas, Associate Director, Structured Finance, S&P, UK
Panelists: Alessandro Tappi, Head of Guarantees and Securitization, European Investment Fund, Luxembourg Olga Sclovscaia, Senior Underwriter, MIGA, World Bank Emanuel Salinas, Associate Director, Structured Finance, S&P, UK Alfredo Varrati, Senior Analyst, Italian Banking Association, Italy
17:30 – 18:00
Agenda for reform: facilitating market development while adequately regulating and supervising risks
Potential role of asset-backed financing mechanisms in Europe
Advantages for market participants and financial sector development
Key gaps impeding market development
Directions for reform, role of regulators and supervisors, responsibilities of private participants
The way forward
Fernando Montes-Negret, Director, Private and Financial Sector Development, Europe & Central Asia, World Bank
Speakers Bios
Alberto Lara is CFO of FIRA, a government owned bank that provides credit to agribusiness nationwide through the banking system. Mr. Lara’s main responsibilities include managing finance, treasury, accounting and planning areas, ensuring a suitable administration of the assets, liabilities and capital according to the financial strategies and policies established. At FIRA he has organized and coordinated several interdepartmental projects to penetrate new market niches and to implement new credit distribution channels. Alberto has a background in both public policy and corporate finance. Worked at the department of the Treasury of Mexico. Mr. Lara holds a master degree in business administration from the University of Rochester and a bachelor degree in Economics.
Adrian Katz has been involved in the asset-backed securitization industry for 22 years, working in both the investment banking and specialty financing industry. As an investment banker, Mr. Katz was a Managing Director at Smith Barney responsible for all issuance of new asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. Prior to Smith Barney, Mr. Katz worked for Prudential Securities where he was a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Mortgage and Asset Capital Division. More recently, Mr. Katz was the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman of AutoBond Acceptance Corporation, where his duties included building a centralized servicing and underwriting platform, developing supporting technology infrastructure and organizing a national marketing effort. Mr. Katz graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in electrical engineering and computer science.
Alessandro Tappi is Head of Guarantees & Securitisation at the European Investment Fund (EIF) since 1999. Starting in 2000, he developed EIF's presence in the capital markets and transformed EIF into the largest guarantee institution active in SME securitisation. Under his responsibility, EIF issued guarantee commitments (mainly at mezzanine and subordinated level) in both cash and synthetic deals in excess of EUR 11 billion in a large number of SME-backed structured finance transactions. Alessandro is also member of the Board of Directors of the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a fund specialized in microfinance. Prior to joining EIF, Alessandro worked for several years in the project financing area at San Paolo Bank, Turin. Alessandro holds an MBA in Business Administration and a Diploma in Economics and Trade from the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, Turin. He has been lecturer at the Universities of Udine and Torino and held various training courses on Structured Finance products and Financial Modelling.
Andreas Rahe is Vice President in the Asset Securitisation department of KfW in Frankfurt, Germany. He is heading a team which is specialized in Securitisation of SME risk in Germany and Europe. The primary responsibilities of his team include execution of transactions using KfW’s CLO platform “PROMISE” as well as the management of an investment portfolio in structured SME risk.After his studies of Business Administration at the University of Münster, Germany, Andreas joined KfW in 1996 where he started his professional career in the Export and Project Finance department with responsibility for transport and infrastructure projects. In 2000 he was sent on secondment to the German Federal Ministry for Transportation, Building and Housing in Berlin to conduct a feasibility study for alternative Transrapid projects in Germany and to establish international co-operations to promote German magnetic levitation technology. When he returned to KfW in January 2002 he joined the Asset Securitisation department where he is heading the SME team since 2005.
Alfredo Varrati has been working as a credit analyst at ABI’s Corporate Credit Department since 2003 and has closely followed issues relating credit risk mitigation techniques, securitisation and the introduction of covered bonds into the Italian framework. He is a member of all European Covered Bond Council Working Groups and together with both Italian and international major banks he is currently exploring opportunities for further improvement of Italy’s covered bond secondary legislation. As far as SME financing is concerned, Mr. Varrati is an expert on issues relating to credit guarantee consortia with specific regard to CRD implications and the role of such operators within Italian “district bonds” operations. He has previously worked for ABI’s Economic Evaluations Department contributing to analyse and estimate the impact of Basel II on the Italian banking system. He holds a degree in economics and a master’s degree in international management from University of Bologna, Italy.
Bertan Yordem, a Turkish national, is a Partner in Daruma Corporate Finance, in charge of International Finance and Structuring, covering new product development and relationship with international financial institutions. Daruma Corporate Finance provides investment banking services in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and India. Prior joining Daruma in 2002, Mr. Yordem worked for Garanti Bank, Structured Finance Department where he worked for long term structured borrowing for the bank, including the largest securitization portfolio in Turkey. Mr. Yordem holds a BA degree in Economics and an executive MBA degree.
Carolin Gassner since late 2006 heads the Eastern Europe and Emerging Markets team within KfW’s Securitisation Department. She has successfully executed synthetic securitisation transactions involving SME and housing loans in Germany, Western and Eastern Europe. Furthermore, she is involved in the structuring of Global Microfinance CDOs and other securitisation structures worldwide within the context of KfW’s role as structuring investor and credit enhancer. Carolin started her career with KfW in 1996 as a project manager at KfW Entwicklungsbank. Her responsabilities included the structuring and analysis of infrastructure projects in North Africa and the Middle East. From 1999 onwards she worked as financial sector specialist covering the same region. After a secondment of one year to the European Commission’s EuropeAid Cooperation Office, Carolin returned in 2003 to KfW and joined the Securitisation Department of KfW structuring synthetic transactions under KfW’s Promise and Provide platforms. In 2005, Carolin became head of the Financial Institutions team in the Risk management department of KfW. Carolin holds a degree as Diplom-Volkswirt (Economist) from Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen. Before joining KfW, Carolin worked for the ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich.
Constantinos Stephanou is a Senior Financial Economist in the Financial Policy Development Unit of the World Bank's Financial and Private Sector Development Vice Presidency. He has covered various financial sector topics for the World Bank, including banking, risk management, SME financing, and competition. Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked as a risk management consultant for Oliver, Wyman & Company, and as Treasury Risk Manager and Head of Planning for Laiki Bank (HSBC affiliate) in Greece. Mr. Stephanou holds degrees in Economics and Public Policy from the universities of Cambridge and Harvard respectively.
Emanuel Salinas is Associate Director of Structured Finance with Standard & Poor's in London. In this capacity Emanuel is in charge of rating numerous Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs) arranged by global commercial banks. Previously Emanuel was Associate Director and Product Manager in Standard & Poor's Risk Solutions, where he was in charge of development of quantitative tools used in securitization of SME CLOs throughout Europe. Emanuel is also a former Financial Economist working with the World Bank in development of the Financial Sector in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Emanuel co-authored the book "Structured Finance in Latin America: Channelling Pension Funds to Housing, Infrastructure and Small Businesses".
Eser Şagar joined Corporate Finance Department of the Capital Markets Board of Turkey in December 2001. He is a member of two project groups; risk based supervision of financial statements of publicly held corporations and developing a legal framework for asset backed securities and covered bonds in Turkey since 2007. Previously he was reporting and supervising the conformity of public offerings, mergers & acquisitions, divestitures, material event disclosures and financial statements of public companies to the Turkish Capital Market Legislation.Eser holds a BS degree in Business Management from Ankara University.
Fernando Montes-Negret, a Colombian national, is the Sector Director of ECSPF in charge of defining and implementing the Bank’s strategy for the development of the financial and private sectors of the client countries in the ECA Region. Mr. Montes-Negret joined the Bank in October 1984 as an Economist in the Latin America and Caribbean's Industrial Development and Finance Division 2, working in Chile (during the 1984-85 banking crisis), Costa Rica and Argentina.
After a three-year break in service, serving as Deputy Governor of the Banco de la Republica (Colombia’s Central Bank), he returned to the Bank in June 1989 and held various positions as Sr. Economist--working in the East Asia Region (as Country Economist for China), Europe and Central Asia Region and the Financial Sector Development Department. In April 1994, he was promoted to Principal Financial Economist. He transferred to the Latin America and the Caribbean Region in August 1997 as Sector Leader in Mexico City. Mr. Montes-Negret moved to the Finance Cluster, Finance, Private Sector and Infrastructure Sector Management Unit as Sector Manager in October 1999. He was appointed Sector Director in April 1, 2004. Mr. Montes-Negret is a graduate of the Universities of los Andes (Bogota), Wisconsin (Madison) and Rice (Houston). Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Montes-Negret held various posts in Colombia, including as Under-Secretary of Finance, Advisor to the Monetary Board and Advisor to the Minister of Development of Colombia.
Flavia Mouta, a Brazilian national, holds a degree from the University of Chemistry in Rio de Janeiro and began her working career in that area in1993, concentrating initially in petroleum and nuclear energy. In 2001, she joined the Brazilian Securities Commission (CVM) to analyze all public securities offerings in Brazil, like stocks, bonds, commercial papers, and Reit shares. Mrs. Mouta has been Manager of Corporate and Other Issuers Finance at CVM since 2005 and it is in her duties to revise and register tender offers for stock acquisition and ABS/MBS. Her project is also to be graduated in Law this semester. Alongside her career, Mrs. Mouta, 32 years old, is married and has one four-year-old son.
Friedrich Jergitsch has been a partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer since 2003 and works in the Vienna office. He is a member of our finance practice group and specialises in banking and revenue law, as well as insolvency law. He has considerable experience in structuring financial transactions, in particular credit agreements, asset backed transactions and structured finance, and advising creditors in insolvency proceedings. He advises on banking regulatory issues and has been involved in structuring a number of asset backed financing transactions.
Friedrich was born in 1963 in Vienna, Austria. He studied law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna and has been active in an international bank in the field of credit analysis for several years. He is the author of specialist articles on the cross-border safe custody of securities, foreign exchange law and insolvency law. Friedrich was admitted as a lawyer in 2002. Friedrich joined the firm in 1998 and speaks German, English, French and Russian.
Georg Feldscher, Head of Strategic Portfolio Management of Raiffeisen International (RI), joined RI in 2004. He is responsible for the implementation of structured transactions within the RI Group including securitisation and tax and balance sheet optimisation transactions. In this function, he lead the implementation of the USD 400 mln ROOF Russia 2007-1 securitisation of Russian car loan receivables, the PLN 640 mln ROOF Poland securitisation of Polish vehicle leasing receivables and of the EUR 450 mln ROOF CEE 2006-1 synthetic securitisation of Czech and Polish SME loans.
Before joining RI, Georg headed RZB’s syndication team where he was responsible for the syndication of RZB’s international and domestic loans. Before joining the Raiffeisen group, Georg Feldscher was responsible for Project Finance at Bank Austria and, thereafter, for Structured Tax Leasing at Creditanstalt Leasing. Georg Feldscher is a graduate of the Vienna University of Economy and he has passed the exam as a Certified Public Accountant in the U.S.
Harald Hüttenrauch is a Vice President in KfW’s Asset Securitisation team since 2002. As a structured finance / securitisation specialist he has successfully executed transactions involving SME assets in Germany and Eastern Europe, mainly focusing on smaller originators, including ROOF CEE 2006-1. Currently, his primary responsibilties include product development and business development in Eastern Europe and Emerging Markets.Harald started his career with KfW in 1989 as a project manager at KfW Entwicklungsbank. His responsabilities included the structuring and analysis of irrigation infrastructure projects in Latin American countries. During a leave of absence between July 1993 and September 1997 he assumed a position as Financial Sector Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C. Upon return to KfW in Frankfurt, he worked as Financial Sector Economist in the Development Cooperation Strategeis Department at KfW Entwicklungsbank. Harald holds a degree as Diplom-Volkswirt (Economist) with specialisation on International Finance and Theory of Economic Policy from Freie University Berlin.
John Pollner is currently a Lead Financial Officer (Financial & Risk Markets) in the Private and Financial Sector Department of the Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank. Previously he was an Operations Adviser who helped implement the corporate lending modernization, simplification and innovation program. Prior to that, he was Lead Financial Sector Specialist in the Latin America Region where he worked on various country projects involving banking system restructuring, capital market securitization innovations, private sector pension systems reform, and catastrophe insurance programs for typhoon and earthquake risks where he pioneered the use of risk transfer and risk financing products for developing countries. Mr. Pollner also worked in the Bank’s Planning and Budgeting area and in the Loan Department. Prior to that, he was at the International Monetary Fund undertaking work on economic reform programs and country capital account financing. Mr. Pollner is a national of both the US and Chile, and has an MBA in Finance degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Marijana Jelić, attorney-at-law, opened in 2007 her own private practice in Zagreb, Croatia, specialized in derivatives, structured products, capital markets and banking. She advises Croatian Banking Association on a regular basis and was involved in the process of drafting a Securitisation Act, Financial Collateral Law and Foreign Exchange Law during her previous employment. Her professional experience, among others, includes position at Privredna banka Zagreb as as senior legal counsel responsible for Treasury division and Investment banking division and also a legal counsel at Croatian National Bank responsible for Central-banking operations division. Ms. Jelic is also author of Croatian Repurchase Master Agreement and Croatian General Master Financial Derivatives Agreement, projects supported by Croatian Banking Association and ACI Croatia. She occassionally advises ISDA, Citigroup, Barclays Capital, Bank Austria, Hypo-Alpe-Adria Bank d.d. Zagreb, ZB Invest – the largest fund management company in Croatia and several fund management companies and brokerage houses established Croatia. Mrs. Jelić passed bar exam in 1997, completed law studies at University of Zagreb and also obtained several scholarships including specialization in banking at University of Zürich in 1997/98 by ESKAS.
Martina Spaeth has been working in securitisation for Unicredit Group, HVB, since 2001 and heads the securitisation team in Munich. The team in Munich dedicates its resources to securitisation in Germany, Austria and CEE countries, with a special focus on SME assets. To date Martina and her team have developed and executed a number of transactions via Unicredits successful securitisation platforms e.g. Geldilux, Promise, Provide, EuroConnect, Success, Building Comfort etc. Numerous trade receivables, leasing, loan pools and other asset classes have been refinanced and warehoused via the successful Arabella Conduit, an important vehicle for Unicredit Group's corporate clients. Prior to Unicredit/HVB Martina worked for Fitch Ratings where she was responsible analyst for rating German and Spanish transactions. At Swiss Bank Corp and later UBS she started her career where she was able to structure the first RMBS for Switzerland and one of the very first synthetic SME CLO's in the market.She holds a PHD in physical Chemistry.
Michael Weller has extensive experience in international structured finance, in particular in securitisation and acquisition finance. He has been active in the German securitisation market since 1992 advising arrangers, originators and other participants on true sale and synthetic securitisation transactions. He is an Advisor to the True Sale Initiative and member of the Verbriefungsforum. Dr. Weller acts mainly for financial institutions. Recent transactions include Windermere XIV, Roof CEE 2006-1,and EuroConnect Issuer SME 2007 Limited. He worked as an assistant professor at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt from 1982 to 1985 and joined Deutsche Bank Luxembourg in 1985, where he became Head of the Legal Department. Dr. Weller joined Clifford Chance in 1992."
Nicolas Véron has a background in both public policy and corporate finance. In his early career, he worked successively in a subsidiary of the Saint-Gobain Group in Berlin and Potsdam, at Rothschilds’ mergers & acquisitions department in Paris, and at the office of the state representative in Lille in the north of France. Between 1997 and 2000, he was the corporate adviser to France’s Labour Minister. He then became chief financial officer of MultiMania / Lycos France, a publicly-listed Internet company (2000-2002), and in mid-2002 founded ECIF, a financial-services consultancy based in Paris. He has been involved in Bruegel’s creation and development since late 2002 and has been a Research Fellow there since 2005. He speaks fluent English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Topics in Véron’s research, papers, and articles include the internationalisation of large companies, the governance of accounting standard-setting, economic nationalism in continental Europe, prudential supervision of cross-border banking activities, the role of the financial system in fostering emerging-firm growth, and the rise of sovereign wealth funds.
Peter Prestel has been working in securitisation for UniCredit HVB since 2001. As a senior structurer he has executed numerous term transactions with a special focus on SME and mortgage assets. Prior to joining UniCredit HVB he headed a credit office in a mortgage bank subsidiary of HVB concentrating on loan extension, portfolio management and securitisation. Peter holds a master degree in business administration (Dipl. Kaufmann) from the University of Nuremberg.
Philippe Madar is co-heading the European Securitisation team of Société Générale, which comprises corporate, financial institutions and real estate securitisation. He joined Société Générale in 2000 to develop MBS and ABS for financial institutions in Europe after spending four years in the securitisation team of Calyon. Philippe has been a key contributor to the development of the franchise of SG CIB in the ABS/MBS markets, which has been consistently ranking top 5 in League Tables. He has structured transactions in Germany, Benelux, UK, Italy, Spain, France and Portugal on a wide range of asset classes: Auto, consumer, leasing ABS, RMBS, CMBS and SME securitisation, plus principal finance and whole business securitisation. He graduated from Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in 1990.
Piotr Konieczny, Member of the Board Raiffeisen Bank Polska (RBPL), joined RBPL in 1997. He is responsible for the risk management of RBPL including securitisation, tax and balance sheet optimisation transactions. He has a proven track record of setting-up the risk management function in the banking business from the Greenfield to fully fledged operations. In this function, he co-lead the implementation of the EUR 450 mln ROOF CEE 2006-1 synthetic securitisation of Czech and Polish SME loans. He coordinates the process of implementation of BASEL II directives. Currently, he leads the project for setting up the RMBS structure. The other key completed projects include: co-development of the economic capital model used for performance evaluation, development of the IFRS provisioning model, structuring and execution of balance sheet optimisation transactions. Dr. Konieczny, is an alumni of Szczecin University from the Department of Finance and Banking. In the year 2000, he received his Ph.D. from the Warsaw School of Economics with his thesis written on interest rate management.
Roland Mechtler joined Raiffeisen International in 2004 and has focused on the implementation of Securitisation transactions within RI Group. He executed successfully a number of benchmark transactions in different jurisdiction, such as ROOF CEE 2006 (synthetic securitisation of corporate loan receivables in Poland and Czech Republic) and ROOF Russia 2007 (securitisation of car loans in Russia). He is Deputy Head of Strategic Portfolio Management of Raiffeisen International.Roland graduated from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration with a PhD in economic science and is Certified Public Accountant (Illinois).
Sasho Tchakalski, Executive Director and Member of the Management Board of Encouragement Bank (EB), joined EB in 2001. He is responsible for the management of international and domestic operations, credit activities and relations with the international financial institutions. Mr. Tchakalski has worked for Société Générale Group for the period from 1996 – 2001. He was a Commercial Manager and member of the Management Board of Société Générale Bulgaria and was in charge of the Loan and International Departments dealing with credit strategy development, management of the current credit activities, international and domestic operations. Аs a representative of Société Générale for Bulgaria in London Mr. Tchakalski was dealing with structuring of operations for trade financing of Bulgarian enterprises, development of correspondent banking relations and financial assistance to the Bulgarian and French companies in the privatisation process in Bulgaria. Mr. Tchakalski is Vice-President of the French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria and is a former Economic and Commercial Advisor at the Bulgarian Embassy in Paris.
Shane Maine is currently a Managing Partner of SCF Capital, a structured finance firm focused on financing supply chain assets, and its Private Equity affiliate, SCF Growth Equity. From 1998 to 2005, Mr. Maine was the Chairman and a Management Consultant to Ventures North International Inc. and to PSA International Inc., both venture capital firms, and he remains Chairman of PSA International. Mr. Maine has been primarily responsible for the launch, financing and growth of a number of companies in the information technology and financial services markets in Canada, the United States and Europe. As part of launching these companies, Mr. Maine gained extensive experience in establishing and developing partnerships with large corporations, growing companies, both organically and through acquisition, and accessing financing through both venture capital and public markets. Mr. Maine holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.
Sophie Sirtaine is a Senior Financial Specialist in the Europe and Central Asia Vice-Presidency of the World Bank. Prior to this, she worked in the World Bank’s Latin America and South Asia vice-presidencies. Her work focuses on financial systems development and stability. Before joining the World Bank, she was an Associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions department of the Investment Bank JP Morgan in London (UK) where she advised European governments and private companies on privatizations and private sales of financial institutions. She holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics (UK) and a Business Administration degree from the Solvay Business School (Belgium).
Tycjan Bielecki is an Assistant Vice President-Analyst at Business Development for Moody's Structured Finance Group. In the SFG BD team he is responsible for supporting Moody’s Business Development activities in Central and Eastern Europe, designing and executing strategies to support the development of key markets in the region. Within his geographical responsibility Tycjan co-ordinates Moody's work with issuers, arrangers, regulators and investors, as well as with respective Moody's affiliates. Prior to joining Moody's, Tycjan his most recent experience included spending 6 years within Citigroup holding various positions in Financial Control, M&A, Venture Capital, Asset Based Finance, and most recent as Director, Head of Distribution Finance within area of Structured Trade Finance, where he was responsible for number of credit based financing structures.Tycjan holds Master degree from the Warsaw School of Economics.
Vilmos Budavari graduated from the University of Economic Sciences in Budapest and subsequently obtained a Master’s degree in Political Economy from the London School of Economics. He started his professional career in 2000 with Citibank in Hungary, where he completed the bank’s management associate programme. This included spells in the workout, corporate banking and cash management divisions. He then worked as financial analyst and portfolio manager in the bank’s SME division. In 2002 he joined the Enterprise directorate general of the European Commission and has worked there in the field of SME finance. This has included organising workshops and policy work on growth stock exchanges and various aspects of early-stage equity finance. In 2006-2007 he acted as secretary for the fifth European round table between banks and SMEs. Beside his mother tongue, Hungarian, he speaks English, German, Spanish and French.
Travel Arrangements There are two convenient airports for travel to Bratislava: the Bratislava Airport (BTS) and the Vienna Airport (VIE), which is located 40 minutes by car from Bratislava.You may need a Schengen Visa to enter Slovakia..
Contact Us For information, please contact:
Sophie Sirtaine 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Email: sirtaine@wordbank.org Phone:(202) 458-7006 Fax: (202) 522-3687
Bujana Perolli 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Email: bperolli@worldbank.org Phone: (202) 473-4268 Fax: (202) 522-3687
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