Coface - UK & Ireland announces speakers to address conference at Emirates Stadium on 8th June 2011

April 6, 2011 - PRLog -- The half-day event on Wednesday 8th June 2011 will be addressed by David Smith, economics editor of The Sunday Times, Dr Robin Niblett, director, Chatham House, Glen Bullivant, credit representative on the Institute of Credit Management’s Advisory Council, Chris Williamson, chief economist, Markit Economics and Yves Zlotowski, chief economist, Coface.

The Conference, entitled Opportunities in Trade, and set to attract more than 250 delegates, is of benefit to finance directors and credit management professionals, their advisers and those with an interest in country risk and domestic and international trade.
The speakers and topics are:

David Smith, economics editor, The Sunday Times: The World Economy – Sleepwalking into Another Disaster?
David has been economics editor of the paper since 1989 and is also an assistant editor, policy advisor and chief leader column writer. David will discuss how, in responding to the banking crisis, governments and central banks have put growth ahead of inflation and correcting dangerous global imbalances. In this age of instability, are they blowing new financial bubbles that will plunge us back into deep trouble?

Dr Robin Niblett, director, Chatham House: Fighting for Growth – Economic and Political Prospects for Europe.
Dr Niblett became director of Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, in January 2007. His session will look at the instability within the Eurozone and at Europe's borders, and what the prospects are for the region.

Chris Williamson, chief economist, Markit Economics: The UK Economy – where are we now and where are we heading?
Chris is the principal spokesman on economic issues for Markit Economics, the specialist compiler of business surveys and economic indices, including the renowned Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) series. Chris will examine what the latest Market Data predicts and whether the manufacturing sector and export markets will continue to be the engines of economic growth in the UK.

Glen Bullivant, credit representative on the Institute of Credit Management’s (ICM) Advisory Council: What are the issues faced by export credit managers in the UK in this fast changing global economic environment?
Glen is also President of the Federation of European Credit Manager Associations (FECMA) and a member of several ICM committees. Glen will set the scene for the Conference and ask what are the issues faced by export credit managers in the UK at a time of rapid change in the global economic environment?

Yves Zlotowski, chief economist, Coface: Update on Coface Country Ratings – a global perspective of Country Risk.
Yves has been chief economist of the Coface group since October 2007. He will provide delegates with an overview of global country ratings and risk.

The Conference will be hosted by Xavier Denecker, the managing director of Coface - UK & Ireland.

Xavier comments "When creating the Conference programme, we take into account delegate feedback from the previous year and look at current issues affecting UK businesses. This year, there is a great deal of uncertainty: worldwide, the consequences of the disaster in Japan and of the Arab Revolutions; in Europe, the stability of the Euro zone; in the UK, the effects of the budget cuts. An expert panel of speakers will address these issues and set the scene for British companies in the coming months."

Ends

For further information on the Conference and how to attend please contact Heidi Cotsworth at Coface - UK & Ireland on email at heidi_cotsworth@cofaceuk.com

Media: For further information please contact Justin Strong, associate director, SKV Communications, on 0161 838 7770 or e-mail at justin.strong@skvcommunications.co.uk

Notes to editors:
 Coface is a leading provider of country, sector and business climate ratings, providing country ratings for 165 countries. The country and sector ratings assess the average level of risk of payment default associated with a country’s companies and business sectors
 Coface also provides a ‘business climate’ rating to assess the overall business environment in a country and the degree and reliability of corporate information and if a country’s legal system provides fair and efficient creditor protection
 Coface is a world leader in credit management - primarily credit insurance but also business information and and receivables management (debt collection)
 Coface serves businesses that trade either domestically or overseas on credit terms. Its clients range from multi-nationals to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
 Coface - UK & Ireland is part of the Coface group headquartered in Paris and owned by Natixis, a top five investment and corporate bank in France
 Coface - UK & Ireland has offices in London, Watford, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and Dublin.

About Coface
Coface's mission is to facilitate global business-to-business trade by offering its 130,000 customers solutions to fully or partly outsource trade relationship management and to finance and protect their receivables: credit insurance, factoring, business information and receivables management. Thanks to the worldwide local service delivered by 6,600 staff in 65 countries, over 45% of the world's 500 largest corporate groups are already customers of Coface. Coface is a subsidiary of Natixis whose share capital (Tier 1) was 16.8 billion Euros at the end of December 2010.

In the UK and Republic of Ireland Coface has been a leading provider of credit management services (http://www.cofaceuk.com/CofacePortal/UK/en_EN/pages/home/...) since 1993 - it’s objective being to enable businesses to trade securely at home and overseas. Operating from offices in London, Dublin, Watford, Birmingham, Leeds and Cardiff allows Coface to provide a local service.

The company’s credit insurance (http://www.cofaceuk.com/CofacePortal/UK/en_EN/pages/home/...) offer integrates credit assessment, collection services and cover for unpaid debts. Multinational businesses can protect their worldwide subsidiaries through Coface’s international network.

The company also provides access to domestic and international business information and a collection network at home and overseas. Coface is also a recognised operator in the London political risk market.

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We offer trade credit management solutions from credit insurance to related services such as credit reports, online credit ratings, debt collection, and receivables finance, our holistic approach to credit management gives you greater flexibility.