First Business Bank welcomes Patrick Brangle as Senior Vice President – Asset-Based Lending to First Business Specialty Finance, LLC, a subsidiary of First Business Bank. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Patrick Brangle brings over 25 years of commercial financing experience to middle-market companies.

In this insightful Q&A, we feature three remarkable women credit professionals who have made significant strides in their careers. Betty Hernandez, executive vice president/chief credit officer at SLR Business Credit; Mignon Winston, vice president/underwriting team leader at Great Rock Capital, and Hailee Ledford, vice president of client relations at AmeriFactors, share their experiences, challenges, and successes.

In the last couple of years, the finance industry has been undergoing a profound transformation, which has been driven by technology, globalization, evolving regulation, and shifting cultural expectations. At the center of this change is another powerful movement: the rise of women transitioning into new roles, leadership positions, and specialized domains within finance.

This column highlights the hard work and dedication of SFNet’s Committee volunteers. Here we speak with Boudewijn Smit, partner at NautaDutilh and chair of SFNet’s Emerging Leaders (Young Professionals) Committee.

Editor’s Note: This article originally was published in the January/February issue of The Secured Lender magazine and contains updated information about the SFNet Emerging Leaders Summit.

This summary highlights the key findings, implications, and recommendations from the SFNet Fraud Task Force white paper, Systemic Resilience in Secured Finance, which covers asset-based lending, factoring and supply chain finance. Drawing on survey data from SFNet member organizations and real‑world case studies, the report provides a clear-eyed assessment of fraud risk in the secured finance ecosystem and a practical roadmap for strengthening controls without restricting access to capital.

The most traditional avenue for a distressed company seeking to reorganize existing debts or maximize company value is through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. However, due to its complexity, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy can be a lengthy, expensive process that is not always palatable for the distressed company’s secured lenders.

Buchalter is pleased to welcome back Anthony Callobre as a Commercial Finance Partner in its Los Angeles office. Callobre’s clients include credit providers, such as commercial banks, commercial finance companies, private debt, private equity groups, and other investors and lenders, as well as credit takers, both financial and strategic.