Interview With SFNet’s Supply Chain Finance Convergence '26 Keynote, Financial Times' Robert Smith

SFNet’s Supply Chain Finance Convergence '26, will be held on March 3 at the Westin New York Grand Central in New York, NY, preceding the National Jewish Health Financial Industries Dinner. Its Keynote Session “Fraud in Financial Services: Pervasive or Idiosyncratic?” will feature acclaimed Financial Times corporate finance reporter, Robert Smith, and Tony Brown, senior advisor of The Trade Advisory, for an engaging discussion around the scope, impact, and evolving patterns of fraud in financial services.

Smith discovered and was the first to report on the First Brands Group’s fraud. During this keynote, Smith and Brown will discuss the alleged fraud mechanics, missed warning signs, similar cases, such as Greensill, and what this all means for private credit and the secured finance industry. This is a unique opportunity that will provide an "outside in" look at the vulnerabilities of secured finance from a leading industry reporter. Below, Smith provides insight into what attendees can expect to hear.

TSL: The First Brands fraud case exposed significant vulnerabilities in supply chain finance structures. From your perspective, what were the most critical breakdowns — and what should the market be doing differently today to prevent similar situations?

Smith: The breakdowns all have a simple root cause: lack of common sense. There were many fundamental credit reasons to avoid First Brands, from its debt-funded “roll up” strategy to the scale and high-cost of its working capital finance programs. On top of that, prior fraud allegations against the company’s founder could be found without too much difficulty. There were enough cockroaches in this kitchen to make it an easy one to avoid. In the future, try to avoid getting lost in the detail and focus on the simple stuff.

As supply chain finance programs grow more complex and technology-driven, where do you see the biggest blind spots emerging for lenders and investors?

There have been many new entrants to working capital finance who are perhaps a little naive about the ability of technology platforms that intermediate their lending to catch fraud. We have seen on First Brands that some supply chain finance lenders were not receiving actual invoices, only summaries, while factoring firms allowed the company to control the cash flowing from its (seemingly phantom) customer receivables. No technology will save you if you are not getting the basics right.

If you had to give readers one early warning sign to watch for in evaluating supply chain finance programs today, what would it be — and why?

A company with a supposedly high cash balance that keeps raising expensive debt with no good explanation. This was a screaming red flag on First Brands and so many other alleged frauds I have come across in my time as a reporter. Wirecard is perhaps the quintessential example.

The Supply Chain Convergence will also feature a discussion about SFNet’s Supply Chain Finance Market Sizing Study, conducted in partnership with the Rutgers Graduate Program in Supply Chain Finance, highlighting key trends, growth areas, and market opportunities shaping the future of supply chain finance,  SFNet Fraud Task Force Recommendations, including best practices and strategic guidance for mitigating risk and enhancing transparency and a Case Study Discussion on First Brands, illustrating the convergence of product solutions such as asset-based lending (ABL), factoring, supply chain finance, leasing, inventory purchases, and more.

If you are interested in attending please click here.