VEFI
Vereinigung von forfaitierenden Instituten in der Schweiz




Welcome to the VEFI-Website!

Founded in 1978, the Association of Forfaiters in Switzerland (VEFI) is the oldest forfaiting association in the world.

VEFI is the association for financial institutions and specialised companies who are active in the trade finance and forfaiting business in Switzerland. Currently, VEFI represents 19 members.

Our goals are
- to improve the general recognition of the Swiss forfaiting and trade finance market
- to share knowledge and experience among our members
- to introduce exporters, importers and financial institutions to the benefits of forfaiting and trade finance
- to provide networking opportunities for our members

VEFI also acts as the Swiss regional committee of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA). With members all over the world, ITFA brings together banks and financial institutions who are engaged in originating, structuring and distributing trade related risk. Expanding from its original focus on the purchase and discounting of simple but robust payment instruments, such as negotiable instruments and letters of credit, the forfaiting industry has embraced new instruments and created new structures to become a prominent part of supply chain finance.
Next Event

VEFI Summer Cocktai 2022

Date and time: 25 August 2022, 17:30 p.m.
Location: Almodo Bar, Zurich
Further details to follow via invitation!





News

VEFI Events scheduled for the 2nd half of 2022 - updated on 16th May 2022

We have now reserved the venues as follows:

The VEFI Summer Cocktail is planned to take place on 25th August 2022, while the VEFI-ITFA jointly organised Christmas Party is scheduled for 20th December 2022. Also the Autumn Networking Event is now confirmed to take place on 27th October. We recommend to all members to save the dates. The invitations will be prepared some time before the events take place.

VEFI Annual General Meeting on 12th May 2022

After 2 years of virutal meetings, it was great to have been able to hold this year's AGM as a live event at Impact hub, in the arches under the scenic train-viaduct in the old industrial quarter of Zurich.

The VEFI-board has been re-elected for the next term:
Dieter von Boddien has been confirmed as Chairman. Joëlle Schmidt, Xiaofeng Wang, Thomas Stoiber and Prasanna Francis have been all been re-elected.

Martin Diggelmann and Nathalia Benjamin have been re-elected as VEFI auditors.

The board would like to also express it's gratitude to ITFA, the International Trade and Forfaiting Association, who has sponsored the event. ITFA was represented by two of it's board members: Silja Calac and Johanna Wissing. Also we would like to thank all members that directly or indirectly have given support to the Association of Forfaiters in Switzerland during the past year.

After the AGM, we had the opportunity to learn more about the role ESG will play in Trade Finance. The presentation was held by Johanna Wissing and Michael Rentsch, both from Credit Suisse. We thank both for their interesing insights they have offered us.

VEFI welcomes ICBC, Zurich Branch as new member

The VEFI board is pleased to announce that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Zurich Branch has joined the association by the end of 2021. ICBC Zurich Branch offers an ample choice of Trade Finance products, including Forfaiting.

VEFI- and ITFA Christmas Cocktail 2021

On December 2nd 2021 the Association of Forfaiters in Switzerland (Vefi) hosted its annual Christmas gathering at one of the traditional guild houses in Zurich. Despite a number of last minute cancellations, especially from overseas visitors from London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, who couldn’t make it due to the lastest COVID-19 developments the ones present enjoyed a fantastic evening with nice food and wine in very pleasant company. There was lots to catch up on at the end of yet another eventful year, spirits were high despite the continued volatility, and there is lots of optimism as we go into 2022.

We thank ITFA for their continuing support to make this great event possible.

With best wishes for a merry Christmas, a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year from the VEFI-Board!

The VEFI and ITFA Education Event was held on 28th October 2021

Finally, for the first time since the beginning of the pandamic, we had the possibility to meet indoors at our traditional venue "Haus zum Rüden". Isabel Faragalli, Head of ABS (Asset Backed Securitisation) at Credit Suisse gave us a very interesting introduction into “Securitisation – a financing solution for account receivables”, we thank her very much for sharing her knowledge with us. Further, the event was another great occasion for our members to stay in touch and getting to know interesting new people during an excellent lunch that followed the speech. We thank ITFA, the International Trade and Forfating Assosciation for their generous sponsoring of this event.

The VEFI Summer Cocktail was celebrated on 23rd August 2021

Finally, after over a year of all the in-person events being cancelled due to the pandemic, the situation allowed us to hold our traditional VEFI Summer Cocktail at the SwissRe Boat House. We were blessed by a pleasant and sunny summer evening, and many members joined us for anther successful event at this very special location.

We thank Swiss Re for making possible this great opportunity for networking.




Board

Dieter von Boddien, born in Hamburg (Germany) in 1967, serves as Chairman of VEFI. He is Executive Vice President at Atlantic Forfaiting Company Ltd., Zurich. He started his career in the forfaiting and trade-finance business in 1997 with HVB Group and he held further positions with DF Deutsche Forfait and Nord/LB Group. Dieter studied in Fribourg (Switzerland) and has a Licentiate degree in business science.
Joëlle Schmidt, Swiss, born 1980, started her career in the Trade Finance industry in 2006. She is Head of Trade Finance Syndication at Zücher Kantonalbank since 2014. She has previous experience as a Relationship Manager of Financial Institutions in the Emerging Markets. Joëlle is a holder of an Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education in Banking (Dipl. Bankwirtschafterin HF).
Prasanna Francis was born in Bangalore, India in 1970 and has been living in Switzerland for 20 years. Prasanna has two decades of banking experience in areas of Precious Metals, Trade and Commodity Financing and he is currently doing Trade Finance Syndications at Credit Suisse. Prasanna graduated with an EMBA at Private Hochschule für Wirtschaft, Zurich.
Thomas Stoiber, born in Simbach am Inn, Germany, in 1971, has joined Kessler & Co. AG in 2018, where he serves as Trade Credit Specialist. Before moving to Switzerland he was Client Executive at Euler Hermes, Munich, following his positions as Underwriter at AIG Germany and his career-start at Signal Iduna Group. He studied at University of Passau where he graduated with a master-degree in business administration. In 2020 he was awarded with the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Insurance Broking by the Insurance Institute of Switzerland/ZHAW Winterthur.
Xiaofeng Wang, Swiss, born in Wuxi ( P.R. China) in 1968, started her Career at UBS AG (formerly SBC) Global Trade Finance Multinational Team, Zurich in 1995. In 2001 she changed her position as Account Manager to Account Management Financial Institutions, Region APAC responsible for relationship, Cash and Trade Finance Business for banks and financial institutions in Great China. In March 2021 she joins to Trade Finance Syndication and Forfaiting Team from Client On-boarding Financial Institutions Dept. Xiaofeng studied in Southeast University, Nanjing, China and holds a diploma of engineer.




Events

2022

20th December 2022 at 5:30 pm
VEFI/ITFA Christmas Cocktail
Haus zum Rüden
27th October 2022 at 12:00 noon
VEFI Networking Lunch
Haus zum Rüden
25th August 2022 at 5:30 pm
VEFI-Summer Cocktail 2022
Almodobar, Zurich
12th May 2022 at 10:30 am
43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Impact Hub Bogen D
22nd March 2022 at 5:30 pm
Annual Bowling- and Jass-Championship
Restaurant Schützenruh, Zürich

2021

2nd December 2021 at 5:30 pm
VEFI and ITFA Christmas Cocktail
Haus zum Rüden
28th October 2021 at 11:30 am
VEFI Education Event
Haus zum Rüden
23rd August 2021 at 5:30 pm
VEFI-Summer Cocktail 2021
Swiss Re
20th May 2021 at 11:30 am
42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Via Zoom

2020

7th May 2020 at 10:30 am
41st Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Atlantic Forfaitierungs AG, Zürich

2019

17th December 2019 at 5:30 pm
VEFI/ITFA Christmas Cocktail
Haus zum Rüden
24th October 2019 at 11:00 am
VEFI Economic Outlook with Beat Kappeler
Haus zum Rüden
22nd August 2019 at 5:30 pm
VEFI-Summer Cocktail 2019
Credit Suisse Piazza, Uetlihof
9th May 2019 at 10:30 am
40th Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Haus zum Rüden
21st March 2019 at 5:30 pm
Annual Bowling- and Jass-Championship
Restaurant Schützenruh, Zürich

2018

5th December 2018 at 5:30 pm
VEFI/ITFA Christmas Cocktail
Zunft zur Waag
25th October 2018 at 11:30 am
VEFI Networking Lunch
Haus zum Rüden
24th August 2018 at 6:00 pm
VEFI 40th Anniversary Dinner
Restaurant Uto Kulm
16th May 2018 at 10:30 am
39th Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Haus zum Rüden
15th March 2018 at 5:30 pm
Annual Bowling- and Jass-Championship
Restaurant Schützenruh, Zürich

2017

7th December 2017 at 5:30 pm
VEFI/ITFA Christmas Cocktail
Zunft zur Waag
26th October 2017 at 11 am
VEFI Economic Outlook
Haus zum Rüden
31st August 2017 at 5:30 pm
VEFI-Summer Cocktail 2017
Roof-terrace of the ZKB Head-Office
4th May 2017 at 10:30 am
38th Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Haus zum Rüden
9th March 2017 at 5:30 pm
Annual Bowling- and Jass-Championship
Restaurant Schützenruh, Zürich




About Forfaiting

Description of a Forfaiting Transaction

Forfaiting is the term generally used to denote the purchase of obligations falling due at some future date, arising from goods and services – mostly export transactions – without recourse to any previous holder of the obligation.
In a simple transaction, an importer and an exporter close a commercial transaction that is embodied in a contract to exchange goods, machinery, key-turn plants, etc…for payment sometime in the near future. While closing the contract, the exporter might decide he is reticent to accept either the creditworthiness of the importer or the terms and conditions of the payments of the goods to be delivered. To reduce the credit risk, the exporter would require that the importer’s bank irrevocably and unconditionally guarantees payment upon evidence that the goods have been shipped. To totally offset his risk exposure and to bridge the deferred payment, which typically ranges from 1 month to 5-7 years after the goods are shipped, the exporter will sell the receivables (the deferred guaranteed obligation of payment) at a discount from face value (or net present value). This discounting enables the exporter to receive payment with a few days after the shipment of goods, instead of waiting for the completion of the payment period and thereby mitigates any open credit risk and transfer risk.

These receivables take the form of bills of exchange, promissory notes, letters of credit, letters of guarantee, book receivables, etc… although any form of debt could, in theory, be forfaited. The underlying debt instrument must be irrevocable, unconditional, transferable and must allow the beneficial owner to collect his money without delay or prejudice on the agreed upon collection date. Further, there must be no legal connection between the warranty on the goods and the execution of the financial arrangement.
This particular kind of financial service is particularly well appreciated in the Transitional Economies or in Emerging Markets, where it does not exist an appropriate financial network able to provide either a strong currency financing or a medium-long term financing at the competitive lending interest rates.

Transaction Diagram
The following diagram depicts a simple transaction showing parties and flow of goods, information and funds.

diagramm
A discount-to-yield or straight discount calculation takes the following steps (an Excel spreadsheet may be downloaded below):
1) Calculate the total number of days between disbursement and maturity; adjust for non-working days and add the grace days.
2) Calculate the number of whole year periods (for annual yield) or 183-/182-day-periods (for semi-annual yield)
3) Calculate a factor as described below (basis 365/360).
4) The face value is divided by this factor to give the net value (multiplied in the case of Straight Discount).

Discount-to-yield annually compounded:
AnnualYieldFactor=(1+Y/100 x 365/360)N x (1+ Y/100 x D/360)
Y = Annual Yield Rate, N = Number of whole years (365 days), D = Number of odd days

Discount-to-yield semi-annually compounded:
SemiAnnualYieldFactor=(1+Y/100 x 183/360) N1 x (1+Y/100 x 182/360) N2 x (1+Y/100 x D/360)
Y = Semi-annual Yield Rate, N1 = Number of 183 day periods, N2 = Number of 182 day periods, D = Number of odd days

Straight discount:
StragihtDiscountFactor=(1-%/100 x D/360)
% = Straight Discount Rate, D = Number of days

The difference between a discount-to-yield and a straight discount

is that a discount-to-yield is calculated on the basis of the Net (Present) Value to achieve the Face Value (or Nominal Value); thus Net Value + Interest = Face Value
a straight discount is calculated on the basis of the Face Value to achieve the Net Value; thus Face Value - Interest = Net Value
interest
This implies that calculating a straight discount is considerably easier (in fact a simple interest calculation) than calculating a discount-to-yield. Discount-to-yield calculations become quite complicated once compounding (interest on interest) is applied.
Let us assume the following example:
The forfaiter is about to purchase a Bill of Exchange with a tenor of exactly one year and an amount of USD 1'000'000.00. Let us further assume that the 12months-USD-Libor would be 5.75% and the margin would be 2.25%, the all-in rate would hence be 8%.
Discount-to-yield: Interest is calculated on Net Value
Interest = USD 924'974.31 * 8% * 365days / 36000 = USD 75'025.69
Face Value = USD 924'974.31 + USD 75'025.69 = USD 1'000'000.00
(Note that we are using a 365/360 days basis)
Obviously, for calculating on a discount-to-yield basis, the problem is to determine the net value. The formulae to calcualte it is described on the previous page.
Also it is clear that if we apply the same Net Value for the above transactions than the straight discount rate must be smaller than the discount-to-yield rate (remember that we are calculating interest on the face value). In fact, the forfaiter will usually quote on a discount-to-yield rate (libor + margin) and convert this rate into a straight discount yield if the customer requires so.
Straight discount: Interest is calculated on Face Value
From the above we know that the interest (yield) for 365days at 8% is USD 75'025.69. So what interest rate do we get if we calculate this interest on an amount of USD 1'000'000.00 (the Face Value)? Interest Rate = USD 75'025.69 * 36000 / (USD 1'000'000.00 * 365days) = 7.3998%

Want to download our free discounting spreadsheet?

Requires Microsoft Excel 97 E or above; 62k file size.
Note: This utility is provided to you as is. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error free operation.
Under no circumstances are we liable for any of the following:
1. third-party claims against you for losses or damages;
2. loss of, or damage to, your records or data; or
3. economic consequential damages (including lost profits or savings) or incidental damages, even if we are informed of their possibility.

Download spreadsheet

You may use, change or distribute this worksheet as long as you mention the source "VEFI -The Association of Forfaiters in Switzerland". Terms for changing the spreadsheet see below.
The first section will help you to determine the face values based on a given contract amount
- face values are calculated by applying simple interest on the reducing balance
The second section will help you to discount notes with known face values and maturities:
- interest is calculated on a straight discount or discount-to-yield basis
- annual or semi-annual compounding is applied to yields
- 365/360 or 365/365 days basis are used
- grace days and weekends (but not bank holidays) are taken into account
- interpolated interest rates (eg. calculate the rate for a 540 days note from a given 12 months and the 2 years rate) are calculated
- matching libor ("rough") or average life libor are used
To the best of our knowledge this spreadsheet is Year2000 compliant and virus free (no macros contained).
Copyright by VEFI - The Association of Forfaiters in Switzerland
http://www.forfaitswiss.ch
Terms for changing this worksheet: To change the worksheet you have to unprotect it. You do not need a password to unprotect. We will not be able to assist you. Whatever you do (or what we did) you will have to find out yourself. If you like the spreadsheet send a friendly e-mail to our webmaster.




Members

Banque Algérienne du
Tel +41 44 218 50 60
Commerce Extérieur SA
Fax +41 44 211 36 27
Talacker 41
CH-8023 Zürich
Abdallah Sellam, Director, Head Front Office
Christian Chételat, Michael Ehrensperger, Riccardo Russo
Finanz AG Zürich
Phone +41 44 214 63 14
Bahnhofstrasse 52
CH-8001 Zürich
Hanspeter Rellstab
Gazprombank (Schweiz) AG
Gazprombank (Schweiz) AG
Tel +41 44 386 86 86
Zollikertrasse 183
Fax +41 44 386 86 87
P.O. Box 1712
CH-8032 Zürich
Telex: 812644 / SWIFT: RKBZCH
Habib Bank AG Zürich
Tel +41 44 269 45 00
Weinbergstrasse 59
Fax +41 44 211 36 27
CH-8006 Zurich
HSBC Bank plc, London
Tel +41 44 289 23 50
Zurich Branch
Fax +41 44 289 23 55
Trade & Supply Chain
Bederstrasse 49
Postfach 1818
CH-8027 Zürich
Lucas Baumann
Tel. +41 44 289 23 78
LUGANO TRADE FINANCE SA
Tel +41 (0)91 - 9116440
Via degli Albirizzi, 1
Fax +41 (0)91 - 9116449
CH-6900 Lugano
SFC Swiss Forfaiting Company Ltd.
Tel +41 44 202 94 40
Stockerstrasse 58
Fax +41 44 202 94 42
P.O. Box
Salvatore Chiappinelli, CEO
CH-8039 Zurich
SOCIETE GENERALE
Tel +41 58 27 23 429
Global Transaction Banking
Fax +41 58 272 34 39
P.O. Box 5070
CH-8021 Zurich
Swiss Re International SE
Tel +41 43 285 7432
Zurich Branch
Fax +41 43 282 7432
Mythenquai 50/60
Volker Handrich, Head Trade & Supply Chain Finance
P.O. Box
CH-8022 Zurich
TCT Trans Continental Trade AG
Tel 078 655 04 09
Bahnhofstrasse 4
CH-6340 Baar
Möhrlistr. 97
8006 Zürich
UBS Switzerland AG
Tel +41 44 236 72 62
Bahnhofstrasse 45
Fax +41 44 239 92 34
CH-8021 Zurich
ZP Software AG
Tel +41 (0)56 610 11 80
Baumgartenstrasse 4
Mob +41 (0)76 324 39 82
P.O. Box 826
CH-5200 Brugg
Zürcher Kantonalbank
Tel +41 44 292 87 13
International Business
Fax +41 44 292 87 94
P.O. Box
CH-8010 Zurich
Joëlle Schmidt, Head Trade Finance Syndication & Supranationals




Statutes

Contact

VEFI Vereinigung von forfaitierenden Instituten in der Schweiz - Association of Forfaiters in Switzerland
c/o Atlantic Forfaitierungs AG
Othmarstrasse 8
8008 Zurich
Switzerland
Phone: +41 44 254 53 00
Fax: +41 44 254 53 01
E-mail: info@vefi.ch