Sponsored by Goldberg Kohn, the essay contest serves as a platform to discuss cross-border trends and issues and gain industry recognition. 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place winners will be invited to present on a panel at SFNet’s 80^th Annual Convention in Houston, TX and have their essays published in The Secured Lender magazine. The contest is open to employees of SFNet member companies. Entry is free and all submissions must be received by June 25, 2024.

Do you have experience with a unique or innovative cross-border deal structure and how it was developed and implemented?  Or cross-border legal or business issues, international finance regulation, legal developments that affect cross-border secured finance and deal trends? Then consider submitting an essay for SFNet’s Cross-Border Essay Contest.

Now in its third year, the essay contest offers an excellent opportunity for industry recognition. Three winning essays will be published in The Secured Lender magazine and be the subject of a panel, featuring the authors, during SFNet’s Annual Convention, with registration fees waived. Essays can be on any topic dealing with cross-border finance, which is defined broadly to include asset-based lending, factoring, receivables purchases, supply chain finance and other forms of cross-border trade finance.

“I think it’s a great way for young employees to make an important contribution to our Association and our industry, and at the same time to receive some real recognition,” said Richard Kohn, principal, Goldberg Kohn.  “The only requirement for the topics is that they relate to cross-border lending. For example, contestants can share an experience or a particularly interesting cross-border lending structure or discuss issues they’ve encountered or particular workarounds they’ve employed to address cross-border legal or business impediments.”

Lerika Le Grange and Fiona Coady came in first place in 2023 for Floating Charges: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

“As a firm, Taylor Wessing has developed specialized expertise in the ABL product and most of our deals involve a cross-border element,” she explained. “Some of our U.S. clients are non-fans of the English floating charge and we wanted to highlight – through the essay - the important role the floating charge plays in an English insolvency despite the “bad and ugly” elements of it when compared to the English fixed charge.”

“Being in the same room with leading market participants and gaining valuable insights into recent developments and trends; and being given a platform - through the panel discussion - to share the contents of our essay in an interactive and engaging manner,” was a highlight for us both,” added Fiona Coady, partner in Taylor Wessing’s Banking & Finance group.

Kabir Vassanji, an associate with BMO Bank of Montreal, Corporate Finance Division, came in third place last year for his essay, A Framework for Championing Securitization in Africa to Mobilize Capital and Drive Economic Development. His submission focused on how structured finance can help resolve fundamental challenges to economic development in emerging economies by mobilizing capital from institutional investors, a relatively new concept in those economies.

“I've always had an interest in global development finance, and with my professional background, I tied together several ideas on the topic and thought it relevant for discussion with the SFNet community,” Vassanji, who covers several cross-border (U.S.-Canada) client relationships at BMO, explained. “I found the SFNet Essay Contest to be an excellent platform to discuss trends and issues in global finance. The highlight for me was the engaging discussion with the other panelists. It was highly valuable to hear their insights from cross-border transactions they had covered. Aside from that, it was an incredible experience to attend the Convention and make long-lasting connections with other individuals from the secured finance community. Particularly as a Canadian, it was wonderful to attend and meet such accomplished professionals from all across the U.S. and Europe.”

The second-place winner for 2023 was TLC For your Dutch Collateral: Some Practical Considerations, by Camille van Liebergen, senior associate, NautaDutihl.

Essays will be judged on content, originality, clarity, structure and overall contribution to furthering and expanding understanding within the field of cross-border finance. Essays will be judged by the members of the SFNet International Finance and Development Committee.

There is still time to submit! Please send your submission in a PDF format, including your name, title, company and email address to: essay@sfnet.com by June 25.