FDA-10 Annual Conference

Last year's Annual Conference, generously sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, was held in Rome on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th of November 2006.

Click here to view more photos of the event!

Highlights Included:

Jeff Longhurst-
FDA Chairman

Desmond Flynn

Martin Glenn

Enterprise Act Debate

ABL Debate

The X-Factor

The beautiful and romantic city of Rome provided the backdrop for this year's FDA-10 Annual Conference - the X-Factor. As delegates raved about the fantastic hotel, the Hilton Cavalieri provided a fitting setting for the Welcome Reception on the evening of Wednesday the 15th November. This year the Welcome Reception was sponsored by Bache Treharne for the second year in a row, and roman lions and FDA lights greeted over 400 delegates before everyone left to enjoy the delights that Rome has to offer.

The morning of the conference got off to an amazing start with an opera singer opening the conference with O Sole Mio and, of course, Nessun Dorma. Then it was time to introduce the FDA Chairman, Jeff Longhurst, who hosted the conference's proceedings. Jeff outlined some of the FDA's recent achievements before going on to introduce the first guest speaker of the day - Desmond Flynn, Head of the Insolvency Service. Desmond provided a very amusing and challenging presentation for the 'jet-lagged' audience, mentioning talk on high levels of consumer borrowing but the lack of talk on irresponsible lending. He also mentioned the Enterprise Act, as a precursor to the Life After the Enterprise Act, a debate scheduled for later in the programme.

Then Martin Morrin of Barclays Asset & Sales Finance was introduced to speak about the emerging trend of syndication. Mentioning three different types and forecasting market size he summarized by saying that it was an exciting and challenging time in this area. Geoff Healey from GE Commercial Distribution Finance then presented their views on trade and supplier finance before Martin Glenn from Bird's Eye Iglo gave a very informative and entertaining talk on the power of effective marketing and 'applied common sense'.

The last session before lunch was a discussion on Life After the Enterprise Act, chaired by Desmond Flynn. This session began with a video ascertaining the views of various professionals from throughout the industry. This was the precursor to an informative discussion on how the act has been implemented in practice and the results of that piece of legislation.

After lunch it was time for the debate on Asset Based Lending, chaired by Piers Morgan. An amusing and entertaining discussion followed where Piers Morgan's ability to stir things up was enjoyed by all. Then it was Alec Petro's turn to speak on Hedge Funds and to give the audience an understanding of where this funding development fitted into our industry's agenda. Piers Morgan finished the day's presentations with a typically confident and amusing talk, perhaps at his best when taking questions from the audience. He certainly proved to be a strong presenter to end the successful day on and one which kept many delegates in the hall to the end, which was great to see.

The evening of 16th and the Gala Dinner maintained the high standards set during the day. The hotel's food and service was fantastic, and delegates were entertained by String Mania, a talented female quartet who enjoyed involving the audience with their jazzed-up classical act. The Pub Landlord, Al Murray, finished off the evening. This year was the first time the FDA has had a comedian as the after-dinner entertainment and he certainly proved to be a very funny and popular choice.

This FDA-10 conference event was a fitting finish to a busy year of additional activity at the FDA and has generally been received as the best conference to date. Many thanks are due to our Platinum Sponsors - PricewaterhouseCoopers, for helping to make the conference such a success. Also many thanks to Bache Treharne, Dancerace, UHY Hacker Young, The P&A Partnership, Wedlake Bell, Menzies Corporate Restructuring and Tenon Recovery for supporting this year's event.

We look forward to welcoming more delegates to our FDA conference this year. The dates and venue will be announced as soon as possible.

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