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Jeffry Frieden, Keynote Speaker
is Stanfield Professor of International Peace. He specializes in the politics of international monetary and financial relations. Frieden is the author (with Menzie Chinn) of Lost Decades: The Making of America's Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery (2011). Frieden is also the author of Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century (2006), of Banking on the World: The Politics of American International Finance (1987), of Debt, Development, and Democracy: Modern Political Economy and Latin America, 1965-1985 (1991), and is the editor or co-editor of over a dozen other books on related topics. His articles on the politics of international economic issues have appeared in a wide variety of scholarly and general-interest publications.Walter (Buddy) Baker has over 30 years of experience in international
trade finance. In May 2009 he joined Fifth Third Bank, where he heads the Global Trade Solutions Delivery team. Fifth Third is one of the 20 largest banks in the US and provides a full range of risk mitigation and financing products for exporters and importers. Prior to Fifth Third, Buddy worked for Atradius Trade Credit Insurance, ABN AMRO Bank, Bank of America, Wachovia Bank, and The First National Bank of Chicago. Buddy is a recognized expert in trade finance and makes frequent presentations for national associations of exporters, importers, bankers, and lawyers. He designed the online training/certification programs used by the Association of International Credit and Trade Finance Professionals (ICTF) and by the Association of Trade and Forfaiting in the Americas, and the trade finance sections of the certification program used by the Finance, Credit and International Business Group (FCIB). Mr. Baker has authored numerous magazine articles and the books Users' Handbook for Documentary Credits under UCP 600, Documentary Payments & Short-Term Trade Finance, and The Regulatory Environment of Letters of Credit and Trade Finance. He serves as a member-at-large of the National Letter of Credit Committee of the Bankers' Association for Finance and Trade/International Financial Services Association and is actively involved in establishing national and worldwide standard practices for L/Cs, such as the current version of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (referred to as "UCP600"), the official ICC guide for examining letter of credit documents, called the International Standard Banking Practices for the Examination of2
Documents under Letters of Credit ("ISBP"), the eUCP supplement to the UCP, dealing with electronic documents, the International Standby Practices ("ISP98"), and Article 5 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Buddy also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of International Credit and Trade Finance Professionals (ICTF), a multinational association of export credit managers, on the Advisory Council of the Institute for International Banking Law and Practice, and on the Council on
International Standby Practices.
Buddy received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his MBA from Northwestern.
Dr. Hans Belcs
ák has served as the President of S.J. Rundt & Associates,
Inc., a New York headquartered consulting and publishing firm, since 1973. S.J. Rundt & Associates specializes in helping multinational companies, exporters, importers, banks and investors assess risks and opportunities in their international strategies and transactions. Dr. Belcsák is publisher of Rundt's World Business Intelligence, which focuses on global political and economic trends, Rundt's World Risk Analysis Program, a provider of country risk assessments, The Financial Executive's Country Risk Alert, and Rundt's FXPRO Foreign Exchange Rate Forecasts. Additionally, Dr. Belcsák is Chairman of the International Council for the American Management Association, a consultant for the Management Center Europe in Brussels, and an advisor to a regional governor of the Russian Federation.Dr. Hans Belcsák is a renowned keynote speaker on global developments and is a founding member and supporter of ICTF. Dr. Belcsák was born and educated in Austria. He holds degrees in Commercial Law and Political Economics as well as a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree. Dr. Belcsák’s dissertation in economics has received significant recognition and accolade as a critical appraisal of Keynesian fiscal policy applied to modern
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Rafael Castillo-Triana
is CEOof FTAA Consulting based in FortLauderdale, FL and is an international attorney with more than 22 years of experience. A former executive for a leasing company in South America, he later founded two leasing companies in Colombia. In 1990, he left his leasing management career behind and focused on serving as a legal counselor and consultant for US companies doing business in Latin America. He concentrates on market research, security instruments, leasing, and competitive and strategic analysis. Rafael is a member of the American Bar Association, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association of America and International Bar Association.
Kevin Chandler, RGCP
is Senior Director of Credit for Tesoro Corporation and has been with the company since June 2009. Prior to Tesoro Corporation, Kevin held a variety of positions in credit including: Director of Global Credit and Collections for Halliburton Energy Services, Inc./Landmark Graphics Corp., Credit Manager for MG Natural Gas Corporation, Area Treasury Representative for Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Customer Credit Relations Manager for General Electric Capital Corporation, Vice President of Credit Consulting for Diversified Credit Services, Inc., and Commercial Credit Division Consulting Manager for Accounts Management Corporation. He is actively involved with ICTF, Credit Research Foundation (CRF), International Energy Credit Association, and the National Petroleum Energy Credit Association, among others. In 2004 he was a guest presenter at the First China International Credit and Risk Management Conference.Kevin holds an M.B.A. from the University of Saint Thomas as well as the CCE, CEW, and RGCP certifications.
David Conaway’s principal areas of practice are bankruptcy (primarily Chapter 11 proceedings), non-bankruptcy insolvencies or restructurings, workouts, commercial transactions, and international transactions, disputes and insolvencies.
David has over 25 years of lead counsel experience representing both secured and unsecured creditors, including lenders, unsecured creditors (including trade creditors, bondholders or other unsecured creditor interests), and unsecured creditors' committees. David also has significant experience in representing parties in the purchase and sale of assets in bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings. His experience includes handling
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virtually every facet of bankruptcy and insolvency matters including issues relating to relief from stay, reclamations, setoff, critical vendor, avoidance actions, executory contracts, forensic investigations, DIP financing, creditors' committees, and plan confirmation.
Pamela Krank
is President of The Credit Department, Inc, a Mendota Heights, Minnesota-based credit management technology and outsourcing solutions provider. Pam started the company in 1993 after 13 award-winning years in the Credit Department of the Fortune 500 Company, 3M. Her company’s mission is to help businesses maximize cash-flow and minimize costs in managing trade receivables by providing Best Practices Consulting services and sophisticated cloud-based technology, custom processes, and trained personnel in the form of outsourced, virtual credit departments. The service saves her mostly-manufacturing clients from all over the world millions of dollars in interest and bad debt expenses every year.Pam is a dynamic speaker in demand by trade associations, financial institutions, and credit groups worldwide. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Credit and Financial Management program and is a FasTrac graduate from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. She taught entrepreneurship for 10 years at the University of St. Thomas and Metropolitan State University. Pam is Past President of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She is a frequent webinar leader and speaker on Trade Receivables Best Practices for NACM, Execusense, and CFO Magazine.
Russell D’Souza is the Director of Global Credit Risk Management at
Hanesbrands Inc. a $4.3 billion leader in the apparel industry, with leading brands like Hanes, Champion, and Playtex, based in Winston-Salem, NC. He has previously worked at Hallmark Cards, Inc., Payless Shoesource (a former division of May Dept. Stores - now Macy's) and was also a professor of finance and international business. He has been active in the realm of credit and international trade, through association memberships, advisory roles on Chambers of Commerce and currently, on the international advisory board of Winston Salem State Univ. (member of the UNC system). Russell has served on the boards of FCIB & NACM, as Chairman of FCIB and5
currently serves on the advisory council for ICTF. He is conversant in Hindi, Japanese and French.
Patricia Medeiros was born in São Paulo in 1973, graduated from
Paulista University and was admitted to the Bar Association in 1996. Before joining Syngenta as Legal Manager, she worked as Legal Counsel for Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Siemens and VIVO/TELEFONICA - the largesttelecommunications provider in Brazil.
She brings 17 years of corporate experience in several areas, especially in commercial, corporate and tax matters. Currently she is attending an LL.M in Corporate Commercial Law at UC Davis - California.
Luis Omar Guerrero Rodriguez
receivedhis law degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana, León Campus (1987-1991), and obtained an LLM at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1996-1997). He completed postgraduate degrees on “Régimen Jurídico de los Negocios Internacionales en México” (Legal Framework for International Business in Mexico) and Commercial Law at the Escuela Libre de Derecho (1993-1994 / 1994-1995). He also secured two additional diplomas in ICC ELD arbitration and also in Constitutional lawsuits (amparos) at the Barra MexicanaColegio de Abogados (2006-2007). He has excelled in areas of Litigation (mainly Commercial, Reorganization and Bankruptcy and Administrative); Commercial Arbitration and Economic Competition-Antitrust Law. Mr. Guerrero began his professional career as Court Clerk for the Fifth Criminal Court of Appeals of the Supreme Court of Justice of the State of Guanajuato from 1988 to 1989. After this, he practiced civil and
commercial law with the firm González Flores Asociados, S.C. until 1991. In 1993, he joined Barrera, Siqueiros y Torres Landa, S.C. as an associate attorney. Mr. Guerrero has been a partner of the firm since 2000.
