BAFT & TTP: International Women’s Day

Tod Burwell, President & CEO, BAFT 

Deepesh Patel, Editor in Chief & Managing Director, Trade Treasury Payments 

BAFT and TTP outline the programme’s purpose and the rationale for situating International Women’s Day within a bank-to-bank forum. It will frame the afternoon around how women are leading the next phase of global payments, treasury, and cross-border finance.

Deepa Sinha, Senior Vice President, Payments & Financial Crimes & Women in Transaction Banking, BAFT
Eleanor Hill, Treasury Editor, Trade Treasury Payments

A senior treasury or payments leader presents a forward view of how real-time settlement, richer data standards and new operating models are altering liquidity management, forecasting and control within global institutions. The focus is on decision-making in complex environments and the practical implications for governance and risk.

Nicole Sandler, Chief Ecosystem Officer, Ubyx

This discussion brings together women founders and senior product leaders working in payments, treasury technology and supply chain data. It explores leadership challenges, where the most significant product gaps lie, how infrastructure innovation is financed, and why women-founded firms continue to receive a small share of global capital despite strong performance indicators. Panellists will examine the commercial realities of scaling B2B and infrastructure ventures and the market incentives required to direct more investment to women-led firms.

• Dr Ruth Wandhöfer, Head of European Markets, Blackwired
• Adizah Tejani, Ex Portfolio Manager and Board Advisor
• Sara Castelhano, Head Payments and Digital Product for EMEA, Wholesale Payments Division, J.P. Morgan
• Yasemin Swanson, Chief Operations Officer, OpenPayd
• Zeynep Sayin, Head of Visa Direct Partnerships, Visa

Moderator: Joy Macknight, Transaction Banking and Payments Editor, Trade Treasury Payments

An intervention from a global corporate or public sector treasurer on the practical application of automation and data-driven forecasting inside a large institution. The speaker will reflect on the internal conditions that enable reform, how to maintain credibility across business lines, and what the next phase of treasury transformation is likely to involve.

Moderator: Eleanor Hill, Treasury Editor, Trade Treasury Payments

• Kemi Bolarin, Head of Treasury, Europe, GXO Logistics
• Rita King, MD, Head of Business Development, Lloyds Bank
• Vanessa Manning, Head of Transaction Banking EMEA, MUFG
• James Kelly, Founder, YourTreasury

In this conversation, Daniela Barrdear (Sullivan) and Victoria d’Sylva (UKEF) examine how state-backed capital shapes cross-border trade in a more fragmented world.

The discussion will explore:

• How UKEF balances commercial mandate and policy objectives
• The evolving role of export finance in trade and supply chain resilience
• Whether gender and inclusion goals can meaningfully influence ECA-backed transactions
• What the next decade of export credit looks like amid industrial policy competition

Speakers:

• Daniela Barrdear, Partner, Sullivan
• Victoria d’Sylva, Head of Export Development and Inclusive Trade, UK Export Finance

Participants will join one of a series of moderated discussions designed to explore specific aspects of cross-border finance, technology and leadership. Topics include:

1. Macroeconomic and geopolitical risk update
2. Evolving treasury technology – Francesca Bennetts, Partner, Markets Innovation Group, A&O Shearman
3. The future of cross-border money movement – Egle Skomskyte, Swift
4. Women leadership in transaction banking – Joy Macknight, Trade Treasury Payments
5. Reducing risk and compliance burdens through inclusive digital trade – Andrew Dalton, Cleareye
6. ESG and risk governance inside treasury and transaction banking – Eleanor Hill, Trade Treasury Payments
7. Pathways to board and committee-level influence – Catherine Lang-Anderson, A&O Shearman

Summary of the main insights and invitation to engage with follow-up content produced by TTP and BAFT.