SFNet Announces Winners of Cross-Border Finance Essay Contest

SFNet is pleased to announce the winners of the SFNet Cross-Border Finance Essay Contest, sponsored by Goldberg Kohn Ltd. The winning essays will appear in upcoming issues of The Secured Lender and in TSL Express.  In addition, the authors of the winning essays have been invited to participate on a panel at SFNet’s 78th Annual Convention in Austin, TX, Nov. 9-11. 

The contest, which was open to employees of SFNet member firms, was first announced by SFNet in November 2021.  Members of SFNet’s International Finance and Development Committee judged the essay submissions on content, originality, clarity, structure and overall contribution to furthering and expanding understanding and discourse within the field of cross-border finance.

The contest sought essays on any aspect of cross-border finance, such as:  a unique or innovative deal structure and how it was created and implemented; issues encountered in structuring, documenting or administering a cross-border loan; developments in secured transactions law that affect cross-border secured finance; deal trends; or how international finance has contributed to world developments.

The winners (chosen from a pool of 13 essays) are:

First Place – "The Single Group Facility: Simplifying Cross-Border Receivables Finance," by Ronald Biemans and Tom Gevers of ABN AMRO Asset Based Finance.  This essay is a comprehensive discussion of the Single Group Facility solution to cross-border receivables finance, and will be published in The Secured Lender’s November issue (to be distributed at SFNet’s Annual Convention).

Second Place – "The Effect of Relationships in Present Day Cross-Border Lending," by Bryan Ballowe of TradeCap Partners, LLC.  This essay is a thoughtful analysis of the challenges to the global supply chain resulting from the pandemic, and a reminder of the importance of human relationships in our increasingly technology-driven world.  It will be published in The Secured Lender’s October issue.

Third Place – Two essays tied for third place:

"The Impact on the Growth and Debt Capital Accessibility of Southern European Micro Small and Medium Enterprises," by Andréa Sanfilippo of Hilco Valuation Services.  This essay is a well-researched call to civil law European countries to modernize their secured transactions laws to help small businesses.

"Bed, Bath, and Back to the Supplier," by Diederik von Königslöw of NautaDutilh.  This essay is a detailed examination of supplier reclamation rights in inventory under Dutch law. 

Both third place essays will be published in The Secured Lender’s September issue.

According to Richard Kohn, a partner at Goldberg Kohn and chair of the SFNet's International Finance & Development Committee, "We're particularly excited that the contest drew 13 essays in its inaugural year, and are truly grateful to all of the entrants for the time and effort they spent in crafting their essays.  Goldberg Kohn is proud to support this important contribution by SFNet to the ongoing dynamic conversation about cross-border finance."

Congratulations again to our winners!