Benefits of Membership

Membership of the IFA provides access to a number of benefits:

The IFA Annual Conference
The Annual Conference gives forfaiters world-wide an opportunity to get together, exchange views, make new acquaintances and renew contacts. Speeches, presentations and workshops on topics of special interest to the forfaiting trade are at the core of every conference. The conference takes place in September each year and is the highlight of the forfaiting calender.

Education courses
The IFA holds regular training courses for which members receive a preferential attendance rate. The courses, which the IFA has held in major cities throughout the world over the last 7 years and which are the only such courses of offer, provide an essential grounding in forfaiting techniques and practices. These courses are intended for newcomers to the forfaiting market who also profit from meeting colleagues from other member organisations and actively paricipating in simulated transactions and case studies.

Market Practice Guidelines
The IFA’s Market Practice Guidelines play an important role in the generation of a safer and more efficient market environment.  With new participants from a large number of countries, the Market Practice Committee works tirelessly on the improvement of these guidelines to meet the needs of the evolving market. A new guide to the primary forfaiting market is currently in preparation.

Conciliation and Arbitration
The IFA offers conciliation and arbitration in cases of dispute where at least one member of the Association is involved. This unique service is of particular value in those rare cases where forfaiting disputes arise because there is relatively little awareness in the broader banking and legal community as to market practice in forfaiting.

Regional events
The IFA’s Regional Committees hold regular social events, presentations and speeches, introductions and workshops on changes in market practice and documentation. Hosted by the IFA these provide a valuable opportunity for members to keep abreast of recent regional market changes and maintain their competitive advantage.

Member communications
Communication between members and between the Board of the Association and members, governmental bodies and the media is of utmost importance. In addition to regular printed material, the IFA website is a highly informative source of information.  Members also obtain access to areas of the website not accessible to the general public.

News and Bulletins
Two key features of member communications are the regular news postings that are provided to members and the market practice bulletins. News items may include details of new members and other significant events in the global forfaiting market.  In addition, this is a platform for members to share matters of importance with other members, through the IFA’s channels, and by contacting . Another key benefit to members are the periodic market Practice Bulletins that are released from time-to-time to provide guidance to members on keys legal or other issues. These are posted to the site and advised to members via news e-mail alerts.

To apply for membership, click here.