Yara Seifan

Auto1 Fintech is a financial service provider start-up in Berlin. They offer working capital solutions for their client base in the automotive industry. My role in the credit department is as analyst, which includes processing, evaluating and assessing credit applications, financial statements and business performance, as well as monitoring and evaluating the performance of individual credit portfolios in order to enhance and streamline the overall business model and credit procedures.

In my position as a structured finance specialist, I was responsible for executing and monitoring a loan portfolio of over 6 billion Euros (project finance and export finance). This included: loan disbursement and collection, approving amendments and waivers for credit agreements, security monitoring, credit line maintenance and liaising with numerous government bodies, both locally and internationally. Project Sectors: Wind and solar energy, and infrastructure development.

As an appraisal office I was responsible for credit and risk assessment of credit applications, credit reporting and approval, securities structuring and limits authorisation and undertaking for banking facilities such as term loan and working capital finance. In addition, I was also preparing weekly report on credit portfolio quality and growth submitted to credit committees and board of management.

ORC is think-tank that focuses on country-risk and geopolitical perspective research related to the Arabian Gulf and the Middle East. As a junior researcher, I was responsible for daily news updates regarding the global economy, concentrating on the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and the oil and gas industry. Additionally, I presented papers on a variety of business, financial and economic situations in the GCC and Middle East.

As the SME officer, I was responsible for a portfolio of credit covering full credit processes, from relationship management to limits disbursement within the SME team. Furthermore, I lead and participated in several managerial projects within the department including sector and portfolio analyses for the SME environment in Syria, developing credit procedures and scoring tools, as well as reporting lending portfolio growth and quality to top management and C-level executives at the headquarters.

Thesis topic The Relationship Between Loan Portfolio Quality and Financial Performance in Microfinance Lending: Empirical Evidence from Financial Institution in the Middle East and North Africa

Finance, Banking and Investment