Andrea Spedo Mirandola has joined the risk and portfolio management team at Lloyds TSB Corporate Transaction Services (CTS), the bank’s newly-merged risk management and trade finance unit, in London.

Responsible for origination and distribution, he will report to Shalini Khemka, director of risk and portfolio management at CTS. Spedo will play a pivotal role in executing the bank’s trade risk allocation methodology.

“The risk and portfolio management team are using specific tools for assessing risk in order to maximise our clients “returns,” explains Khemka. “We allocate country limits using a transparent set of profitability parameters, and we process new transactions swiftly. We have substantially increased the volume of trade transactions that can be conducted “business as usual ‘.”

Spedo brings with him considerable experience of the London market, having worked for many years in trade finance with Standard Bank. He also spent three years with trade finance specialists LTP Trade where he established a global network of trade finance banking contacts whilst building an investor base for its online trading platform. Most recently, he worked at ICCREA Banca Group’s trade finance unit in Italy.

The CTS team at Lloyds TSB Corporate was created when the bank noticed that corporate cash management could benefit from the efficiencies of trade finance techniques, in particular its web-based payment systems.

“The team has pledged to provide cash and trade solutions that are innovative, customer-focused and flawlessly executed, whilst delivering double-digit income growth and maximising sustainable economic profit besides,” says Khemka – quoting a robust mission statement by the CTS that she sees as a reflection of the confident standing Lloyds TSB Corporate currently occupies among trade finance banks.

CTS comprises 227 employees within six subsidiary departments.

Another appointment to the risk and portfolio management team is reportedly imminent.