2018 Global CEO Excellence Awards

CEO MONTHLY / GLOBAL CEO EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2018 21 , GCE18006 Collateral Management CEO of the Year 2018 - Middle East & Best Credit Risk Management Company - UAE Biz Guard Collateral Management Services is a visionary company that is making a bid to introduce new credit risks mitigation concepts for banks and financial institutions in the UAE. We explore this incredible new approach and how it will affect the region’s banking and financial markets. Established in 2017, Biz Guard has achieved incredible success, and today is one the leading collateral management companies in UAE. A pioneer in the industry, the firm was the first professional services company in its own right incorporated in UAE in 2017 and is licensed to offer collateral management services to financial institutions, which hitherto not been attempted by other professionals. The company being a member of DMCC trade flow platform is instrumental in facilitating the recording and registering of formal pledge or charge over movable assets favouring financial institutions either in the records of DMCC or any other related statutory body. To provide clients with a truly exceptional service, Biz Guard is owned and managed by professionals having long time experience, exposure and expertise in Islamic and conventional corporate banking in UAE and GCC region. The concept of collateral management by independent third parties acting as exclusive agent on behalf of financial institutions is known in many countries of the world, and is successfully being practiced thereby minimizing the possibilities of delinquencies and loan losses when banks extend finance to trading houses for procurement of commodities. Somehow the financial sector in the UAE, despite history of suffering loan losses from delinquent players especially related to trading sector has not yet focused or emphasized the need of collateral management. Feeling the need to plug these kinds of gaps for better mitigation of credit risk Biz Guard has emerged. The firm’s vast range of services include due diligence and background checks on expatriates and expatriate owned foreign business entities, control and supervision, monitoring and surveillance of goods held in a borrower’s possession in their warehouses which are procured under financing from banks and technically constitute as collateral. These services also include supervision and verification of conversion process of goods into cash and trade debtors and as well as verification of trade receivables so as to determine genuineness of transactions. The history of events of credit defaults by entities from trading sector has generally been a discouraging factor for financial sector to engage in financing, which is a great opportunity loss for both the sectors, while the trading sector contributes fairly large part of country’s GDP. Envisioning the expected positive impact of Expo 2020 in future, which would certainly reinforce position of UAE as an attractive destination for FDI and Dubai as international trading hub, will further bring promising opportunities of business growth for all players in the country and as well as in the Middle East region. This entails the need to facilitate building of better financing environment for benefits of both the financial and trading sectors. Under the current scenario, while extending working capital credit facilities to trading sector, banks and financial institutions do not feel satisfied with the collateral support in shape of charge over the financed goods which are meant for trading and termed as almost intangible as borrowers hold possession and complete controls over those goods. Thus, financial institutions look for additional tangible coverage through charge over other liquid or reality assets which is often quite challenging for trading entities to provide. Having identified gaps currently existing in market due to practice being followed by many banks and financial institutions, the promoters of Biz Guard, Mr. Azhar Tassaduq – CEO and Mr. Bilal Usmani – MD, both having vast experience and background of Islamic and conventional corporate banking, came up with a comprehensive plan aimed to make positive difference. Biz Guard offers to act as an independent agent for banks and financial institutions providing professional services under the spectrum of credit risks mitigation solutions which cover aspects like due diligence and background check on borrowers, supervision, control and surveillance of pledged goods and ongoing verification of process of goods conversion into cash and trade debtors upon events of sales and purchases and as well as the much-needed verification of borrowers’ trade receivables. Acting as an independent agent for the benefits of financial sector Biz Guard looks to eliminate any possibility of conflict of interest which might unwittingly crop up among borrowing entities while dealing with banks whether it relates to information dissemination or physical control of collateral. On the other hand, Biz Guard services will also provide an opportunity to the business houses to get funding with relative ease from banks and financial institutions by offering better collateral / security coverage solutions, which hitherto were not being looked into by the financial sector, highlighted Mr. Azhar - CEO. Currently, Biz Guard has already pitched offer of services to number of banks in UAE and the concept got appreciated as a positive move and value addition towards better collateralization of financing against pledge of commodities. Now there is a need to put the concept into organized common practice in UAE for overall economic growth and business development of financial and trading sector alike stressed. This will offer the fledgling firm many exciting opportunities for further success over the years to come. Company: Biz Guard Collateral Management Services Address: Office No. 304, 1 Lake Plaza, Cluster T, JLT, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 2411771 Website: www.biz-guard.com