ABN AMRO has announced plans for the substantial expansion of its global commodity finance business to provide services to all three links in the commodity supply chain: producer, trader and consumer.
Prabhat Vira, head of Global Commodity Finance at ABN AMRO, said, “Our focus on the consumer countries, notably those in North America and Europe, will createone of the only total supply chain offerings available in the world today. As a result, we expect to hire a number of key commodity finance specialists to service this newclient base over the next six months.”
As part of this expansion, ABN AMRO has announced two senior hires. Vandita Pant has been appointed Head of Commodity Finance Advisory, responsible for ABN AMRO’s worldwide network of global commodity finance specialists. ABN AMRO is unique among providers of commodity finance by having specialist advisers in 22 countries that help to tailor financing arrangements to the specific needs of local clients.
Pant will also continue ABN AMRO’s innovation in providing finance through commodity monetization, where ABN AMRO takes ownership of the commodity between the supplier and purchaser stage of the supply chain. ABN AMRO executed its first transaction of this kind for Brazilian orange juice exporter, Citrosuco, in 2004. Pant was previously Hub Chief Risk Officer, Japan and Korea, for ABN AMRO, and will move to London from Tokyo in her new role.
Bistra Ivanova joins as Business Analyst from West LB. Ivanova will analyze all participants in the global commodity supply chain to help drive strategy for the global commodity finance business. Ivanova holds a Master’s degree in Trade, Transport and Finance from City University Business School, London, and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Economic Relations from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria. ABN AMRO’s Global Commodity Finance business provides structured pre-export finance, transactional finance and structured inventory products for companies involved in the commodity conversion cycle, from producers to consumers.