10 minute read
New South Wales
NSW 2019 YCP finalists Laura McCulloch, Ceyda Sert, Nathan Abellanoza and Chris Lagana.
President’s report
Change is inevitable, and during a time of constant change, be it in our professional lives, our families or the economic environment, here too in NSW we are doing the same. Sadly, we have had a few councillors step down from council due to career changes, other commitments and life taking on a different direction. We wish them all good luck in their future endeavours and hope that they continue to remain involved in the AICM.
A few new councillors, Theresa Brown, James Smith and Chris Lagana have joined the NSW team. Theresa, James and Chris all bring a great energy and enthusiasm to the dynamics of the team, as they all have a real drive for the AICM, and engagement with our internal and external stakeholders.
The annual Young Credit Professional (YCP) Cocktail Function was held on 11 July 2019, where the young, bright and talented professionals of NSW were introduced to the Division. In its 22th year, there was a buzz which circulated around the room as we celebrated past and present winners of the YCP Award. Unfortunately there must be only be one winner, and Ceyda Sert an Account Manager at Atradius was awarded NSW’s YCP for 2019. illion’s continued sponsorship of this prestigious award makes the event gala in nature every year. Thank you to the NSW YCPA judges who took time out of their busy schedules to attend to the judging. Ceyda is a hardworking, tenacious and extremely motivated individual who will be instrumental in changing the credit industry, and raising the profile of the AICM. I look forward to you all getting to know Ceyda at the National Conference.
In terms of upcoming events we are delighted to be hosting our annual Trivia Night on 19 September 2019; and also an Economic Breakfast at Turks Legal offices, also one of our Divisional Partners, on 24 September 2019. – Balveen Saini MICM CCE, NSW Division President NSW 2019 YCP winner Ceyda Sert receives her trophy from Ali Zoabi (illion).
YCP – Young Credit Professional
The YCP awards night sponsored by illion was held at All Hands Brewing House in Sydney on the 11 July 2019.With such exceptional young talent the judges found it difficult to choose, however we could only pick one, the winner was Ceyda Sert Account Manager at Atradius.
Meet 2019 NSW YCP of the Year A little insight into Ceyda Sert
What you like to do
Outside of work, I am a foodie and I love hosting barbeques and dinners at my house with friends, almost every fortnight on the weekends. This year, I am focused on my fitness goals and have started the crossfit program at Revolution X, similar to an indoor boot camp style of training… only more exciting and more challenging! I also participate in charity runs every year including the City 2 Surf and the Walk for Autism for Spectrum Australia.
I am quite adventurous by nature and I love to go for bush walks or go for a run by Sydney’s harbour beaches on the weekends. In terms of NRL, my passion for the Parramatta Eels club remains despite the long wait for the premiership glory!
How you felt going into the competition
Preparing for the competition, I was excited and somewhat nervous as I set myself up to the challenge. I devoted a lot of time and effort in the lead up, which was extremely rewarding in the end. I was confident that I had the necessary knowledge to perform well at the interview stage, but at the same time all of the finalists had extremely strong credentials. As I work within a trade credit insurance company, I am exposed to all facets of credit management including sales, risk management, collections and claims. This allowed me to discuss at an in-depth level, the key issues which are emerging within credit and the best practise for effective debtor
Peter Morgan (NSW Director), Theresa Brown (Optus), Ceyda Sert (Atradius) YCP Winner and Abdallah El-Haddad (illion).
management. I put myself to the test, to think about the future of the credit industry and discuss my future goals as a credit professional. The judges were extremely welcoming and I was pleased the interview was run like an open discussion, rather than a structured interview process. Overall, entering the competition has been an eye-opening process and in such a short time, I have broadened my knowledge.
What you want to achieve now that you have won
Winning the state award has elevated my sense of pride to be working in the credit industry, and prompted a higher sense of responsibility. Going forward, I want to promote the YCP award along with AICM to encourage capable young credit professionals to apply. As a mentor, I look forward to coaching future candidates through the state and national levels and working with them to achieve their potential. With my continued involvement, I look forward to the opportunity to be a part of the judging panel of the YCP award at both a state and national level. Within the niche area of trade credit insurance, many professionals are not exposed to AICM and the networking opportunities available. My focus will be to promote AICM and encourage those within my network to attend the educational seminars as well as networking events. As I develop into a future leader, my goals are to develop into a key member on the NSW council, and work with organisations and government bodies to shape the future of credit. My long term career goal, would be a leadership role which allows me to manage a team of people. As a future manager, I want to focus on working with universities to promote a career in credit by marketing the diverse career paths available. Many graduates do not tend to think of a career in credit and there is a growing need to appeal to this younger generation.
Where you see yourself going into the future
Winning the state award has definitely boosted my confidence and is now a great stepping stone in my
NSW YCP Finalist Laura McCullouch of MM Plastics proudly displays her finalist certificate.
Patricia Santa-Ana, Simone Evic and John Martin (all Rentokil).
career. Since starting credit, I have held a commercial role of an account manager and I am responsible for managing and growing trade credit insurance policies both in domestic and global markets. My focus moving forward, is to diversify my skillset and focus on the risk assessment and risk management aspect of credit management. Broadly speaking, risk management will continue to be revolutionised by big data. My goal is to work on projects which will improve system processes to produce more reliable and efficient risk assessment decisions. In recent times, financial institutions have faced a tsunami of new regulatory requirements as economic headwinds approach. I am therefore passionate about developing new capabilities and working with other professionals to advance both regulatory and technological changes in our industry. As a future leader within an organisation, this will allow me to seize opportunities and drive change in areas of credit risk, strategy and people management. In the long term, my passion lies in a leadership role which would allow me to coach people and develop their careers within the industry.
NSW Vice President Andrew Smith (L) and NSW President Balveen Saini (R) present NSW Councillor Treacy Sheehan (C) with her 20 membership pin.
Netstrata with their YCP Finalist – Jenny McKee, Chris Lagana, Anne Maree Lagana, Helen Wong and Clare Fietz.
Toolbox Training
There is a series of three Credit Workshops “Fundamentals of Credit”, “Collect with Confidence” and “Understanding Credit Risk” the toolbox sessions are ideal for either a refresher or beginners to the industry. These are held regularly and attendances in NSW have generally been strong. We recently added another Workshop to the series, and it is aptly named “Understanding Corporate Insolvency”.
Sessions are held at AICM head office in St Leonards, or group sessions can be held at your premises.
Meet a NSW Councillor – Chris Lagana
Chris Lagana is currently the Levy Arrears & Debt Recovery Manager of Netstrata chasing payments on overdue levies and organising matters that need to be referred to legal action.
With 8 years of experience in collections, Chris has worked in several other companies such as CCSG, Fuji Xerox and Ricoh. Chris has been associated with the AICM for 8 years and has also been selected as a finalist in the NSW YCP in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Chris says he loves volunteering with the AICM as he’s passionate about credit and supporting collectors while increasing his skills. Other interests are travel, playing tennis and catching up with friends and family.
NSW Vice President Andrew Smith (L) and NSW President Balveen Saini (R) present Malcolm Poslinsky (C) with his 15 membership pin.
What really gets my goat?
Email to Administrator 2 days after the first meeting of creditors
As a creditor of this company may we please have a list of debtors and creditors of AB & C Ltd. We understand this is a work in progress and may not be 100% accurate.
Administrators’ response
Unfortunately we are unable to release that information at this stage. We will include a snapshot of the financial position with our
Administrators report and some details are available with the directors’ report that is lodged with ASIC
Subsequent email to Administrator
It surprises me as I understand it is practice under
ARITA’s Code of Conduct ie
24.4 Provision of information prior to creditors’ meeting Unless previously provided, in addition to statutory notices required to be sent to creditors when convening a first meeting, Practitioners must provide to creditors and other eligible recipients: l A Declaration of Independence, Relevant
Relationships and Indemnities (DIRRI); l For corporate Administrations, a copy of the ASIC list of insolvency information sheets or similar document subsequently issued by ASIC and/or
ARITA; l Information prescribed under the Code Chapter 15
Gabrielle Weiss, Max De Montgolfier and Janet Fenech (all Atradius).
to be sent to creditors in the Administrator’s first communication with creditors; and l If approval of Remuneration is being sought, information in accordance with the Code Chapter 15 for Remuneration approval requests.
24.4.1 List of Creditors Apart from the statutory requirements to provide a list of creditors, a schedule of creditors (name and amount) should also be made available on the request of any creditor. The information is publicly available from the Report as to Affairs lodged with ASIC or Statement of Affairs filed with AFSA. Any request to provide a list of creditors should always be considered in the context of any relevant privacy laws.
I would appreciate it if you would reconsider your decision and make the creditors/debtors lists available. As I mentioned earlier I am aware they may not be 100% accurate and am happy to receive them as you currently know them to be.
Arrrrgh. I simply want to understand who else may be owed money so: l I can make an appropriate credit assessment should they also be a customer of ours, and l I can consider Granting a proxy in another creditors favour should I be unable to attend the 2nd meeting of creditors, Garnering support should I wish to bring a matter before the Administrator or creditors. It shouldn’t be that hard.
Rentokil colleagues out in force to support their YCP Finalist – Rana Oslan, Claudia Guevara, Sandi Suraweera, Kathy Vasquez, Julie Rojas and Nathan Abellanoza.
The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2019.
National Partners
Trusted Insights. Responsible Decisions.
Divisional Partners
CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Official Division Supporting Sponsors
Our National, Divisional and Professional Partners support and work with the AICM to promote the Institute’s activities, represent the Credit Industry and develop the careers of all Credit Professionals. As these organisations support your Institute and your Industry please consider them when you require assistance.
