What Is The IFC Global Trade Partners Meeting?
IFC held the first Global Trade Partners Meeting (GTPM) in Paris in 2007, an IFC-hosted conference to enhance new business opportunities between and among the members of its global network of Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) partner banks and IFC’s other valued trade finance partners. Subsequent GTPM events have been held on a periodic basis in Washington DC, Dubai, Istanbul, Lisbon and Milan. IFC’s GTPM conferences are recognized as important global trade finance industry events, with a unique footprint given IFC’s extensive reach and client base in the emerging markets. A record 325 delegates from 175 institutions in 58 countries attended the most recent GTPM conference held in 2016 in Milan.
IFC will convene the eighth GTPM on May 7-9, 2024, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program. The GTPM 2024 event will be held in Barcelona and will be co-hosted with Caixa Bank, one of IFC’s most active trade finance bank partners over the past two decades. The GTPM Barcelona 2024 will feature a two-day program of internationally renowned speakers and panelists providing analysis of the global trade arena, as well as ample opportunities to network and develop new business relationships. The GTPM event will close with a Gala Awards Dinner, celebrating the 20th anniversary of IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program and recognizing its high-performing trade finance partners.
Meet Our
GTPM 2024 Speakers
Marc Auboin
Counsellor, World Trade Organization
Marc Auboin is a Counsellor at the World Trade Organization (WTO) looking after trade and finance issues, including trade finance, and WTO’s relations with the IMF and World Bank. Prior to the WTO, he held several positions at the IMF, the European Monetary and Financial Committee and the French Treasury. He holds a Ph.D in Economics, and has written articles and reports on trade finance issues.
Alexia Boutin-Somnolet
Lenders’ Solution Leader, Marsh
Alexia leads Marsh’s Lenders Solutions Group in Europe, which provides Financial Institutions with specialist knowledge on the structuring, syndication, and placement of credit related insurance solutions. Alexia advises lenders on bespoke solutions in line with their risk and local regulatory requirements, allowing them to free up valuable regulatory capital, mitigate credit risk exposures and enhance their risk appetite.
Alexia joined Marsh in 2021 after 13 years in banking. She worked for several leading banks in three different continents.
Erik Frantz
Head, International Financial Institutions – Banks, CaixaBank
Erik Frantz is the Head of International Financial Institutions – Banks at CaixaBank. Under his current role, Erik led the development of key international banking projects and products, such as international cash management for corporate clients, cross border payments, trade finance services, lending, clearing, risk distribution, etc.
Erik holds an MBA from the University of Barcelona, a Postgraduate Diploma in European Enterprise Management from the Dorset Business School – Bournemouth University, and attended Management and Leadership programs at ESADE, IMD and IE.
Gonzalo Gortázar
Chief Executive Officer, CaixaBank
Gonzalo Gortazar is CEO of CaixaBank since June 2014. He is also chairman of CaixaBank Payments & Consumer and board member of Banco BPI.
Prior to this position he served as CaixaBank’s CFO and CEO of Criteria CaixaCorp. He also had a distinguished career at Morgan Stanley, where he led the European Financial Institutions Group and held corporate and investment banking positions at BofA. He holds a dual degree in Law and Business from ICADE and an MBA from the INSEAD.
Rowly Isioro
Head, Trade and Global Transaction Banking, Access Bank
Rowly is a Chartered Banker and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) with over 25 years of banking and financial services experience.
As a Trade and Transaction Banking specialist with working knowledge in over 20 African countries, he has played an important role in growing trade in various African markets and attracting foreign investments into Africa.
He has held senior management positions in leading banks in Africa and has presented several papers internationally.
Nathalie Louat
Global Director, Trade and Supply Chain Finance, IFC
Nathalie Louat is Global Director of Trade & Supply Chain Finance in the Industries Vice-Presidency at IFC, based in Washington.
Prior to this role, she was Global Senior Manager in charge of Innovation, Capital Markets, Insurance, and Distressed Assets from 2014 until 2020. She was previously a Senior Manager for East Asia and the Pacific Portfolio Operations, supporting IFC’s clients in the financial sector, based in Hong Kong from 2010 until 2014. Nathalie also worked in IFC’s Structured Finance Department within the Treasury Vice-Presidency, in Washington and in Hong Kong.
Nathalie received the World Bank Group’s Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award. Prior to joining IFC, Nathalie pursued a career with Credit Lyonnais Investment Banking after spending several years with the French Ministry of Finance. She holds a degree from the French School of Statistics and Economics and graduated as an Actuary from the Paris Institute of Actuarial Studies.
Paolo Mauro
Director, Economic and Market Research Department, IFC
Paolo Mauro is Director, Economic and Market Research Department. Prior to joining IFC, he worked at the International Monetary Fund for almost thirty years, most recently as Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department. In 2014-16 he was Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Visiting Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School. His research has been published in leading academic journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, on topics including corruption, sovereign bond spreads, and growth-indexed bonds. He has coauthored three books: World on the Move: Consumption Patterns in a More Equal Global Economy; Emerging Markets and Financial Globalization: Sovereign Bond Spreads in 1870–1913 and Today; and Chipping Away at Public Debt. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of Oxford.
Simon Tiemtoré
Group Chairman, Vista Bank
Mr. Simon Tiemtore is the Founder and Chairman of Lilium Group, an Africa strategic investment holding company. Mr. Tiemtore is the founder and Group Chairman of Vista Bank, a financial service holding company with the objective to build a world-class pan-African financial institution that promotes financial inclusion and fosters economic development of the continent.
DISCOVER BARCELONA
Barcelona is a unique place to visit with beautiful Mediterranean scenery from the coast to the mountains on either side of the city. You can also enjoy the city’s rich history, as well as the urban architecture from Catalan architect and designer Antoni Gaudí i Cornet, as well as other Art Nouveau architects.
It’s also a city with a legacy of business revolution. In the 18th century, industrial plants were installed around the city which generated substantial growth and increased the population seven-fold, turning Barcelona into a place of new trends in the areas of lifestyle, arts, and culture.
