Coface North America Insurance Company, part of the global Coface Group, has hired Stephen Atallah as senior executive vice-president for commercial and risk underwriting.

He will be responsible for managing Coface’s North American team of commercial risk underwriters, protecting clients in the US and Canada against non-payment risk.

Atallah joins from R3 CEV, where he was a trade finance advisor for the past year. Before that, he was the principal owner of trade finance consultancy River Road Capital. His banking career includes 13 years as the head of structured trade and export finance at Deutsche Bank in New York and 10 years in similar positions at Société Générale and ABN Amro. He also worked as an attorney at US Exim for three years.

“With his extensive knowledge of trade credit, deep management experience, and broad industry network, Stephen will be a valuable addition to Coface’s North American management team,” says Fredrik Mürer, president and CEO, Coface North America.

“Our aim is to become a best-in-class credit insurance provider. Stephen’s impressive trade credit experience, coupled with his proven ability to find creative solutions for business development, aligns perfectly with this objective.”