FCIB's Annual International Credit & Risk Management Summit
Speaker Biographies
 | Xavier Denecker, Managing Director, Coface UK and Ireland Xavier Denecker has been the Managing Director of Coface in the UK & Ireland since November 2007. Prior to this appointment, Xavier developed Coface business in Spain and Portugal, serving as Managing Director of the Iberian platform for 7 years. From 1997 until 2001, Xavier was the Deputy Manager for Coface in Italy. Based in Milan he was responsible for the Credit Insurance and the Commercial Departments. When Xavier joined Coface Group in Paris, in 1990, as the Communication Director, he created the Group Communication Department. Previously, Xavier has held various positions within the French Bank Credit Mutuel, as well as with Banque Louis-Dreyfus. Xavier Denecker , who has a wide background in banking and international business as well as credit insurance, is a graduate of the Pantheon Sorbonne University -Paris, France and the Institut Technique de Banque- Paris, France. (Banking Technical Institute). Xavier has been awarded the honour of Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite, by the French Government. Xavier is French. Married with 3 children, Xavier lives in Watford (Hertfordshire- UK)." | |
 | Dr. Gaurav Ganguly, Chief Economist, Atradius, Netherlands As Chief Economist at Atradius, Dr. Ganguly is responsible for analysing developments in global macroeconomic and political risks. He has built a number of proprietary economic models and ratings systems in use within Atradius to deliver assessments of economic, financial and political risk. His research interests include understanding the determinants of economic growth in emerging markets, evaluating political risk and forecasting the business cycle. As part of his role, Dr. Ganguly frequently addresses audiences both in the credit insurance industry and the wider business community and has been a speaker at BEXA, Berne Union and ICISA events. Dr. Ganguly has worked for several years within the financial services industry and holds a DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford. He is a visiting research fellow at the Cranfield School of Management. | |
 | Jane Johnson, Director, Special Products Northern Europe and Asia Pacific, Atradius Jane began her career in credit and political risk insurance in the mid 1980s at ECGD (UK government Export Credit Agency), the short term arm of which subsequently became Atradius. Having built her expertise though a number of senior roles within Atradius, including Risk Manager of the Global Business unit, since 2004 Jane has been responsible for the Northern European and Asia Pacific regions of Atradius Special Products . This team is responsible for underwriting structured credit and other single obligor policies, Excess of Loss programmes and political risk insurance for investors and lenders.
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 | André Kolkman, Director/Senior Consultant of Triangle Working Capital B.V. and Triangle Credit Management Consultancy B.V, both part of the Triangle Credit Management group. André worked as European credit & collections manager /finance manager for national and international companies active in the profit and non-profit business, as well in a B2B as a B2C environment. He worked for companies as BASF Nederland B.V., Iomega Europe SA and Air Products and Chemicals Inc. Based on his financial background and senior management experience André is specialised in credit & collections management, analysing and optimizing the order to cash process and advising companies around Shared Service Centres concepts. As well project-management, change-management, personal coaching and team-building workshops are areas of his expertise. In October 2009 André founded his own credit management consultancy and interim credit management company. Starting in November 2009, he currently holds, the position of interim operational credit & collections manager for Telfort B.V. , one of the brands of KPN B.V., the key player in the telecom and ICT market in the Netherlands. As at 6 May 2010 André will take up his new position as interim manager Credit & Collections / AR with ACN Europe B.V., the European division of ACN Inc., the world’s largest direct selling telecommunications company, offering highly competitive services to consumers and small businesses in Europe, North America and Asian Pacific. | |
 | Tim Lane, Business Development Executive, R K Harrison Financial Risks Limited – UK Tim Lane joined the R K Harrison Group in March 2008 and is a member of the RKHFR global business development team. He is a former Treasurer of Rothmans of Pall Mall Limited and Director of European Operations for FCIB. He is also both a past Chairman of the Association's European Advisory Council and Board Member. Tim has enjoyed a long career in international credit and trade finance management and has presented on these key disciplines all over the world'. He is a member of the Institute of Credit Management and a Fellow of the Association of Credit Professionals. | |
 | Rita Mocquet, Finance Director, European CFO Specialty Materials, Honeywell Rita Mocquet joined Honeywell in 1996 as Credit Manager, coming from Air Products. Over the past 13 years. Rita has held a number of progressively larger roles within the finance organization in Honeywell now holding the role of Finance Director and European CFO for the Specialty Materials Business Unit. Part of Rita’s responsibilities entail the coordination of all activities and implementation of the strategic annual operating plan for Europe which drives improvements in Working Capital, Indirect Spend and numerous other areas. A Six Sigma Black Belt she has been leading and driving several improvement and integration projects in Finance and credit in Europe, as well as in the Customer Service and Supply Chain process. A highly experienced and well skilled individual, Rita earned her MBA in Finance and an MBA in Statistics at the University of Brussels. Rita also served as the Chairman of the Belgian Credit Association for 5 years. | |
 | Denis Mustajbasic – Executive Specialist Global Credit Risk Management, BASF, Germany Denis joined the bank of UBS, Switzerland in 1997, and gained 10 years experience in different positions in the Swiss cities of Basel, Bern, Zurich. He also spent several years as Trade Finance Specialist, dealing with customers worldwide, both financial institutions and corporates. He served a number of years as a Credit Analyst for Swiss multinationals, Structured and Large exposures. Denis joined Ciba Specialty Chemicals in Basel, Switzerland in 2007 as Global Trade Finance and Risk Manager taking responsibility for the account receivables management at global level as well as the global responsibility for credit risks at Ciba Group level. With effect from 1 December 2009, Denis joined BASF Group. He was appointed Executive Specialist in Global Credit Risk Management. Within BASF Global Credit Management he is responsible for global customers at BASF group level. | |
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 | Adolf Renaud, Global Director of Credit and Collections, Tekelec Corporation, U.S.A Adolf Renaud is a Global Credit and Collections Executive with about 20 years of international experience in several industries. During his time, Adolf has held the following executive positions at some of the largest companies in America:
Mr. Renaud currently serves as Global Director of Credit and Collections at Tekelec Corporation, a telecommunications company, providing hardware and software to telecommunications companies around the globe. He has a BA in Economics and Accounting from the City University of New York, the College of Staten Island. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Chapman University in California. Mr. Renaud is also a Certified Credit Professional (CICP) and a long standing member of FCIB. He is fluent in French, Spanish and English. | |
 | Heleen Rijkens-Unger, Omni Bridgeway Group BV Heleen Rijkens was born and raised in Rotterdam. After graduating in Law at the University of Leiden in 1993 she was a lawyer at the firm Loeff Claeys Verbeke in Rotterdam from 1993 until 1996. In 1996 she moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil where she worked as a lawyer with the international law practice of Price Waterhouse (now PriceWaterhouse Coopers). In 1998 she moved to Cape Town, South Africa to join the South African private investment company Citadel. She worked as a relationship manager and investment advisor. After having moved back to Holland in 2001 Heleen Rijkens joined the Omni Bridgeway Group BV in 2002 and is responsible for business development. | |
 | Neil Ross, Senior Vice President, Trade Credit, Chartis Insurance UK Limited, UK After leaving University, Neil joined Trade Indemnity (now Euler Hermes) where he became Underwriting Manager responsible for the Export Portfolio. In 1994 he joined Hiscox where he established trade credit at Lloyds. He became lead underwriter for the Trade Credit market facility. He left in 2000 to join AIG UK where he now heads up trade credit insurance for the UK and Ireland. He has played a leading role in the establishment of AIG Trade Finance, and is the Chairman of AIG Trade Finance Ltd. | |
 | Rachel Skanson, Director of Intercultural Services at Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A Rachel Skanson is the Director of Intercultural Services at Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning. She manages a culturally diverse workforce and leads training on intercultural communication in domestic and international business, both in the U.S. and abroad. Most recently, Ms. Skanson conducted training for U.S. Embassies in Cambodia and Burma. Ms. Skanson was raised in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and worked in Taiwan and Mainland China for eight years. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and has an International MBA from the University of Denver. Ms. Skanson has traveled to 31 countries and has spent over eleven years traveling, living, and working internationally. | |
 | David W. Taylor, Chairman & CEO, OnGuard Group of Companies David was educated in the UK and moved to the Netherlands in the 70’s to follow a career in the fledgling IT industry. He established OnGuard in 1992 after working in executive positions at leading Dutch and UK software and services suppliers. With a background in software development, he positioned OnGuard as a leading supplier of standard products in niche markets and in the late 90’s re-organised the company to concentrate exclusively on standard credit management solutions with an international focus. With in excess of 850 customers in more than 25 countries, his long term goal is to establish OnGuard as one of the leading players in the international credit and collections market. In his current role as Chairman and CEO of the Group, he is active in the start up of the OnGuard international subsidiaries and is also responsible for Product development strategy and technology implementation. | |
 | Berry van Hoof, Credit and Collection Manager EMEA, Cytec Industries Inc., Belgium Berry has spent the previous 20 years within different areas of the Philips Electronics group in the Netherlands, during which time he has become increasingly involved in international credit management. He has also been instrumental in the general development of Credit Management on the European continent. Following UK credit management guidelines, Berry and his team gradually established their own strategy for Commercial Credit Management. Over the last 10 years, Berry has worked in the chemical industry in Belgium, holding his current position of credit and Collections Manager, EMEA, for the past 5 years. At Cytec Industries, Berry has invested time and energy in developing the Credit & Collection function for Specialty Chemicals in Europe, which is now regarded as a centre of excellence. The Credit and Collection department showed a reduction of 30% in DSO during 2009, which was achieved by employing working capital improvement processes in which Berry has also developed much expertise. Berry Van Hoof has been a much valued pro-active member of FCIB since 2001. | |
 | Vince Wellings, Region Credit Manager, Halliburton Energy Services Group Vince Wellings is the Region Credit Manager for Halliburton and responsible for Credit and Collections throughout Europe, Russia, Caspian and Africa. Average receivable balance tops half of billion US Dollars, in some of the most challenging countries in the world. He majored in International Politics at UCW Aberystwyth before joining ARDIL, exporting foodstuffs to hotels and royal families in the Middle East. After a brief spell organising international removals, he moved to IVECO FORD where he was in charge of export sales accounting, and later responsible for credit, both domestic and international. In 1997, Vince accepted a position at Xerox, where his credit portfolio included distributors in the Middle East and Africa. In 1999, he joined Landmark as Credit Manager and in January 2005 was promoted within the parent company, Halliburton. Vince is a graduate member of the Institute of Export and designated Certified International Credit Professional (CICP) | |
