Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> April 2, 2001
JACK WILSON, Executive Chairman of London Forfaiting Company Plc,
started his career in industry as a cost analyst with Perkins Diesel. He
moved into business economics, first in steel, then in the oil industry
with Esso. He then worked in international trading and commodities as
manager of the research team at the Patterson Ewart Group. In 1970 he
joined Morgan Grenfell, where he worked on export and project finance
and put together several major financings in Comecom. In 1973 he set up
and ran a banking subsidiary in London for Hungarian International Bank,
where he was Managing Director for 11 years. He achieved a profit in the
bank's first year of operation and led HIB into an increasingly
significant role in the forfaiting market at the expense of the Swiss
banks and brokers who previously dominated the market. As a result of
his efforts the City of London became the new world centre for
forfaiting. In 1984 he and Stathis Papoutes founded London Forfaiting
Company backed by GBP25 million capital from the public companies Exco
International and British and Commonwealth. The company was successfully
floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1988 with capital and reserves
of more than GBP70 million, and grew to become the world's number one
forfaiter. Mr Wilson was Chief Executive of London Forfaiting from
1984-1993, since then he has been Executive Chairman. Profile
Forfaiting Company, please: what is its core activity?
Mr. Wilson: The core activity is Forfaiting, as you would expect from
the
